Tips for installing back up camera on Eurovan?

[Xtremjeepn]

Here is what I do for our customers at CaveVan.

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http://www.cavevan.com

[smores]

[JMB3]

I started on a wiki page for rear facing cameras that may or may not be of interest: https://vweurovan.fandom.com/wiki/Rear_facing_cameras

[dazey77]

[Endopotential]

I don't have a Bentley manual (yet) and I couldn't find this info in the forum, so hope this helps the next DIY'er.

On the passenger side tail light, pull out the widest plug. The reverse wire positive is the leftmost wire.

[RoninStorm]

Looking to tap into the reverse light to power a backup cam. Which wire is the negative? The positive (as pictured) is the left most but where should I connect or ground the negative?
Thanks in advance
Chris

[matics]

I connected mine to the chassis when I installed my camera.

[RoninStorm]

Thank you.
Where can I find the reverse light feed? I mistakenly connected to the reverse in cable on the wiring harness of the head unit. Oops. Turns out I have to connect the reverse in cable which is purple and white on the Sony unit to the reverse light feed to send a signal to the unit. Any tips on where to find this? Is it the near the fuse box? Thanks in advance.

[RoninStorm]

Gotta be something super simple.
Super proud of myself. At the finish line. Installed the Sony xav-ax8100. Now having a weird issue with the install of the back-up camera.
Everything works great! ...until, when I close (down) the rear trunk my camera goes out. When the rear trunk is up/open the camera and transmitter works. What do y'all think is the issue?
I've pulled all the wires and there are no pinched lines. I've also checked to see if the power to the reverse lights is constant. It is constant. The reverse lights stay on. So the power is the same. But when I close the trunk/liftgate of the van the camera turns off about half the way to close. When I lift the trunk back up the camera turns back on.
VW 2001 Eurovan Weekender
HU: Sony xav-ax8100
CAM: eRapta ERT01
Wireless transmitter: Beastron 12V/2.4GHz Wireless Video Transmitter ZBC-101
Any solutions will be appreciated.
Thank you in advance.
Best
Chris

[orbeamike]

I bought a Type S wireless back up camera mounted to the rear license and it has worked reliably over the past year. Image quality is excellent and so far I am very pleased:
https://typesauto.com/products/solar-powered-wirel...DgQAvD_BwE

[VanGeek]

Updating this thread to share my approach. A rear camera isn't a top priority for me since the weekender has impressive visibility from the driver's seat. But I agree it's a nice-to have feature. I've removed my dash and some trim pieces to address a blender box and heater core refurb, along with some broken rear hatch trim that I'm replacing, so I figured this was the best time to tackle a camera and power/cable routing as well.

I prefer a traditional single DIN audio setup and use my phone if I need nav, multimedia, etc. As a "privacy enthusiast" it's much easier to manage privacy, security, and connectivity exclusively from my phone and focus on integration and ease of use from within the Van vs installing an android or apple car play 2 DIN head unit. So, instead, I'm using a smart mirror with front and rear cameras.

There are a lot of good smart mirrors available. I found a unit from Jomise that was on sale and has good camera specs. It's often just a little over $100 when they have coupons. It also has kits for hardwiring the camera into the vehicle and keeping the cameras operational for a period of time after off-ignition. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09DXTMBM6. There's a good 3rd party direct mount kit so the mirror will look more "OEM" when installed (vs strapping onto the original mirror): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BXP4M2YR I'm presently pulling and routing the power and camera cables. All good thus far. I will likely modify the LED brake lamp housing I previously designed so that it will accommodate the rear camera https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=10077805#10077805. More coming on that...

Things are not pretty right now, but otherwise going well. Here are the power, camera, and gps cables. The power and gps cables run over the headliner and down the a-pillars. The power cables and control box are under the dash and accessible near the fusebox. The gps receiver will sit on the dash when it is reinstalled

The rear camera cable routed along the drivers left side. Intercepted it at the light fixture and then continued routing to the rear.

Removed the inner rear trim above the hatch opening (just six screws), routed the camera cable through that area, and then thru the bellows that contain wiring from the body to the hatch. Ran the cable thru the hatch and out the grommet that protects the rear defroster wiring. This was the most difficult part and required patience run the fish tape and pull the cable through the bellows. There's room for it but it's a lot of work.

Cables are routed. They will be taped in-place and covered by trim panels after I reinstall this spring. Still need to run the backup light sense wire down the right rear pillar and connect to the backup light. Camera is taped in place so I could test with the mirror, ensure it's working and make sure it has the right view/angle. One of the cool features of this mirror (and many others) is you can adjust the camera angle by dragging your finger on the mirror up/down to see out the back or immediately behind the vehicle.

I'll update this again in several weeks after I get everything buttoned up.

[VanGeek]

Making progress on this project. Routed all the the smart-mirro power and camera cables and re-installing the dash after repairing the blender box and replacing the heater core.

Seems like everyone of these projects result in an odd problem to solve. In this case my smart mirror OEM install kit provides hardware so you can mount the mirror to the windshield like an OEM mirror instead of strapping it to the front of your existing mirror. But the VW mirror mounting clip is unique and not well supported. I struggled with finding an adapter I could buy. Most didn't fit right or were wobbly. I could have removed the VW mount from the windshield and replaced it with a US mount, but I chickened-out on applying a torch to it and also preferred to have an easy option to put the OEM mirror back in place if I ever want that. I realized the adapter has a ball swivel just like the one on our OEM mirror mount, but it's bigger. So I made a plastic shell that fits over the OEM mounts and now the ball fits into the aftermarket adapter. Photos below to explain it all.

Overall I'm happy with this solution. My only complaint is the cable management for the mirror I purchased. There's just no easy way to tidy them up since the connectors all seem to bump into each other. I'll keep working on that.

Here's the backside of new mirror and old mirror. You can also see the mounts for each. The solution was to print a "shell" that fits over the OEM ball (gray in this pic) so it fits into the swivel socket of the new mount. This pic has a prototype of the ball shell adapter -- it's the black ball.

This is the ball shell. Took about six measurements + trial and error to fit the gray ball and fit the new socket. Tolerances are tight and too tight or too loose won't work. But this version finally got it just right!

Here is the new mirror with the ball shell/adapter installed on the VW mount.

And a test power-up of the mirror installed on the windshield. Not loving the mess of cables and will work on a solution for that. The USB-C right angle cable is a problem -- it's also proprietary to this mirror so I'm stuck with it. The connections are for rear camera, front camera, power, and gps.

Here is a side angle of theh mirror and mount. This mirror has a separate front camera that can be mounted anywhere so I've presently put it right behind the mirror. In the distance, you can see my new Euro A-pillars covers as well. Very slim!

[VanGeek]

Camera and mirror are fully installed, van is all put together after a myriad of projects, and was able to test-drive this afternoon and evening. Here's my evaluation based on this brand of mirror and camera. Your mileage may vary depending on what you buy...

The good:
- During the day, the display is bright, clear, and provides a wider field of view.
- At night-time, the camera's wide dynamic range allows you to see objects behind you with greater clarity vs the std mirror.
- If you have passengers or stuff in the back, you can still see with an unobstructed view.
- The camera also includes a compass, speedo, and clock on the display.
- When reversing, the mirror automagically adjusts the camera down so you can see more immediately behind the van. Really helpful.
- The camera angles for normal driving and reversing are adjustable by swiping the mirror with your finger and the mirror remembers the most recent position for each.
- If you install using the hardwire kit, the mirror will perform front and rear surveillance for a period of time after ignition is off. Good for potential fender benders in the parking lot and with 4K resolution there's a reasonable chance of reading license plates.

The bad:
- At night-time, I find the mirror irritating to my eyes. It's self dimming, but is still more active light vs looking in a std mirror.
- Night time video seems less smooth as daytime.
- I was able to tidy-up the wires, but they're still visible from the top of the mirror up to the headliner. Not awful but will be difficult to make it look less "aftermarket."

Since the mirror becomes a standard reflector when the display is off, you can always revert to using it that way when you don't want a camera display. I expect I may turn it off when highway driving at night.

Mounting the camera just under the stoplight and angling it downward allows you to see straight behind and also immediately behind the van when taking advantage of the adjustable wide angles. Definitely seems like the best mounting location.