DIY Backup Camera Install for your RV
Total time: 4hrs
Difficulty: Novice
Cost: $200
Out with the old and in with the new
This is my first of hopefully many RV-life style videos. I have been incredibly busy working on my RV that was gifted to me from my Papa. I hope he is a smiling at me as I continue to make this RV even better than he left it.
Only of the things I hated the first time I drove the RV home was the black & white CRT style reverse camera that flickered while going down the road! Early on, I did some research to find a backup camera that I thought would be best for my situation.
I ended up with the Rear View Safety Backup Camera System with 7" Display (Black) RVS-770613. Mostly because of price and functionality. It’s the best bang for the buck! At under $200, it features up to 3 cameras, a video export, 7in screen and a mic when you’re in reverse.
This camera is wired, so I had to “fish“ it through the channel in my RV. This is when the fun began.
I wanted to use the existing wire as a “fish“ but that didn’t work out in my favor. So I used some scrap wire to pull it through the side. That went better than I expected. Once I had the wires all pulled, I focused of mounting the camera. I knew I wanted to reuse the existing camera housing, but I couldn’t reuse the same holes. I used double sided tape to hold the camera mount in place so I knew it would fit in the housing like I wanted. Then I screwed it in for good.
I used hot glue to fill and hold the hole I created for the wire to come through, the grommet worked fine but the walls are thicker than that.
After that, I started to button everything up working my way from the back to the front, using zip ties to hold the wire in place.
Last thing was to test it out and connect it to the TV! I didn’t even know it could do that but what a cool feature, of course, the RV would have to have 110v power for that to work but still cool none-the-less.
That wraps up this project, stay tuned for more!
Zach's pro tip
Use some scrap Romex or thick wire to “fish” your cable through the channels in your RV
