Review of Rand McNally "Low-Profile Back-Up Camera System"

How is it working so far? I know someone that could use this same thing, as parking is tight and I believe that a camera mounted at the wheel would help.

I know of some off roaders that mount cameras in their wheel wells to check their tire position on obstacles, and it seems to work pretty well. Unfortunately I don't kknow anything about the Rand McNally camera in particular.

It would be great for many things

Are you planning to mount it inside the wheel-well or on the body of your vehicle outside the wheel-well? Do you plan to have it permanently installed or will you hook it up only when you need to park your RV in your carport?

- Tom -

-et-

On our RV, there is an unused dryer vent fairly high up towards the back on the passenger side. If I mount it on the bottom flange of the vent, I believe it will give a good view of the wheel position and back corner of the RV.

I am thinking I can feed the wire to the inside through the vent, straight down on the inside to the engine area and then along the frame to the front. Other wires follow that path, so I would just follow them to the dashboard where the Rand McNally GPS is. The Rand McNally site shows one kit with 65 feet of wire. Also one with 35ft of wire.

I probably would not mount in the wheel well or close to the ground since road dirt would be a greater problem.

I am thinking of ordering it today and can test it without a full install. I will post my review here.

I did purchase the Rand McNally back up camera and have tested it with the RVND7720 GPS unit. The test was very promising.

I still have to mount it on the side rear of the motorhome over the location of the dryer vent, which we are not using. I will feed the wire through the dryer vent opening to the inside. I will then run the wire down the aisle to the dashboard, 40 foot forward. My expectations are that it will work just fine. The camera lens can be aimed vertically, but I expect that full down will be what I need.

Once this second test is complete, I will feed the cable down behind the TV, the dryer area, and to the underside of the RV. Hopefully I can follow of the other pre installed wire. Once below, I will follow pre installed wire that goes forward to the dashboard. I expect that I will be on my back a lot with cable ties, etc.

BTW, this camera is a DieselBos camera, sold by Rand McNally. RM sells it for less than amazon and with an online cupon that I found, I saved and extra $20 bucks.

I will report back here as this project proceeds. If no one is reading, I will have a nice log.

Camera has been tested and it works. Now I have to do a bit of creative work. I will removed the dryer vent hood, fabricate a flat piece with the same outer profile and screw hole configuration. That way, I can mount it in place, attach the camera to that and the cable will feed through the dryer vent that is now covered.

I will report back, just in case someone is interested and is reading this.

When you're retired, the progress on projects slows down. Almost better when you have a deadline..

Have a good week folks..!!!

OK..... It is installed and works. Just one thing...

Since I have my RVND7720 unit to the right of me and the camera is pointing to the right also, the image is reversed left to right, so the back of the RV is on the left side of the monitor screen. I flipped the camera over and duh... the side of the RV became the sky, so to speak, but the front was where I wanted it to be. It kind of scrambles your brain to look at it this way, so I put it back in the original orientation and that is how it will stay. I suppose if one could hack the software of the GPS and or camera it could be corrected. Not my talent.

I figure that I am not driving with this camera, just want to see what objects I might be close in reference to my back corner on the passenger side and the back wheel on that side. It is 40 feet back there and the image size in side mirrors just too small.

The area of coverage overlaps the high rear mounted back up camera, so between the two, you get a pretty good idea of what might damage your RV when in tight backing situations.

All in all, a worthwhile installation for $150, although I may still have to have the wire run under the coach back to front. Not difficult, but possibly better done by a younger man.

A side note about the physical install. I took the dryer vent hood to a place that does fiberglass work and they created a flat piece the same shape. I mounted the camera to that and drilled a hole in the area of the old 3 1/2" dryer hole. I used a Dremel cutting wheel to cut a little notch for the camera cable to get over to the entry hole. Both are concealed underneath the camera, so the install has an OEM look that does not call attention to itself.

Read all your posts on your installation and set up. Sounds like you did a real good job. Congrats.

Nuvi1300WTGPS

Do you have any pictures of what you did with the camera?

John,
Yes I do, but not sure how to post them. I could email them.

On my particular rig, the view went from the rear wheel to somewhere behind and to the side of the RV and included the back corner. Good view of objects that pose a danger. I put orange cones at the wheel and the back corner. The wheel cone was right at the Rt corner of the monitor screen and the RV corner was about a third of the way in on the left side. You see a portion of the side of the RV along the bottom of the screen. Little dots on the screen would tell you where your points are when no cones are there.

If you were backing toward a drop off as I am when I put my rig away, an orange cone would be necessary for sure. When the cone gets to the corner, of the monitor, you'd better be stopped. My plan is to place a long bright orange 2x4 along the edge since I might not back to the exact spot every time.

Thanks for the kudos. When we take a trip, and have to back in to an RV site, I will have a better idea of success, and will post here.

Your cabling likely passes through Fiberglas and metal panels. I hope that you installed a neoprene grommet at such locations to avoid insulation chaffing of the cable that carries power to the camera and video from it.

Such grommets, if not supplied with the kit, were easily obtained from Radio Shack. Over the past 30 years electronics parts outlets have pretty much disappeared but perhaps hardware stores will have items like that. If not installed, and the hole(s) are large enough for grommets, rather than removing and reinstalling the cable, cut the grommet, slip it over the cable, then insert the grommet into the hole.

Grommets such as these are readily available at most hardware stores serving the electrical industry. Stop at a store where you see an Electrician's truck or an Electrical supply house and they will have them.

Thanks for the comments and I agree. Wire protection is a must.

Actually, I have a drawer full of various sizes that my dad salvaged from Ham Radios that he took apart or put together.

Now, in this case, the cable is currently running down the isle, but next week I am going to let the RV service center, that I trust, run it under the coach to the cockpit. They installed the dot sensors for me and ran all the wires perfectly.

I got under there and looked around and said to myself, "self, a younger man than I needs to do this".

When it is all complete, I will have back up sensors, back up camera, and right side rear camera. Overkill, maybe. But that is my middle name and it has served me well.

I resemble that remark!

- Tom -

What a simple but elegant solution! My compliments.

Last week, I had the RV service center run the 40++ foot wire from the back corner of the coach to the dashboard. It costs more than I expected by quite a bit. I tried to follow the wire to see what it took and I can say they ran it in a much better manor that I ever could have, and certainly via a more protected and concealed route that I would have ever thought of.

First time this camera saves my RV from nasty corner or side damage, I expect I will have forgotten about the extra cost of the wire run.

Final assessment is that the color of the RVND 7720 camera image is a somewhat blue. Not a problem, except for a career photographer who traditionally dislikes bluish images. The back wheel ends up at one side of the monitor, but the back corner of the RV is nicely positioned about 1/3rd way in from the side of the monitor which provides a view to the side back for a good distance, so big trees for posts don't sneak up on you. A very good thing.

Lastly, with the camera on my right, and the side of the RV viewed on my right, the image is reversed left to right. After all this is a back up camera and was not programmed for the monitor to be facing the same direction as the camera.

If I had it to do over again, I might explore putting a regular RV side camera back there, but that would have meant still another monitor in the cockpit and greater expense. I wish I had at least priced it out, but this set up serves my intended purpose.