Turn Signal Camera Install

[mcheath]

Here's how I installed turn signal cameras on my Ram pickup today.

The truck, 2014 Tradesman single cab short bed. 3.6L, 8 speed, most of the interior options like PW and carpet.

Came with the Uconnect 3.0 radio, RA1. I replaced it with a Uconnect RA3. Paid $166 for the radio. Did not go with the RA4 because I use a Garmin nav unit.

Also replaced the original steering wheel with one with leather and the audio controls.

 

[mcheath]

To enable the cameras I bought the OEM Autopartsco Uconnect Lockpick Air Wifi V2. I went with this over the Customtronix option because it's not software based, which seems like nothing but trouble to me.

I had them add a microphone into the harness so I could use all the Bluetooth features.

Total cost was $525. Crazy amount of money.

 

[mcheath]

Tools used. You'll need a Torx 25 and 15 as well.

Bought the cameras from China. 20 bucks each. They rotate 360 degrees in the housing so you can place them at any angle, and have aluminum housings. Bought 3 cameras, one for the front as well.

 

[mcheath]

Start by pulling the mirrors off, angle them open at the top, spray WD40 onto the upper clip holders, and insert both your hands as far as possible and slowly tug them off. They pop right off.

I've circled in red the spots you soak with WD40.

Here I've circled where these clips are and where they attach.

 

[mcheath]

Now dismantle the mirror. There are three T25 screws to undo inside the housing.

There is also a T15 under the mirror as seen here. I didn't know about it and broke it off on my first one.

The housings then snap off.

 

[mcheath]

You have to thread the camera wire through the mirror joint following the wires for heating the mirror and the power controls. (circled is where I broke the T15 screw off)

Now drill the holes for the cameras in the bottom of the housing. My cameras came with an 18.5mm hole saw. I used a bench press to drill the holes, measured 4 inches in from the outer tip and 1.5 inches in. (EDIT: I'd move them closer to the tip if I was doing it again. Maybe 3 inches in instead of 4)

 

[mcheath]

Insert the camera. You have to push pretty hard, I was careful to back up the housing with my knee while pressing the unit in. I tilted them outward to what seemed like an appropriate angle.

 

[mcheath]

Now to fish the wire through the mirror joint and to the inside of the door. Snap the plastic covers off the inside of the door where the mirror attaches. Then I inserted a heavy wire into the mirror joint and pulled it up.

Taped the camera end to the heavy wire and gently pulled it through.

The camera wire is now inside the door.

 

[mcheath]

GO TO PAGE 4 OF THIS WRITEUP, I'VE CHANGED THE ROUTE FOR GETTING THE WIRE INTO THE CAB

To do this right I should have pulled the entire door panel off and routed through the factory rubber accordion connector between the door and cab.

But I did the easy way out. My route is in red. Merely undid the one connector screw for the side door panel to allow me to hide the wire under it.

Hide the wire under the rubber accordions large flange.

Then zip tied it to the rubber accordion and routed it inside the cab behind the access panel on each side of the dash by merely running it behind the door seal.

This is not the best solution, and I will probably think about it and try to do something more durable.

 

[mcheath]

On the passenger side I had to route behind the glove box. Easy to do by pulling the box door off and the side panel for the dash off.

Zip tied the camera cable behind the glove box door.

And that brings us to the rats nest of wires that is the Lockpick Air.

The arrow is pointing at where I mounted the IR receiver for the Lockpicks remote control. The circle is around the Garmin Nav units power feed which comes from a 12v power adapter I installed under the radio head.

 

[mcheath]

Wire the Lockpick up as per the directions. It was pretty easy really. Here it is all tucked in and ready to be buttoned up.

Before putting the mirrors back on I put some silicone in the tops of the cameras to keep water out, and then spread some Goop glue around the camera bases to help hold them in tight.

Mirrors simply snap back on, press gently.

 

[mcheath]

While I was at it I installed a front camera as well. It's in the top of the Ram logo in the grill.

The write up for that is another story...

 

[mcheath]

Also installed the microphone for the Lockpick on the driver's side A pillar trim.

Here's how the cameras look on the mirrors installed.

Noticeable if you are observant, but they are pretty small.

 

[mcheath]

And here's how they work. I had previously installed a tailgate handle back up camera a couple of weeks ago. The nice thing about the Lockpick is that you don't have to have the dealer program anything.

Here's the tailgate cam.

Front Cam.

Driver's side cam.

Passenger side cam.

 

[mcheath]

I think I need to adjust the drivers side cam up a little bit. They are adjustable with an allen wrench on the set screw at the back.

Drove around and tried them out, the turn signal cams very nicely show the blind spots and the front cam is great for parking spots with trees and fences and such.

Also the Lockpick allows you to stream your smartphone over the RA3 unit. Here's an original Star Trek episode playing off Netflix. Sound routes through the truck speakers and it plays quite smooth.

Bad idea when driving of course.

All the cams are set to activate automatically, and they function very well. The resolution on the screen is not the greatest, probably from the cheaper cams i bought.

Total costs: $125 for the tailgate cam, $166 for the RA3, $125 for the steering wheel, $525 for the Lockpick Air, $60 for the cams. Grand total of $1,001 dollars, plus a couple of trips to O'Reillys for misc parts. Say $1,050 more or less.

Probably silly to spend that kind of money on all this, but I wanted to go all high tech on this as I've never had anything like it before.

 

[joel29m]

Nice!!

 

[hipnotikrcr]

Very nice install!! Thanks for providing the write-up!!

 

[Jmhm17]

Nice detailed write up. you don't see many like this anymore. Very neat.

 

[rablwo]

I appreciate the write up. I am looking at doing the same project. How are you liking the v2 air so far? I want the blind spot cameras but have heard some not great reviews of the coastaltech solution.

 

[Bigdaddy]

Wow, man you got game, so what made you wanted to tackle this?