[OhSix]

Took the weekend off from life chores in favor of spending time on the RL. Been collecting lots of parts with the expectation of getting to it someday.

Running cable to the front end requires lots of disassembly, so while things were apart, cleaned up all sorts of stuff that is inaccessible - therefore invisible to anyone but an owner/geek who cares about details. Took lots of photos of the install but wasn't sure if anyone would be interested in lots of detail, so... the end result is here.

Still some tweaks to do but the major work is done.

See the camera?

One of the tweaks is X-Y-Z axis orientation of the camera but this isn't too bad for a first pass.

Day light view:

Since I didn't go for IR, the only question was how this camera choice would perform in low light conditions. First opportunity to assess that was this morning in an underground parking garage. Not bad for low light conditions. Will see how things look tonight.

If anyone is interested in other aspects of the install, I'd be happy to post more info/images. Happy to finally add this to the RL driving experience, very happy so far.

 

[e_piph_a_ny]

I'll bite, where is the camera?

Also, pls post pics of your install. Looks good so far so quit teasing us! :act060:

 

[Carsmak]

Nope, I don't see it and can't make the picture of the Camera/Tailgate larger so where did you hide it?

 

[xrdad]

any and all info on the camera appreciated.. next on my list of things to do!

 

[OhSix]

I'll bite, where is the camera?

Also, pls post pics of your install. Looks good so far so quit teasing us! :act060:

OK, but don’t forget, you guys asked for it! In my usual long winded style… LOL.

Whenever I spot a RL brother somewhere, I make a point of checking them out (but never looking through the windows cuz that just ain’t cool). After seeing a nice 06 with the perfectly hideous OEM rear camera solution, that thing was instantly deleted from the mental list.
And none of the off the shelf license plate frame options rang my bell either. Although changing the gate handle was an acceptable option, (to my way of thinking) it didn't quite cut the mustard.

So after staring at the a$$ end of the 06 for a while, the down ward slant of the tail gate wing/cap seemed like a nice solution.

There it is:

How I got there....

Hadn't seen any details on the construction/assembly of the wing/cap, so first thing is to measure the space available on the down slope face:

Then remove, inspect and assess the wing/cap how to move forward. It's a two piece assembly consisting of a lower half as the structural/mounting surface to which an outer/cosmetic skin is affixed with a series of snaps and (essentially) one way press-on keepers like these:

I suspect the inner/outer components are also affixed to one another with adhesive, so decided it wasn’t worth the effort to try pulling them apart. An ancient Dremel tool was used to create an opening on the inner side, just to make sure there the cavity I imagined was actually there. It was, so now came camera selection. Knowing that part would require some tricks to, two likely candidates were selected. One of the them ended up in the trash pile of experimentation, the "Coolint 360 Mini" ($29/Amazon) ended up doing the trick.

A small hole was drilled in the middle of the outer slop surface, then a bevel tool was used to gradually create an opening large enough to begin experiments.

This plastic is very soft and doesn’t machine well, so no matter what speed was used to spin the bevel tool, a series of choppy ridges and frays remained.

Spinning the bevel tool in reverse did an OK job of polishing the opening but ultimately it was smoothed with 100 grit wrapped around a finger - followed by 220 grit to smooth the scratch lines left by 100 grit. Patience and an Exacto knife cleaned up the frays pretty well. The final opening isn’t going to win any beauty contests but given where it is, it’s only an irritation for me because I know it’s there.

 

[OhSix]

The wing/cap from the inside...

Since the cap need to be removable without taking the inner skin of the tailgate off, the cable had to be shortened.

Took the bed walls out. After almost 10 years on the road, it's filthy, so every gets a bath before wiring routing begins...

There's the trailer wiring. Now is the perfect time to free it up so the recently added hitch and factory connector can be completed. Pulling on that thing from underneath was not an option for me. Too much resistance, I felt like something was gonna break by pulling too hard...

Cleaning surfaces behind the bed walls made working much more enjoyable. Arrows point to the loom added front to rear and the entry point to the cab. Used an existing plug, but turned it into a grommet with a little time, a knife and a rat tail file so the split loom could pass thru it but remain waterproof.

Tailgate wiring added. Waterproof heat shrink over the composite video cable just below the gate handle.

 

[OhSix]

After pondering the cable path between tailgate and body, there really is no better way than to exit the lower left side, under the hinge mount, enter the body under the drive side tail light and go into the cavity behind the drive side bed panel. Couldn’t be easier – other than potential cable fatigue no issues are expected.

In my experience, paying attention to details like joining cables with solder & shrink tube, not splicing or tapping any factory wires and dozens of little things, including cleaning all removed parts, treating plastics (and bolts, screws and cargo anchors) along with careful reassembly, there isn't much to add to the myriad information already available in this forum. It’s all been done at this point.

While at it, cleaned the body mounted parts too. Stuff that isn't easy to remove is better serviced in place, huh?

Before:

After:

Before and after:

 

[OhSix]

Thought about doing this quite some time ago but routing composite video to the Pioneer afforded the perfect opportunity to pull this one off.

This is the air duct to the left of the radio. Why would anyone drill a hole in that, and add a grommet?

Because a guy hates to have power hanging from his phone. DUH!

A while back, connected a 5V step down power supply for the old school GPS. After dealing with dangling cables, shortening them and generally getting fed up, it occurred to me I don't need no stinking USB thingy permanently stuck in the 'not a lighter' port.

This isn't the most recent image of the dash adaptor. Since then, a few changes have been made but more on that later. In the meantime, what you see here is a Frankenstein mix of Metra RL adaptor, computer power supply left overs and industrial lighting connectors. LOL. Use em' if ya got em', I always say.

In the vehicle, here's where the 5V output connects to a donor USB cable that exits the airduct just below the phone mount, and feeds the old school Magellan Road Mate big screen addition. Man! I love heat shrink tubing.

 

[OhSix]

More clean up/detail stuff while everything was apart.

The sail panels above the rear windows and the panels containing bed lights were cleaned and treated. I've seen the Bondo bed restore product mentioned in other threads on the forum but I don't trust it as there seems to be confusion about whether its a paint of not. If plans work out, the 06 will be treated to a vinyl wrap later this year. Between now and then, how the bed floor and walls will be treated is an open thought.

The anchors and various bolts removed were treated with "Under Carriage Spray" from Griott's Garage. Great stuff.

Composite video and +/- 12VDC wire running along side cables to amps on the rear cab wall.

 

[OhSix]

While at it this weekend, had a few minutes to play around with aluminum stock for the some day soon woofer enclosure. Good things happen with patience. Ideas for this part of RL projects has never stopped evolving. Glad I haven't pulled the trigger yet. Lots of good things in the works here...

Such as... how to maintain flow thru ventilation but reduce air movement noise, how to seal interior and exterior panels, how to maintain the center seat belt and MAYBE, how to retain the power rear window. Many of those things were at risk of deletion in favor of superior low frequency reproduction but with a little more thought, perhaps the theme of sacrificing nothing functional (like under seat storage) will actually come to pass.

 

[OhSix]

So far, the Coolint 360 Mini (don't ask what Coolint means cuz I dunno) works well. It shows as currently unavailable on Amazon but when purchased in April it was $28.99. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00P914W7C?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00

The image below was taken after sunset in my driveway with the only light being reverse & running lights on the RL, up-lights on the neighbors palm trees across the street and city lights of San Marcos, Vista and Carlsbad in the distance.

Time noted in the screen shot from the mobile - grabbed right after the photo above.

Up to this point, the rear view camera is as good as can be expected.

The camera kit comes with a hole saw (presumably correct for the housing dimensions. Materials seem acceptable and images are satisfactory for my purposes. It's not IR but is described as "low light" compatible and I'd have to agree with that.

I'm not sure of dimensions of the Honda 74810-SJC-A21ZC HANDLE ASSY (Billet Silver paint), but if the outer ring of the Coolint camera fits in the space available, I'd recommend it. The IPX67 environmental rating and image quality make it worth the price. The handle and the camera should be around $70 - if you have a method to display, I can't think of a more useful accessory for the money.

 

[Smokey619]

Cool, great install, I had an Idea that it was going to be there before I saw the pic. I did almost the same thing, just that I put mine under the bumper and also did the same by wrapping the connections with electrical tape to prevent rust. Good work.