MC9 project to install a backup camera

[plyonsMC9]

My daughters' purchased a backup camera for me to install on our MC9 Moose bus.  Heck of a nice gift.        Maybe they were tired of me backing into their bikes on the rear of the bus.  

Are there any special tricks to getting this done?  The camera model is a model called an eRapta.  It is not wireless, however our bus has a wiring chase from the rear to the front of the bus so I'm not too concerned  - except about getting the camera mounted & the hole punched & sealed through the back of the bus to the interior where I can pick up the wiring chase.  

Any suggestions and/ or experiences very much appreciated.

Kind Regards, Phil

[Zephod]

I have two cameras on my bus.
One is between the solar panels and one is on top of the bumper.

The top camera has the cable inside the bus. The bottom one has the cable passed under the bus.


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[sixtyseven]

If it only has 1 camera I recommend getting a 2nd one.   I mounted my cameras one on each side on the outer edge of my coach only about 7 feet from the ground.   That's perfect for seeing traffic in the lanes on each side and gives a great view of all four tires on my toad.   Make sure you mount your monitor where you can reach it easily while driving, you will find that you will like switching cameras manually while driving.   I used sikaflex to seal around the cameras, worked great.   

[chessie4905]

Mine has one mounted top of rear cap center. Nice to have additional cameras you can switch between. If yours has common standard, the cheap imported cameras will also work with your system, if you desire more than one.

[neoneddy]

When I installed mine I ran 2 video cable pairs, actually I just bought a 40ft stereo RCA cable, so it has 2 RCA jacks for video.  They could have better shielding but so far it's working fine.  I figure better to have two incase of failure and for a second camera if I ever wanted.

It's really nice to see when you're clear of the  car  / truck behind you.

[plyonsMC9]

Good morning!

And thank you very much for all the responses!  Hadn't really thought about a second / third camera - but several very good points were brought out in this discussion.

What will I find when I drill through the back cap on the MC9?  I'm not really sure what I'll hit, or what angle to take?  What's in that area? Maybe up closer to the clearance lights I'll have less chance of damage.   Will use sikaflex to seal.  I can post a picture of the backend if that helps.

Kind Regards, Phil

[gumpy]

Mount it lower. Just above the blower door. That way you get a view that extends out past your toad. Mounting higher limits the distance because it's pointing more down so you can see the front of the toad. Been there, done that, have the fiberglass bondo patch up high to prove it.   

Take a look at the structural pages of my site. May be some photos to show you what's back there.

[plyonsMC9]

Nice - I will.  Thanks Craig -

Kind Regards, Phil

[neoneddy]

Second that thought on lower placement... mine is up high, It's a nice view, but lower would be better.

[peterbylt]

I did not want to drill any more holes in the bus.

I started looking at ways to mount the backup camera without making any new holes.

I was replacing all the marker lights at the same time with LED.

It occurred to me to use an exterior metal switch box with a solid cover.

I drilled a 1 ½ inch hole in the cover to accommodate the marker light, the side of the box was drilled and tapped to mount the camera.

Holes were drilled all the way through and a couple of 2 ¼ stainless bolts were sourced to mount through the Marker light, through the box into the original marker light mounting holes.

The wiring for the camera and the Marker light were fed into the box through the original marker light hole and the entire assembly was gasketed calked and mounted to the bus using the Marker light mounting screws.

Eventually I want to mount a camera on each side looking back to supplement the mirrors and cover the blind spot.

I am quite happy with the results so far.







Peter

[plyonsMC9]

Very nice Peter - thanks for taking the time to post those pics and that information.  And I must say that's certainly understandable logic to not want any more holes in the bus!  I like the re-use idea.   

Kind Regards, Phil

[dbldragon]

 I went wireless so no holes for me but I wired into tail light instead of backup so i now have a full time rear view mirror  . It can be adjusted to see rear of toad if pulling it . No hiding behind me .

[lvmci]

Hi Phil, I put my back camera on the top of the blower door about an inch down. That allows a stress loop for the cable, for opening the door, I have a shade, lens shade, over the lens, and this keeps it from hitting or being hit by anything, lvmci...

[Zephod]

Hi Phil, I put my back camera on the top of the blower door about an inch down. That allows a stress loop for the cable, for opening the door, I have a shade, lens shade, over the lens, and this keeps it from hitting or being hit by anything, lvmci...

I didn't bother putting shades and so on over my cameras. They are about $10 each and the bumper mounted camera, 10 minutes to replace. The roof level camera, probable about an hour and hanging out the back door to replace. It just didn't seem worthwhile to go to extremes since they're purely backup cameras and are waterproof anyway.


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