Backup Camera Install BlueBird

[mangus580]

Trying to install the backup camera in my BlueBird.

I know about the wire chase down the side... My issue is, I the panel at the front above the drivers seat doesnt seem to come off. I think its riveted on for the fan support, and I am trying to avoid messing with it.

Does anyone have any ideas how to get the wire through this section?



I can get up to the seatbelt mount (from the rear) pretty easy, but from there forward is proving to be difficult, and I am trying to avoid ripping the whole thing apart!

 

[Rucker]

I'm no help on your issue, but good for you wiring it in instead of using the more crappy wireless version of backup cameras.

 

[mangus580]

I tried a wireless one time - and hated it. They just arent set up right (not the right frequency really) and never work worth a crap.

Thinking about it, I may have an idea... but its not the direction I want to go, so I will wait a little for more suggestions....

 

[turf]

im no help.

my bus has that soffit but only over the driver. i mounted some electric panels in it. so we got different setups.


how about running it withthe tail lights? on my bus that starts under the drivers window and goes under the bus to the rear. its how i ran my trailer lights.

 

[mangus580]

im no help.

my bus has that soffit but only over the driver. i mounted some electric panels in it. so we got different setups.


how about running it withthe tail lights? on my bus that starts under the drivers window and goes under the bus to the rear. its how i ran my trailer lights.

Tailight wiring follows this path.

 

[nikitis]

Most people will remove the panels so they can get to their wiring. Without panel removal you aren't going to be doing much modification to wiring. A lot of camera installs have the wiring going down the front left corner on the windshield. You can unscrew some bolts in the corner and you'll find wires there. Often 3rd party cameras wires are run through that space.

 

[mangus580]

I will have to take a closer look tomorrow - I wanted to come down that pillar, but with that upper panel not coming out without a fight, I dont have much of a plan for the moment.

Hopefully tomorrow I get home from work early enough to finish up. I need to button this and trailer wiring up before Saturday.... Ham Radio Adventures await!!

 

[cadillackid]

I left all the old school light wiring for this very purpose... anytime i wanted a wire run front to back.. on the bluebirds the school light controller unit is inside the switch panel.. mine being a 2000 has the 'T style (sort of diamond shaped) dash with the radio plate off to my left side.. behinf the radio plate panel is the school light controller.. wires run from the controller to the various places in the bus header.. inclusing the front and rear header panels... theres also wires going to the light monitor which you can pull off as you dont wantthe light monitor in the circuit for your camera or the screen

 

[mangus580]

I like this idea, but I think they have my wires taped every so often. At least I know they are taped into a bundle at the rear.

Not to mention, I plan to replace at least the rear upper lights with functional work lights, and caution lights at some point - so I will want the wiring.

I am going to dig into it more tonight and hopefully make something happen... we shall see.

I left all the old school light wiring for this very purpose... anytime i wanted a wire run front to back.. on the bluebirds the school light controller unit is inside the switch panel.. mine being a 2000 has the 'T style (sort of diamond shaped) dash with the radio plate off to my left side.. behinf the radio plate panel is the school light controller.. wires run from the controller to the various places in the bus header.. inclusing the front and rear header panels... theres also wires going to the light monitor which you can pull off as you dont wantthe light monitor in the circuit for your camera or the screen

 

[fo4imtippin]

Mine came off fine if I remember right. The top is shaped like a c. The bottom pulls out and then the top down. It's probably getting hung up on the front bulkhead. I didn't have a seatbelt either though. The front is wide open, if you pull out the light monitor, you can probably rod a pull string through, sometimes I use bent Romex as a push rod.

 

[mangus580]

I used some wonderful language.... but I managed to get the wires run from the back to the front! Now that I have done it once, if I had to do it again, it wouldnt be that horrible.

I still have to mount the camera on the back and fish the wire through the panel to the side back there, but that shouldnt be too horrible.

Thanks for the advice!!

Now I just have to mount the screen, and camera, and connect them together....

Oh, and finish my trailer wiring.... Then I am ready for saturday!

 

[Rucker]

Good job! On my shuttle I stuffed a piece of conduit pipe in the curved area above the windows, and pulled the wire through the conduit; then just pulled off the conduit. Worked well for a shuttle, not so much an option for a full length bus I'm guessing.

 

[heyring]

Isn’t it a long plastic piece?

 

[Tdi-337]

What are you using to get the wire up to that point? I bought a set of fiber fish sticks from harbor freight. I don’t have the same bus and I pulled all of my interior but this tool has come in handy ( currently using a few as stiffeners for the reflective window shade in the front window). Now that my conversion is done and I have had to pull a couple of wires from the front to the back for after the fact realizations, ps just did this the other day but I would highly recommended setting up the camera on a switch so you can turn it on and off while driving down the road. I had originally set mine up to turn on with the reverse lights. We pull a car behind us and we can’t see it in the mirrors so if it feels off someone has to look out the back window to confirm everything is fine. Now that I have it rigged on a switch it can be used more conventionally as a rear view mirror but can be turned off since the screen is annoyingly bright while driving at night. Just food for thought, or maybe you already had this forethought.

 

[Rucker]

Good discussion. My 4 camera system is always on since I use it as supplemental side and rear view mirrors.

My son was somewhat of a rear camera expert, and he was the one who said buy the best quality, wired system you can afford. I bought wired, but the dinky little TFT screen (I think it's 5.7") cannot be upgraded, so that's a lesson learned.

My shuttle bus has an interior curved panel where the wall and ceiling meet, and it is permanently installed. There's space where they strung the original wiring for rear lights etc. but there are fins and bumps that prevent stuffing a wire the whole length.

So I fished the backup camera cabling into a piece of 3/4" PVC irrigation and gently wiggled that into the wall/ceiling gap from the back end of the bus. I have a handicap lift at rear passenger side which allowed me to place the PVC pipe with the doors opened all the way. Then I held the cable and slid the PVC pipe off the cable. Worked like a champ, but was a one-time thing-if I need to run another cable I'll need to repeat the process and hope there's still room in the cavity.