Rear camera mounted inside and pointing out back window?

Because of some mobility problems, I could not crawl under the MH, or up the back to where the top marker lights to install a backup camera. My only option was to install them looking through the back window. I don't have a picture to post at the moment, but the installation turned out way better then I expected and ended up with two cameras.

The cameras are mounted one above the other on spacers mounted on a 3/4" aluminum angle riveted to a 2" square of 1/8 aluminum. The bracket is about 6" long and screwed to the wall, the 2" square is the mounting plate to the wall next to the rear window.

The rear window is offset so the edge of the window is centered on the rear wall. So the bracket just had to extend from the wall past the edge of the window. We have a rear kitchen so I ran the wires for both cameras up about 6" into the cabinet, out the cabinet and along the ceiling past the bathroom into cabinets that ran to the front, then down to the floor behind the driver's seat under the plastic panel in the step-well, and under the dash.

I used 3/8" wire mold from Home Depot with splices and corners where the wire appeared on the ceiling between the cabinets, and down the wall behind the driver's seat. The wire mold had a sticky foam back and stuck solidly. The wires are all hid and it looks professional. In my past life, I ran hundreds of feet of wire mold for data lines, it is not hard. Don't use this stuff on any thing but a smooth surface, it won't stay stuck.

In the dash, I mounted a small switch in the trim of the new Kenwood do everything radio I recently installed. The switch selected the camera I wanted to look at. The lower camera pointed down at my cargo hitch carrier holding my mobility scooter, and the other straight out the back. The line from the dash switch feeds the video input of my Rand McNally GPS. It works really well.

I bought the wide angel (130 degrees) cameras and cable from Ebay. I cut the ends of the cables off that I ran to the front of the motor home wired them to the switch and the power line to the switched lead feeding the radio which I did not use because I wanted to listen to the radio with ignition off.

I'll get a photo of the bracket and post it here as soon as I can.
I bought the mirror that fits over the rear view mirror. Did not work well, sun light blanks it out, could hardly see the video. My GPS was way better video. It sits in the box now.

I'm another with my camera inside. Works very well except in the rain. Thanks for the Rain-X suggestion. Mine is wired and the wire runs inside. Wasn't to difficult to run the wire except getting it past the rear wheel well. It is wired to the ignition switch so it is on whenever the ignition is on.

I'm very happy with mine, too. The view from high up at the top of the rear window offers a much better feeling for distance than when I had it lower down. I can back up to within a foot of a pole quite safely because I can see the gap between the pole and the spare wheel mounted on the back. I sometimes pull a trailer behind and leave the camera on for easy monitoring. My camera is wireless and hooked up to the house battery through a switch mounted on the driver's seat.

Thanks - interesting responses so far. Will look at the garmin set up and keep the Rain-X in mind.

@RetSgt7114 - I, too, like the idea of having the video feed always on to give me a real rear-view. If I do an exterior mount, I was planning to power it via the clearance lights so that the camera would be controlled by turning the parking lights on/off rather than solely when in reverse.

Cobra21 wrote:
I have my camera focused out the rear window from inside and it works very well.
Sometimes when the glass gets wet from raining it's not so good, but that would
most likely be the case if the lens was outside too. Mine is hard wired and I can turn it off and on from the dash with a toggle switch. I am satisfied with
the arrangement.
Brian

You may want to try coating your rear window with "Rain-X". Great stuff that causes the water to bead up and slide off. When I use it on my front windshield, I can just about get away with not using any wipers when it rains. It is that good.

I just did this install yesterday using a Garmin BC20 wireless camera linked to my dezl760 GPS. I installed the camera to the inside window frame using a home made attachment plate (small piece of aluminum). I then powered the wireless transmitter via a 12vdc plug that is already installed in the back of the RV. The link to the GPS is solid and I am really happy with this arrangement. A big advantage that I have by getting power from a 12v plug is that the unit is now portable. I can move it from vehicle to vehicle in minutes. Also, by having 12v power, I can have the camera on at all times so that I can view traffic behind me while under way. This helps with lane changing. If I had wired it to power from the back-up lights, then it would have only worked when the vehicle was placed in reverse.

I cannot attest to other wireless camera systems, but the garmin set up works extremely well for me. Good luck on your decision.

I have my camera focused out the rear window from inside and it works very well.
Sometimes when the glass gets wet from raining it's not so good, but that would
most likely be the case if the lens was outside too. Mine is hard wired and I can turn it off and on from the dash with a toggle switch. I am satisfied with
the arrangement.
Brian