Rear view mirror backup camera

Hello All,
First let me say that this post is in no way a reccomendation on what you should or should not do as the installation could involve damage to your vehicle.

For my first (aborted) attempt I chose the following:
Wireless car backup camera 2.5" LCD Color Monitor and 2.4GHz Wireless Camera - Day & Night

Pros:
Nice packaging, easy installation, very finished looking mounting. Price was fair (not cheap)
Cons:
Monitor in mirror was washed out (no color), the clip-on mirror didn't cover the entire stock mirror so it had the clip on look and the wireless operates on the same frequency as the bluetooth hands free in the car so there were video drop outs every second or so.

The company charges a 50% restocking fee on open product returns but they offered no restocking on exchanges. I exchanged it for this one that they say can be used wired or wireless. I will put it in my van.
Wireless car backup camera color monitor RV Truck Trailer Rear View Backup Wireless Camera RVCam Day & Night Vision

Now for the one that I put in the Prius:http://www.amazon.com/dp/product/B000WE82B8?tag=priuschatcom-20 first thing that I did was open the camera up (voiding the warranty) to see if I could remove the wires for easier routing. No dice all soldered. But does appear to be water proof.


Since this is a wired camera the install was much tougher. I started by pulling the black plastic panels from the under side of the car and all the stuff out the cargo area including the left cubby bucket.
I found a large rubber plug on the side body panel in the cubby that is perfect for routing the camera wires.

It also provided easy access to the reverse light wires that I needed to tap into.


Once that was done I buttoned it all up and mounted the camera underneath the rear bumper on the black plastic panel that I just put in.

The choice for mounting was tough one as the place I really wanted (near the license plate) would have required drilling holes and more importantly it would have meant routing wires under the panels around the window. As you can see in the picture above they are big and I didn't think they would fit. Not to mention I wasn't really sure how those panels came off.

After that I routed the wires through the cargo area and under the rear seat. Over to the right side and under the kick panel next to the driver side seat.

I then strapped the new mirror in place and routed the one large wire under the headliner by the front window and down the a-pillar on the right side. I had to be very careful since there is an airbag in the a-pillar. I had to pull the panel and make sure that the wire didn't inerfere with the airbag. (this was easier than you would think). After that it was a simple matter to run the wire under the kick panels and down under the passenger seat.

I had hoped to tap into the cigarette lighter power inside the center console but after about an hour of messing around trying to pull the center console storage area out I realized it was a losing proposition. The tabs holding everything in place looked like they were going to break so I just fished the power wire up under the storage area, then threw on a lighter adapter and as they say "Bob's your uncle".


I'm I think the camera placement could have been better and as you can see by the chalk lines on the pavement there are a couple of small blind spots that would have been eliminated by higher placement. But it suits my needs.



I'll let you know if I drag it going up a driveway or something.

I couldn't get a decent picture of it installed but this guy did one on a LandCruiser and reviewed it here:
Rear View Camera Install w/pics - IH8MUD Forums

So to wrap up.
Pros:
Very good image quality. The camera has a mic in it that seems handy. The monitor/mirror has two video inputs for those times I want to watch a movie while I'm driving *jokes* well maybe a GPS with video/audio out. The mirror has a clean stock look. At $80 the price was super reasonable. Overall I am very happy.
Cons.
Camera placement is poor (my fault). The mirror is darker than a standard mirror. I'm finding that it doesn't really matter to me but might be annoying to someone else. The added weight of the mirror created some mirror vibration when driving, which I solved with a tennis ball cut in half and stuffed between the mirror and the window) It will look kind of cool once I paint it black.


G