Ford Econoline back up camera wiring question

[Petrolburner]

Where do I tap in for the reverse signal? On my auxiliary backup light bar I tapped into the existing reverse light wire harness, but I'd hate to run wire all the way up front for that. There is a wire coming off my double DIN receiver for reverse. Can anyone tell me what I should connect that to?

 

[Raul]

That wire has to be grounded (-) to activate the screen on the receiver. If you tie it to the reverse light power (+) you may blow something up (check the receiver manual). I put a switch at the dashboard and grounded that cable at will. In theory is great, but I think I'll like to have it turning on whenever I put reverse. I'll be looking at the replies here.

 

[Mwilliamshs]

Use the backup light power from the tail light to close a relay grounding the signal wire. The relay terminals 85 and 30 would be grounded, 86 would reverse signal coming in (from tail light), and 87 would reverse signal going out (to receiver).

 

[Petrolburner]

There isn't a reverse wire under the dash to tap into?

 

[REDOVAL]

The reverse wire is in the main wire loom in the driver side kick panel/step area. Pull the taillight and see which wire shows 12v with the vehicle in reverse, then find that exact wire color combo in the wire loom. It's a lot easier to find than it sounds. You can use this for a signal wire to the radio as well as for a relay trigger for the light bar and aftermarket reverse sensors. Be sure to select the positive polarity on the deck for the reverse signal input when you use the positive reverse light wire, otherwise it will not recognize the signal. I have mine setup this way and it works perfect without having to run wires all over the place.

Also note that most of the newer radios cannot simply be grounded to produce a video signal while in motion. The majority require a double pulse that is finally latched; this can be done with a manual switch, but the bypasses (diy bypass on ebay) are cheap and easy to deal with.

Scott

 

[Petrolburner]

Thanks Scott. I have another question for you. I have your H.I.D lights installed and I'm adding a light bar that I want to come on with the high beams. Where would I find the signal wire for high beams?

 

[Petrolburner]

Finally got this thing installed and searching for answers to this same question on Google brought me back to this thread. I'll take my driver's side kick panel out again and find the wire. I can select the camera view on the screen manually but that's not realistic.

 

[Gtdad]

Great thread

 

[Petrolburner]

Ok, I did what Scott suggested and found a black with a pink stripe wire at the left reverse light, I then found that same wire in the driver side step well and tapped in there so I only had to run five feet of wire instead of twenty five feet. Backup camera works like a factory install. Happy to see that if you start the van and go to reverse right away it overrides the stupid lawyer's warning and goes right to the camera view without touching anything on the head unit. I used a camera that mounts to the license plate, so the view is off center. If I had to do it again I'd get a regular small camera and mount it near the center of the bumper.

 

[Justgosurfin]

Ok, I did what Scott suggested and found a black with a pink stripe wire at the left reverse light, I then found that same wire in the driver side step well and tapped in there so I only had to run five feet of wire instead of twenty five feet. Backup camera works like a factory install. Happy to see that if you start the van and go to reverse right away it overrides the stupid lawyer's warning and goes right to the camera view without touching anything on the head unit. I used a camera that mounts to the license plate, so the view is off center. If I had to do it again I'd get a regular small camera and mount it near the center of the bumper.

What head unit did you go with? Any pics?

 

[5spd97]

I took my rear view mirror off of the wndshield stalk and mounted a monitor in its place. The camera is wired to a switched input so that its always on when the ignition is on. The rear view mirror is useless in a box truck to begin with. Actually I have side view cameras on both sides and two rear facing cameras, one high for driving and one low center mounted for backing in confined areas or trailer hookup. I almost always just leave it on the high mounted camera and treat it as a rear view mirror.

 

[Justgosurfin]

I took my rear view mirror off of the wndshield stalk and mounted a monitor in its place. The camera is wired to a switched input so that its always on when the ignition is on. The rear view mirror is useless in a box truck to begin with. Actually I have side view cameras on both sides and two rear facing cameras, one high for driving and one low center mounted for backing in confined areas or trailer hookup. I almost always just leave it on the high mounted camera and treat it as a rear view mirror.

What cameras and monitors did you go with?

 

[5spd97]

What cameras and monitors did you go with?

My son bought them for me but it was just an inexpensive ebay set. It included two side view cameras, two regular cameras, wiring, and a 7" color monitor. About $200 - 250 and has worked flawlessly for the past 16 months. The monitor modes can show virtually any view or split screen view including all 4 cameras at once. Works great in low light. I'll ask him for link to the vendor.

A rock took out the lens of the bumper mounted camera and he got me a replacement for around $50.

Anyone who has poor visibilty out of their rear view mirror will find that this will totally change your driving experience. The side view cameras were a bit of a pita to wire up and in hindsight I could do w/o them, but they do come in handy occassionaly changing lanes in heavy traffic and backing in tight quarters.

 

[Justgosurfin]

My son bought them for me but it was just an inexpensive ebay set. It included two side view cameras, two regular cameras, wiring, and a 7" color monitor. About $200 - 250 and has worked flawlessly for the past 16 months. The monitor modes can show virtually any view or split screen view including all 4 cameras at once. Works great in low light. I'll ask him for link to the vendor.

A rock took out the lens of the bumper mounted camera and he got me a replacement for around $50.

Anyone who has poor visibilty out of their rear view mirror will find that this will totally change your driving experience. The side view cameras were a bit of a pita to wire up and in hindsight I could do w/o them, but they do come in handy occassionaly changing lanes in heavy traffic and backing in tight quarters.

Sounds great. I’m on 95 in south Florida a lot and do a fair amount of city driving so that would be a huge help. Got any pics of how you mounted your monitor?

 

[5spd97]

I'll be glad to take a few. This is the only one that i have showing the monitor. The second photo shows the right side view camera.