How To: Install A Reverse Backup Camera

So, I finally got around to working on this project, and I must say, this is by far the most frustrating thing I've ever done. WAIT! Don't lose heart now! It is by far the easiest thing I've done as well, but it was also frustrating. For starters, there are many different types of reverse backup cameras out there, and even though they are all similar, I chose to use the most easiest setup I could find. Generally, there are 2 types of cameras; Wired, and wireless. I chose the wireless, simply because I didn't feel like running a cable all the way into the cabin of my vehicle. Not that it's not possible, because it is, but I think a wireless signal helps out alot. Now, if your going to partake in this task, rest assured that it will not be a walk in the park. It's easy, but you have to know some type of electronics knowledge. If you can work on an open computer, than this is for you. If your afraid to plug something into a light socket, this is not, I repeat, NOT FOR YOU!

Now, to the work part::cwm27: :lol2:

Now, Here is what I'm working on: 2004 Silverado 1500 Extended Cab, 5.3L Vin (T).
http://i30.tinypic.com/10eosgl.jpg

This is the whole setup.
http://i26.tinypic.com/29n7911.jpg
This includes the following: the Camera, Screen, cables, installation hardware included with camera, and mounting bracket.

Not included in the setup, but added by me: Add-A Fuse, and hinge.
http://i25.tinypic.com/jjspq1.jpg http://i32.tinypic.com/2lavdcy.jpg

So, the first thing you will need to do is install the camera in your desired position. Now, my camera was made to be mounted on the license plate. Now, you can install yours wherever you want, but remember, the purpose of this tutorial is to install a reverse backup camera. So, This is obviously going...in the back.
http://i30.tinypic.com/27y5xtd.jpg
More specifically, the License Plate.
http://i27.tinypic.com/10gw8cx.jpg

Most cameras will be pre-wired with a black and a red cable protruding from it. Mine did. These cables are meant to be connected to power and ground. Now, I'm not going to tell you how to install your camera, this is only a guide. You can connect your power and ground to a constant power supply, so as to always have the camera on. My 3" Monitor for my camera has an automatic "turn On" feature, which will turn itself on when a signal is recieved from the camera. Since I don't feel the need to keep it on at all times, I simply connected it to the reverse light, so as to only turn itself on when the vehicle was placed on reverse. To do this, I needed to tap into a power source that turned itself on when the vehicle was placed in reverse. The only option, is the reverse lights.

First remember to run your cable from where you will place the camera (in my case, the license plate), to the light you will be tapping into. If need be (I had to) remove the license plate completely, and run the cable underneath the vehicle first. I ran my cable leaving 3" of slack from the camera, underneath the vehicle, zip tying when necessary (Don't leave any more slack underneath the vehicle) straight to the taillight.

I decided to tap into the Driver's side tailight to get power for my camera. You can do the passenger's if you want to.
http://i28.tinypic.com/2rxfr7d.jpg

Now, once you have removed your taillight, you will need to find the reverse light. The taillight for my Truck had 4 different plugs on it. There is the brake light, the blinker, reverse, and lower blinker. Just remember that the reverse light has no red cover over it. it's clear, (or white) so as to light up your view better. I was shooting for the reverse light, and I found it.
http://i28.tinypic.com/97jh2r.jpg

Now, you will need to use your cable taps (should have been provided with installation kit) to tap into the reverse wire. On the reverse light plug, you will see a green and black cable (mine had 2 blacks!). Basically a cable tap is a small plastic cylinder shaped object with a lid, in which you place your source cable (the green wire) and your tapped in cable (the red wire from the camera) in the provided slots and you crunch down with the plastic lid onto a metal pin which cuts into both wires, providing a steady current to your new wire, while maintaining the current to your old wire. Place a tap on the green cable and black cable (if you have two black cables, tap into the cable that isn't running to the other plugs on the taillight) and your red and black cable from the camera, and "tap" into them.
http://i28.tinypic.com/2eek6jr.jpg

Once you have tapped your wires into the reverse lights, put the taillight back. If there is excess wire hanging from underneath the vehicle after placing the taillight back on, simply fold it up, and zip tie it to something secure. Place your camera onto the license plate frame, and VOULA! you have installed the camera!!
http://i32.tinypic.com/1in8t1.jpg

Yours should look something similar to this. if not, either my instructions were HORRIBLE, or you simply don't know what your doing. If it's the latter, then I suggest you get some help now. This is not for you!
Otherwise, looks nice, right?
http://i32.tinypic.com/2dqjyc5.jpg

COMING UP ON THE NEXT POST: THE MONITOR'S INSTALLATION! THIS WILL NOT BE FOR THE FAINT OF HEART, TUNE IN SAME TIME, SAME CHANNEL, TILL TOMORROW, ADIOS AMIGOS!

Good job- but I recommend stripping and soldering- I NEVER use T-taps- they will corrode or work loose in every state except California- after about 2 yrs- I can't tell you how many times I have had to fix bad T-tap connectors. It is the sign of a professional to solder and shrinkwrap....just my 2 cents

Good job- but I recommend stripping and soldering- I NEVER use T-taps- they will corrode or work loose in every state except California- after about 2 yrs- I can't tell you how many times I have had to fix bad T-tap connectors. It is the sign of a professional to solder and shrinkwrap....just my 2 cents

I agree that the taps are not the best option to go through, but i feel that this tutorial is for people who aren't professionals. Most people are deathly afraid to solder and strip wires, so that is why I went with this approach on the tutorial. Truthfully, I actually did strip and solder the wires together, except I didn't have any shrink wrap, so I improvised with black tape, for now. I'll get around to buying some shrink wrap sometime this week, but most people will not be soldering. I agree, Soldering is better. If you look closely at the picture, there are wires sticking out of the other side of the taps. I didn't tap into the wires, just demonstrated it for instruction :wink: purposes.

day 2! Sorry, if it took so long for me to post part 2 of this, but the truth is, I've had a very VERY bad month of February, not to bore people with my problems, it is suffice to say that my problems are a thing of the past, and I can once again continue my little tutorial.

So basically the camera's screen came with 2 different types of power options. the first, the most basic one, was a simple cigarrette lighter adapter which plugs into your standard cigarrette lighter port (12V). The connection on the opposite end was a 3.5mm headphone jack. I opted not to choose this option for 2 different reasons. the first is that I hate plugging and unplugging shit. I'm lazy, so sue me. I don't like to have to remember to plug/unplug for a few seconds of use. I mean, seriously, it would be to much trouble to keep on unplugging/plugging every time I decided to reverse it right? the other reason is that I just don't like to have all my 12V plugs occupied. I have my cell phone charger, and sometimes I charge my jumpstart backup battery with the second one (I always carry this around, in case my vehicle or someone else's vehicle doesn't start. I have only used it on my truck once, and I've used it on random stranger's vehicles about 20 times).
The Second connection option was to run it straight to the battery with another cable that came along with the screen. This other plug, had 3 different wire connections, a red, black, and blue wire. Apparently, if you plug it in straight, there is an option to turn have the screen come on by itself (when connected properly) when the vehicle was placed in reverse. This was by far the better choice for me, because it would be easier to just place the vehicle in reverse, and the screen come on.

I chose to install the wires with a simple add-a-fuse from the local Kragens which cost me 10 dollars. this simplified the process because I didn't have to tap into a live wire, and I could just use a pre-existing auxilary fuse connected to the battery. Basically, this will take care of two things. 1: the screen will only have power when the vehicle switch is on, and 2: I won't short my shit out with some funky wiring.

http://i32.tinypic.com/2lavdcy.jpg

I decided to place the screen on the small square adjacent to the a/c controls, where the passenger airbag switch was located. I screwed in a small hinge next to the airbag switch (So I could still have access to it, and also so I could move the screen to my advantage).
http://i25.tinypic.com/ayle8g.jpg

The cable hanging next to it is the one that connects to the screen.

after the hinge, I needed to take apart the front of the dash, in order to run the wire to where I was to connect the cables. The dash is simple to take apart. There are clips which hold the trim piece around the stereo and gauges. You simply pull on the trim piece (firmly, but not to hard) and it should simply pop off.

http://i28.tinypic.com/2py8bq0.jpg

http://i26.tinypic.com/2m6so4n.jpg

with the trim piece removed, I needed to get access to where the wires were to connect, which is right underneath the trim piece.
http://i28.tinypic.com/kbxb1x.jpg
There are two screws holding in this plastic plate underneath the steering wheel. Locate the two, and unscrew.
http://i28.tinypic.com/4siu4m.jpg
http://i28.tinypic.com/osflmd.jpg

There are two plastic clips holding the top part of this plate, simply grab the plate from the top, and firmly pull down, it should easily pop off.
http://i26.tinypic.com/2815zb6.jpg

we are now where we want to be!

Basically, this is where my camera crapped out on me. I lost most of the pictures that were to preceed this. I can speak as much as I want, but there needs to be visuals to what I'm saying, so I'll provide what I have.

Once the bottom plate has been unscrewed, you will need to grab the included cable for the screen, and run it from where the hinge is at, to where the wires are at under the steering wheel. I left a little slack, about an inch of cable hanging near the hinge, and ran the rest of the cable through where the A/C controls were, down through where the hole to the right side clip that holds the plastic plate under the steering wheel sits, and to harnesses underneath. I crimped together the red wire to the add-a-fuse, and found on my fusebox an auxilary output. I simply pulled off the fuse in place on the fusebox, plugged in the add a fuse, placed the original fuse in the first hole of the add-a-fuse, and put a #10 fuse in to the one going to the screen. Once again, pictures would help tons for this, but they are caput!
http://i28.tinypic.com/waiql1.jpg
This picture shows the wire coming down (on the right) and the cables under the steering wheel. I used zip ties to hold down the cable to the other cables underneath. I used a ring terminal and crimped it on to the black cable running from the screen. I noticed there was another ring terminal held by a screw on a piece of metal under the steering wheel, and tested to make sure it was a grounded wire (it should read 0, or open circuit on your voltmeter if you use one). I unscrewed it, and placed my new ground next to the other ground, and placed the screw back. the basic setup was complete. The screen tested out good, it received power, and it had a ground.

The last cable needed to connect was the blue wire which was to be connected to the reverse lights, so the screen would automatically turn itself on when the vehicle was placed in reverse. I asked many people on here for the correct cable to tap into in order to get a signal when the vehicle was placed in reverse. thanks to brcidd for his picture and help on finding the correct wire to tap into for the reverse lights.
basically, he told me this:
Directly below the steering wheel is the BCM- access by removing the knee bolster cover--2 or 3 screw and it snaps out--you'll see the BCM with 6 plugs pointing towards you-- you may want to remove the metal plate above it- for easier access (4 10mm nuts)-- anyway there is a light green wire in position "F" of the C5 BCM plug-- this plug is black and has only 6 slots- which only 3 wires are present- you want the light green next to the gry/blk (coutesy lamps) which is next to an orange wire-- (orange wire- which by the way is battery hot wire- already fused and ready to tap into if you so desire for a battery hot)-- the light green wire is the back-up lamp supply- so it is also fused accordingly- and supplies 12 volts when the vehicle is put into reverse- you could always test with a test light if you don't have your DVM handy--

he provided me with this picture of where the green cable was:
http://idle-hourranch.com/2004BCM.JPG

I looked, and sure enough, there was the green wire under my steering wheel: (the picture is kinda blurry, but on the right, you can see the orange, black and green cable)
http://i28.tinypic.com/4vmir9.jpg

So I used a T-Tap to tap into this wire. If your not familiar with a T-Tap, this is basically a cable tap, except instead of having to crimp both cables together, you just place it over the cable you want to tap into, and then you close the tap. You grab the new wire (in my case the blue one) and you crimp on a spade speaker terminal to this. Then, on the end of the T-Tap, there should be a slot where you will be able to insert the spade terminal into. it looks like this:
http://i29.tinypic.com/imhrht.jpg

Notice the one on the top has the spade terminal inserted into the tap. So I tapped into the cable:
http://i29.tinypic.com/2lmufdx.jpg
I checked to make sure the monitor would turn on when I placed the car in reverse, which it did, and I put everything back in it's place. Once back in place, I decided to use Velcro on the hinge to hold the screen in it's place. the screen came with a holder which had a piece connected to the bottom of it, so it could sit on top of the dash. I didn't like it, so I simply unscrewed the bottom part, and used the holder only. I placed velcro on the screen holder, and on the hinge.
http://i26.tinypic.com/34pjdbs.jpg
http://i32.tinypic.com/33mu4oy.jpg

I attached the screen holder to the hinge, and placed the camera in it's spot.
http://i29.tinypic.com/2nhj76u.jpg
http://i31.tinypic.com/5a13ie.jpg
http://i32.tinypic.com/2vkmi5v.jpg
http://i29.tinypic.com/1juqdf.jpg

I was done. Now to test it out.
View My Video (http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=s63b7q&s=3)

Sorry there is no sound on the video, but my camera isn't the best. The video is grainy, but you can see that I had the vehicle in reverse, I reversed it, and placed the vehicle in drive, and the screen turned off.


End Result:

I guess the screen is a good investment if like me, you are littered with dogs, or kids running around. I live out in the booneys, where there are alot of trees, and such, so it does help to be able to see behind you, especially when you have a big truck. I think it was well worth the $40 dollars I spent on this, and I believe it is a good investment, but it shouldn't be a replacement to looking at your mirrors, or turning your head around to physically see behind you. This is more of a piece of mind technology, than it is anything else. Do I recommend this for others? Well, it depends. The Screen does get some interference and static, but you get what you pay for. If you have trouble reversing, or are just afraid you might run over your cat, a bike, a kid, some unforseen item, then yes, I do. otherwise, if you feel you are a good enough driver, and don't need help reversing, or don't think you will hit something, and do a 180 inspection all around your vehicle before pulling out, then no, I don't recommend.

Special thanks to BRCIDD, MCCONELL45, for their help, as well as Tinypic, for their picture hosting and video hosting. And to everyone else who has viewed this, thanks for taking the time to follow through, and if you do need help, or need some questions answered, feel free to PM me with anything. I try to answer as soon as I can.

Thanks Silverado Automotive forum Users!

there is no need to remove the tail light. there is a trailer wireing harness under the bed of the truck. its just above the spair tire. or you can get the plug in trailer wireing harness. the link should take you there. it will have a collor code for the wires. no need to splice in to any wires that you will be needing to refix later. for 20 bucks it will save you a ton of headackes later. if your back up stops working then its the connectors at the new harness insted of any wires on the truck.

http://www.napaonline.com/masterpages/NOLMaster.aspx?PageId=470&LineCode=BK&PartNumber=7551830&Description=Trailer+Wire+Harness+Adapter+-+Tow+Vehicle

Those white plastic clips on the dash piece are where a lot of squeaks come from. Having that apart woud be a good time to remedy that.