Babying it and keeping it far away in the parking lots was due to come back and haunt me. I say it's karma people which is why it happened folks.
Usually when I get a car, I never let anybody touch it because I have this paranoid feeling that something inside will go out of wack and mess up. I did this with my Nissan Maxima for over a decade in a half.But after another fender bender I said to myself, LET"S MOD AWAY.... So I have been more liberal and letting installers touch my loyal Rogue.woohooo!!!!!!!!!!!! Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Yippieeeeeeeeeeee-kayyyyyyyy-Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyy!
You know about my light set up in this forum but unfortunately I could not get the truck looking wheels I wanted. The wheel people in here would know why so I won't get into that issue. So I said to myself, let's get a new head unit and rear cam. I didn't get a pop out motorized DVD because those might break down like a sunroof mechanism.
Let's get to the good stuff which is my car monitor set-up. So guess what folks, I decided to get 3 camera's installed into my Rogue. This is because the Rogue has the absolute worst blind spots in the world TO ME.
At first I really thought I could handle it, got the blind spot mirrors and the fresnel lens. I like the fresnel lenses because without it, the vehicles behind me look like they are so close which always made me feel uncomfortable, for some reason I always feel like I will get hit from behind but in reality I haven't. I never really got use to the view what little it was. But anyways, I guess being old as dirt has made me less capable of handiing those blind spots. I bought a mirror/monitor with 4 video inputs. After weeks of careful planning and research, I finally finished this project. So check out my set-up and enjoy!:
My typical rear back-up view camera above the license plate set-up. Did you notice my pinstripe I artistically placed there?
The higher stationary cam is to supplement my rear view mirror or even takes place of the regular rear view mirror duties. Remember you don't notice this as much under the shaded spoiler, it just seems obvious with the bright flash and close-up. I actually attached this one myself with heavy duty automotive 3M molding tape before I took it in. This is because I didn't want the installers to drill holes up there.
My baby cam.
The 10.2 inch monitor and NEW head-unit! It might obscure your windshield vision just a tad but not too much. As a matter of fact it does not look too big with the spacious windshield in the Rogue.
After the second time backing into somthing, I said to myself I need to get a back up camera PRONTO especially after spending over $2000 in paint jobs/repairs in various unintentional back-up mishaps. Arghhh! The great thing about this unit is that I can change the color scheme to match the orange illumination in my Rogue! Awesome.
I actually got the hack to watch videos while the vehicle is in motion, of course I won't be watching just the passenger or (just me when at a standstill).
Here's the movie on the 10.2 inch monitor. The picture I took is not focused but the display is really nice & decent in quality. Of course in stretch mode, the picture is not as good than when it is in a smaller window mode. When not on, you can usually use the mirror off and still see. But if you do not mind a less than bright mirror reflection, then you will be fine. But at night, it is really dim but I can use either the monitor or actually my head-unit turns the rear cam on there too while driving. Nice! What isn't dark at night anyways folks?
As you can see, the upper rear cam really covers those blind spots. The same with the head unit, but I don't like keeping that on and looking down obviously. You can easily see the 3 homes especially cars in your blind spot! I purposely removed the guide lines here.The picture even looks great in stretch mode unlike some of the other installs online. Get a professional to do it, I have no problems with lines or interference or pesky problems that other DIY'ers have online. Investment well worth it and guaranteed.
Kudos to my 12 volt specialist in helping me with my vision on this project.
That's my baby modeling for me. =) In the past, I actually bumped a vehicle at a stoplight while trying to sneak a peek of my baby behind me. I even tried to attach those baby mirrors which either fell off or was still hard to get a view. When it is quiet back there I get paranoid which is why I like looking, and I prefer the baby behind me for better access. Don't worry I am not using an infared cam, don't want anything that might harm my toddler. No infared cam by choice anywhere on my Rogue as a matter of fact. Just make sure to get a ccd camera which is better in low light.
The beauty of this monitor is that I can put up more than one video and control brightness, contrast, color, or where the camera is placed on the display. I really can't see much on the baby cam at night but I keep it on during a 2 video set up so I won't get a blue screen in the box because I like to monitor the higher cam in a small box at times.
I can even watch a DVD, netflix at the same time on this monitor, or make a bluetooth call and/or buy the optional gps for the head unit. Just in case you wondering I only plan to listen to music videos not watch them. Cool if they play in the background. The 4th video input is not used inside my dash, but there is another aux 4th input on the side of the mirror. Some ideas for a 4th camera would be as a side monitor or on the front bumper. I know others online with a 10.2 inch monitor who utilize 2 side mirror cams and a rear cam at the same time which you can see in the pictures below. You can only have 3 videos max at one time with these 4 video input monitors.
So there you have it folks. For those of you thinking I might be watching videos while driving, let me assure you this is not the case as I probably won't be even turning on my 10.2 inch monitor that much but only when needed like in a very crowded parking lot situation and baby monitoring of course. They do both turn on when backing up even though I asked them I only wanted the 10.2 inch to come on only when I felt like it. But I actually agree they should both go on when backing up then turn off. More views the better I guess with those nasty blind spot enemies of mine! Moreover, it's just another toy that I will get bored of after the inital amazement like when people get head-rest monitors but don't have any backseat passengers and the cool factor subsides. Plus, I won't use the dvd alot so It won't break faster. I mean they have gps, the Ford infotainment centers, iphone connections, multi-media stations in the future if not now, so I don't think my video set-up is that big a deal. The shop jokingly said I was making a car for surveillance.
Which is kinda true, I wanted to make sure my rogue and family safe! It works really great. This will probably be my last major mod for this vehicle.