Camera Install

I installed the rear camera last night, now I just need to finish putting things back together. :)

It's a major job to remove all the trim and the back seats just to be able to route the wires up to the nav system under the driver's seat.

Some tips (in no general order)
-Once the rear bumper is unclipped, peel the sides from the body before trying to pull the bumper rearward.

- To remove the cab side bed panel, also remove the right upper tie down hook (the manual only says the left)

-To remove the electrical connector for the taillights, press the back tab to remove the connector from the body, then press the unlock tab on the connector to seperate.

- The nutserts are rubber so no install tool is needed, however the screws are 1-2 mm too short so you have to press firmly when starting to screw them in. They spec 8mm drill bit but 5/16 works (7.94mm).

- The metal on the tailgate is very, very thin. Be careful when center punching and drilling so you don't dent the tailgate.
I slightly dented the tailgate when center punching.

- Add a bit of protection to the wire where it exits the top "tube" inside the tailgate (about 2" from the camera itself) You'll see where it might chafe.

- I am debating if replacing all the clips and holders for the third brakelight is a good idea. Honda has new clips with the kit, however I wonder if prying the old holders (yellow) does more damage then only replacing damaged ones.

- Apply a bit of silicone when seating the camera gromet in the tailgate, the touchup paint you applied to the hole may be abraded from the wire running through the hole, plus the silicone acts like a lube, making the seating easier.

- Apply electrical tape to the camera lens before starting work, for protection.

- The rear upper trim is removed by prying the 1" side airbag logo clip out, but only about 1". The clip doesn't remove completely from the trim.

-On the B pillar trim, peel the sides out when removing it.

-The upper hooks for the back seat are about 3" long so the seat has to be lifted up at least 3" after unbolting.

-The seat is heavy and requires 2 people. Trust me on this.

- Be careful when routing the wiring by the rear side impact sensor.

- If you can't remove the rear bed light, it's OK to remove the entire panel first and then disconnect the light.

- Unplug the battery since you are working near the airbags, seat belt pretensioners, etc.

-The camera housing is a dark gray and has a slight texture to the surface. Something to consider if you are thinking of painting it.

That's it for the comments and suggestions. It's a fairly involved project so if you aren't comfortable removing lots of trim, the bed sides, bumper, seat, seat belts, etc you may want to buy the kit and bring to an independent mechanic.

You will need a torque wrench for the seat belt bolts, T40 and T50 torx bits. and trim pullers in addition to the standard tools. You will also want an air ratchet as there are lots of bolts to unbolt.

-W

Great description. I don't have Navi but I'm sure those that do will appreciate all the effort you have made. Can we see some pictures? :)

Whaleya, you win the prize man. I bow to you sir and congrats on taking that on yourself. That's one complicated install. I feared it so much I vowed to take mine to the dealer when I get it. Might re-think that but I'm still scared.

One question though. Is the camera placement on the tailgate critical? I was going to get a shell/cap and I'm pretty sure I'll have to mount the camera lower down than where Honda says to mount it.

Damn impressive!! That took some guts.

Thanks for the write-up.

What do y'all think about putting a keyhole camera in-or-around the rear bumper, then routing the wire underneath the Ridge vs. all that panel disassembly.

I've purchased an lcd monitor (includes mirror and light) for the driver's side visor and am now trying to decide what camera to buy. Fairly wide-angle keyhole rear view cameras with can be had for about $60 bucks.

Here's what I mean:

Hmmm, you will have to get the wires into the cab somewhere, I suppose you could route them under the truck and enter through a firewall grommet instead of the grommet behind the rear seat.

Or you could drill a hole in the floor and install a grommet. You would need to be very careful on priming the metal and sealing the hole as splashing salt water can be nasty.


-W

Hey laserfan, do you have a link to that product? Looks interesting. Placing the monitor and mirror in the driver's side visor will address the concerns about not having a mirror on the visor. :)

I like the idea of it playing through the NAVI screen. I just don't like the big "lump" on the tailgate. Are there other systems that can work through the NAVI with a different camera??

I like the idea of it playing through the NAVI screen. I just don't like the big "lump" on the tailgate. Are there other systems that can work through the NAVI with a different camera??

The lump problem is inherent with any wide angle camera used in this situation. You could flush mount the camera to the tailgate or bumper but since it's such a wide angle view half the screen would be the sky and also would not see objects really low and close to the bumper. To overcome this you need to have the lens a little bit away from the mounting surface so it can be tilted down about 40 degrees thus the lump.

The wiring harness has power, reverse camera sense, video and video ground.

I'm not sure what "reverse camera sense" is, but I would guess either a resister to VCC or a resister to ground.

IF the video signal is normal NTSC or PAL, which I assume and hope it is, you could hook any camera up to the nav system if you wanted.

The nice thing about OEM the camera location is that is looks down to the bumper, which I don't think you could do without mounting the camera as a "bump" on this truck. Other SUVs and cars have a nice indentation for the license plate and can mount the camera on the underside of it.


As a side note I am thinking about the following:
1) Install a camera on the back of my camper
2) Install a 2.4GHz transmitter in the camper
3)Install a receiver in the truck
4) Wire in a video signal relay
5)Wire in a reverse signal bypass for the nav system

The result would be that I could flip a switch and see behind the camper in the nav screen both on the highway and backing up. The two questions are: what is the video signal input specs and what happens to the nav system if the GPS shows the truck doing 70mph yet the reverse switch is active? If I'm lucky the engineering is "dumb" and when the reverse signal is active the screen displays the camera image without throwing any error codes.

First I need to finish the camera install....

Sorry, I should have given more data on the visor monitor. The one I bought is a Farenheit T5610MSV. I did a Google search on "Farenheit 5.6" visor" and the first link was:

http://www.audiooutfitter.com/store/T5610MSV.html

I bought it off eBay from someone that only had one unit.

There is one other "visor monitor plus light plus mirror" unit on the market that I could find, but it was very cheesy looking so be careful if you want to buy one. I will of course report back here when I figure out what the heck I am going to do. As I said I haven't bought a camera yet but am leaning toward this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=32826&item=5764220884&rd=1

I may just buy one and try it in various places to see what kind of view it gives. At 120degrees it may be wide-angle enough to work anwhere. If I absolutely have to put it in the tailgate well so be it. Would have to get a chassis punch to make a clean hole tho.

I did a search to try to find the viewing range of the Honda camera--does anyone know (degrees horizontal).

Vertrkr,

The camera is designed to mount on the angled area of the tailgate. I am unsure if the camera has enough angle adjustment to be mounted on the flat section of the tailgate, however I would think that if needed, you could extended the adjustment slots in the camera housing and make it work.

_______

For everyone, here are a few photos of the install
www.whaleya.com/ridgeline

On the navigation computer there is a wire for the backup lights. When +12 is applied, the navigation system displays the feed from the camera.

Green 8 pin connector, pin #5 to be exact

It is possible to show the rear view when driving forward by applying 12V to pin #5 (disconnect the wire so the backup lights don't turn on!)

The only downside is that you can not use the route function, although the voice prompts still work they will be messed up. The navigation system thinks you are driving backwards down the road! Once you disconnect the camera the route recalculates and you are fine, at least in the short test I did.

I have too much time on my hands.

I do have an ultimate goal here, to hook up a camera to the back of my camper and have the option of showing that image in the nav display in both reverse and drive. FOr example when merging in heavy traffic. As well as positioning the trailer.


-W

Whaleya or Anyone,
I am curious to see a picture of someones nav screen that shows the camera view. Wondering how much (field of view) I will be able to see with the OEM camera??? Also wondering about night visibility??? I would like to have a DVD and Camera installed with a 3-way switch that allows me to choose between Nav, DVD or camera. I was also told that it should be possible to bypass the need to be in "reverse" to activate/view the camera.

Thanks for any pictures!

Also, I have not looked yet, does anyone know of a good source for a 3-way switch (mentioned above) that would match my OEM switches? Maybe Honda makes something that would work???

Whaleya or Anyone,
I am curious to see a picture of someones nav screen that shows the camera view. Wondering how much (field of view) I will be able to see with the OEM camera??? Also wondering about night visibility??? I would like to have a DVD and Camera installed with a 3-way switch that allows me to choose between Nav, DVD or camera. I was also told that it should be possible to bypass the need to be in "reverse" to activate/view the camera.

Thanks for any pictures!

I don't have a Ridgeline (yet) but I do have an MDX. Same basic nav system, and has a rearview camera. I can see the full width of my bumper and can back up to within an inch or two of an object with confidence. Objects at a distance are not clear on the screen but it's pretty good out to ten feet or so.

As for night vision. I'm AMAZED how well the camera works at night. I actually feel it works better at night than during the day, but that's because the screen is brighter and easier to see at night. No issues at all in the dark.

The one issue I've notice with the rearview camera is that on those cold winter mornings the screen is not very bright. Hard to see at those times.

Ridgeline experience should be very similar.

I just snapped these yesterday. The screen is actually brighter than it appears in the photo. The detail is very easy to see. The warning should be headed that objects in the image are much closer than they appear. This is something you get used to and can easily figure out after backing out a few times.

The second photo is me standing directly in front of the camera on the tailgate showing you my driveway through a regular photo. The images are reversed because the back up camera one is a mirror like image as opposed to the straight on version of the photo. The back up camera is also much wider field than my camera, so the car in the upper right corner of the NAV screen isn't visible with my camera.

I haven't backed up at night, but hubby says it works GREAT with just his back up lights on.

Just for comparison, here is all I can see out of the three mirrors.

Thanks, can't wait to get that camera! :D

Doesn't look like you have it aimed at a trailer hitch though, I guess if I do that- I will not see quite as much-but probably still good.......

We haven't tried hitching the trailer up yet. It actually looks down right by the bumper. I think it will help a lot.

You can adjust the camera so the bumper is in the picture.

Since the camera is mounted slightly off center there is a small blind spot at the corner of one side of the bumper.

In low light and at night there is no problem. In full sun the nav display is very dim. It seems to take a bit of time to brighten up. It slowly brightens up over the course of a minute.

Also, sometimes if I have my lights on during the day (and the dash lights set to daytime) it shows the camera view in the dim setting of nighttime for a few seconds and then switches to the brighter day setting.

All in all I like the camera and it makes parking and hitching a breeze.

Thanks for the field of view pics Truckin'! I asked the dealer how much it was to install and boy did I get a shock $976.70, that includes camera cost.
Thanks for the tips Whaleya! I will need all the help I can get when the cam arrives next week.

We paid $1,090 for our camera and install. It's bid at a 10 hour job, so $800 of that was install fee.

I paid $600.00 for Camera and Install, and I am sure they are
still making money.

Dallas TX,

Silver RTL with Moonroof , xm , Nav w/camera , tow package, soon
to have mud flaps , nerf bars SS, and Retrax bed cover.

Thanks for all the great post guys ,

you keep me reading half the night.

I got to see the night time field of view tonight and I'm very impressed with how much area is illuminated by the back up lights. It's also much more clear on the screen than this picture can depict because of the night time screen on the NAV. Very nice. I took this photo when we got home of the driveway so you can compare it to the daylight view.

Great Picture, Thanks!

Whaleya or Anybody who has a "reverse bypass" switch added to their camera install,

Do you know if the bypass can be hooked up without making nav think it is in reverse? I sent you a private message, give me a call if you can or I can call you. Thanks!
I may hook up my camera soon with a friend although I have been given many diff. opinions about the bypass, etc..................

On the navigation computer there is a wire for the backup lights. When +12 is applied, the navigation system displays the feed from the camera.

Green 8 pin connector, pin #5 to be exact

It is possible to show the rear view when driving forward by applying 12V to pin #5 (disconnect the wire so the backup lights don't turn on!)

The only downside is that you can not use the route function, although the voice prompts still work they will be messed up. The navigation system thinks you are driving backwards down the road! Once you disconnect the camera the route recalculates and you are fine, at least in the short test I did.

I have too much time on my hands.

I do have an ultimate goal here, to hook up a camera to the back of my camper and have the option of showing that image in the nav display in both reverse and drive. FOr example when merging in heavy traffic. As well as positioning the trailer.


-W

You should be able to connect the backup lights at the same time through a diode (for normal operation).

I don't imaigne there's a (simple) way to run the camera without the NAV thinking its in reverse. The reverse signal is also what tells the NAV to display the camera output.

I also took the plunge...some more notes are here http://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3422

I got to see the night time field of view tonight and I'm very impressed with how much area is illuminated by the back up lights. It's also much more clear on the screen than this picture can depict because of the night time screen on the NAV. Very nice. I took this photo when we got home of the driveway so you can compare it to the daylight view.

Wow Truckin, After looking at your night photo, We are sold! Thank you for that shot...:p

You are welcome. Mission accomplished one person at a time. I love the rear camera each and every time I'm in the truck and it is in reverse. Add to that every time we show the truck off.