Born Free Leap'n Lions RV Club Info & Discussion Forum

I've been wanting to do this for a while. I went with the wired system to avoid any signal issues and because it was easy to run the wires. I ran all the wire inside to avoid going under the coach and because I could do it without seeing anything. As stated in other installs I mounted the camera centered on the back just below the marker lights. Easy to mount there and the wire pops up where it can be reached after peeling back the carpet over the rear roll bar. You can drop the wire next to the roll bar and it falls behind the shower where it easily accessed after removing the rear panel. I used a short piece of wire to fish it the rest of the way under the sink area where you can access the water pump etc. After that I had to drill hole on the bottom back area where the large access panel is located to access the water tank area. Then I ran it along the wall over to the drivers door area and slid it under the plastic panels and found an area to mount the junction box for the cables and electrical connection. I ran the cable up the A pillar cover along the top windshield plastic cover to the top center of the windshield. I removed the rear view mirror since it had minimal usefulness while driving for me. I mounted the monitor so the shades still worked and it was clearly visible, because I'm using it as a rear view full time plus as a back upvaid. Total time to do the install was unbelievably easy and took maybe 2 hours. The hardest part was figuring out where to mount the monitor so while driving it was like checking a rear view mirror. After doing a test drive and backing up several times in tight places I couldn't be happier. It actually works better than I ever expected. If you have questions fire away.

Russ,

Your posting is very timely for me. I will be doing this install on Monday after picking up my 26RB from service. I have received a lot of good info from Chuck having read about his install. My question for you is getting the camera wire from behind the shower to the cabinet under the stove and sink. Maybe it wont be as straight forward on the 26RB because we have the pantry between the kitchen and the shower wall.

Any insight would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Jeff

Jeff

I had a clear shot because BF uses that area to run wires and water lines so it was easy for me. I'm sure every coach is different, but on your model if they use that area to do the same then it should be doable. Not sure how the pantry comes into play though. The one thing I love about BF''s is how neat and organized all the wiring and water lines are. Everything makes sense for routing and everything appears to be accessible for the most part if you need to add/change circuits or in the rare event needing to repair something.

OOOhhh!! That is on our To-Do list! Now we have another reason to visit our friends in Anacortes. We will need to visit you and get a tutorial on this installation. We will happily treat you to dinner at the Front Street Grill when we head there for some Penn Cove Mussels!

Russ,

I made good progress on my camera install today. I'm way over your 2 hours but I'll get it done. I have the camera mounted and the cable run inside the coach up to the couch. I'll drill and run the rest of the way tomorrow.

Do you have any tips on removing the existing rear view mirror. I know how to get it off the windshield. Is it plugged in somewhere or did you cut the wires? I hate to do that. Also is the panel above the visors easy to deal with?

Thanks,
Jeff

Dqcarol wrote:OOOhhh!! That is on our To-Do list! Now we have another reason to visit our friends in Anacortes. We will need to visit you and get a tutorial on this installation. We will happily treat you to dinner at the Front Street Grill when we head there for some Penn Cove Mussels!

So sorry for not responding on this forum earlier but we had to be away for over a month because of personal business. Mussels in Coupeville, you bet! Send me a PM or email when you'll be here. We have many friends coming this way to stop on there way to Alaska, Orca Island, Anacortes, etc.

JeffatJacks wrote:Russ,

I made good progress on my camera install today. I'm way over your 2 hours but I'll get it done. I have the camera mounted and the cable run inside the coach up to the couch. I'll drill and run the rest of the way tomorrow.

Do you have any tips on removing the existing rear view mirror. I know how to get it off the windshield. Is it plugged in somewhere or did you cut the wires? I hate to do that. Also is the panel above the visors easy to deal with?

Thanks,
Jeff

Jeff,

So sorry, been gone. I used a very small screw driver and inserted it into the hole at the base of the mirror. When pushed in, it pushes a spring clip to free the mirror from the base and it just slides off. I don't have a picture of it but I looked it up on Google because I didn't want to screw it up. An auto glass shop can also remove it.