Off-Road Camera (front facing) writeup

[Jeeper]

For my power lead, per instructions published in this thread I too tapped off the radio juice to power up the camera.

Quick follow up, what do you mean by "tapped off the radio juice" and how does one do that exactly? I'm guessing this makes the camera powered whenever the head unit has power (so essentially any time car is on), is that right?

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[wrangler-rob]

See post #12 on page 1, from bwilliam79.... I went that route, your ask is exactly right. When the head unit is on so too is the camera 12v.

 

[Kansascoast]

I powered mine from one of the aux switches...that way it is only powered when I want it to be. Whatever source you choose, I think it best to pick one that is ignition sourced so that it doesn’t drain your battery when the vehicle is not running.

 

[IndustrialAction]

Are you guys disconnecting the batteries before wiring?

 

[Kansascoast]

Are you guys disconnecting the batteries before wiring?

I didn’t because there is no power until the switch is turned on.

 

[wrangler-rob]

Are you guys disconnecting the batteries before wiring?

I did not.

+1 same here...

 

[WilliamstownLakeDude]

Is yours a 2019? If so, the wiring could be a little different. Either way, it looks to me like the pins you need are open. Comparing your plug to the instructions from the Z Automotive site (https://zautomotive.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Tazer-JL-AV-Cable-install-guide.pdf), these appear to be the pins you're looking for.

I didn't grab a good picture of mine, but if you look closely, you can see where the camera pin wire is in one of my screen shots and it looks to be about where I circled the two open pins on your connector.

Is that RCA connector pre-attached to the head unit or do you have to somehow wire one into that connector? In one picture you have 2 holes circled vs another with the wiring finished.

 

[DCBlake]

Is that RCA connector pre-attached to the head unit or do you have to somehow wire one into that connector? In one picture you have 2 holes circled vs another with the wiring finished.

You have to use the zAutomotive RCA adapter that has the proper pinning connections to push and click into those slots. This info is in the instruction link that was provided from zAutomotive

 

[Akbill]

has anyone found a good quality high resolution camera for front? standard definition seems to fuzzy, I want at least as good as the rear camera which is at least 1080 P, maybe more. And how about a camera with track lines that work like on the rear camera?

 

[TylerDurdenATX]

Does anyone know what size those pins are that clip into the factory harness? I would prefer to make my own adapter cable but am having trouble locating what type of pins would be needed.

 

[IndustrialAction]

Hey all, need some help!

I tapped into the radio power just like others. Ran the wires to the front, connected the camera and ran a ground to a screw by the battery. The camera won't come on and I keep getting these half second warnings saying that the blind spot system isn't working. Did you take the other end of the pig tail from the head unit and connect that to the pig tail on the red connector? Can't figure out what I did wrong. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[IndustrialAction]

I've definitely narrowed the problem down to the camera install itself. The pig tail I used for power is connected, right now, to a trigger wire. I THINK I just need to wire the pig tail to the longer red wire. Won't get to test my theory until tomorrow

 

[BabeRuthless]

So I can only speak to my install, reference it earlier in this thread for details. Regarding your first question AFAIK separate power is still required with the camera I used or the chuanganzhuo. I know this because I purchased and tested both. I opted for the unit I selected because of the viewing angle. The one I used provides a 145 degree view whereas the chuang... was a 90degree. I preferred wider at greater distortion personally. (I included
Photos earlier so you can see my view earlier in this thread) You can double click mute as indicated to access and rapidly toggle between rear and cargo via touchscreen or make both available on the uConnect apps bar, I find myself using them both so ooften that I have both mapped to my apps bar. BUT selecting one allows for simply selecting the “other” in the upper
left portion of the display when camera view is up.

I think the Nakita you reference is the one I went with. On it you clip cable leads to disable/enable functions. Inverted view for orientation of camera upside down vs right side up, orientation of operation front facing versus rear facing (think mirror view versus a window view) and finally guide lines or not.

For my power lead, per instructions published in this thread I too tapped off the radio juice to power up the camera. Based on my mount location (upper portion of license plate) I never need additional lighting as I have that covered in excess on the front end of my rig.

Hope this helps!

Did you have any trouble with the install? I’ve got the nikita camera installed and wired to the radio and I’m getting a “camera not in position” error when I access my trailer cam

 

[wrangler-rob]

Did you have any trouble with the install? I’ve got the nikita camera installed and wired to the radio and I’m getting a “camera not in position” error when I access my trailer cam

Mine has been flawless, I actually need to upgrade my tazer code from beta but haven’t because it’s been solid. I can’t understand why it might even bark off such an error as the feed itself seems to be a plain ‘ol standard def video feed.

 

[Bob Burd]

Thanks to everyone posting here, it helped tremendously with my own install. I thought I'd add a few comments for others looking to do the same. I bought the $25 RCA camera connector from Zautomotive that connects to the jeep's display. It's way overpriced, but it's convenient. God only knows how one would go about figuring out what are the right pin inserts to buy in order to make your own. I also bought the Natika camera described a few pages ago, but I can't say I was thrilled with it. The picture quality leaves a lot to be desired, especially when you compare it to the built-in back-up camera. The install went mostly as expected with one exception: the wire clamps provided with the Natika kit didn't work. The pwr/gnd wires on the Natika side were so small that they failed to cut through the insulation and make contact with the wires. Took me a while to debug that problem. Ended up stripping the wire insulation off, adding some solder to beef up the wire dimension and reinstalling. I've connected them to the 12V cigar plug on the center console. That is live only when the ignition is on, so no drain while the vehicle is garaged.

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