New use for backup cameras

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jharkin

jharkin

Minister of Fire
Oct 21, 2009
3,890
Holliston, MA USA
So, we bought the new truck this year, and that thing barely fits in the garage. Less than a foot to spare.

Figuring out how to get it in there, in the right spot, repeatably got me to thinking. The first thought was to do what my grandfather (and I'm sure many of yours) did to park his old Buick back in the day - hang a tennis ball from a sting and drive in till the hood ornament touched it.

But! The truck doesn't have a hood ornament. What it does have is one of those soon to be mandatory backup cameras, with guide and distance lines.


So I ran down to the hardware and picked up a can of orange pavement marking paint. An hour with a tape measure and some masking tape and we have the perfect solution. Now all I do is back in, using the camera to center on the line, and stop when the first distance line hits the bottom of the workbench. Leaves me just enough room to walk behind the truck, and close the door.

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Nice! I just did the tennis ball trick for my wife because she kept stopping the car 6" out of the garage and I'd have to go out and pull it in. She pulls straight in and stops when it hits the windsheild.

I want to add a backup camera to my new truck. Its a 2005 Tundra DC. Its a big truck at 19' long and I figure it will be good to have. Just trying to figure out what kind to get and how much it will cost to do it on the cheap. I'm thinking of doing the double din radio type vs. the mirror type because it seems easier to wire and install and would give me a nicer stereo to boot.
 
Something my grandfather did? . . . I think you meant something I did . . . never owned a Buick though. ;) :)
 
jharkin said:
So, we bought the new truck this year, and that thing barely fits in the garage. Less than a foot to spare.

Figuring out how to get it in there, in the right spot, repeatably got me to thinking. The first thought was to do what my grandfather (and I'm sure many of yours) did to park his old Buick back in the day - hang a tennis ball from a sting and drive in till the hood ornament touched it.

But! The truck doesn't have a hood ornament. What it does have is one of those soon to be mandatory backup cameras, with guide and distance lines.


So I ran down to the hardware and picked up a can of orange pavement marking paint. An hour with a tape measure and some masking tape and we have the perfect solution. Now all I do is back in, using the camera to center on the line, and stop when the first distance line hits the bottom of the workbench. Leaves me just enough room to walk behind the truck, and close the door.

View attachment 137333 View attachment 137334
Click to expand...

I love it!

you could build a larger garage but something tells me it will cost more than a $3 roll of tape and $5 can of spray paint.

ANdrew
 
I'm looking forward to a BU camera to line up my tow hitch in the future.
 
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Love the backup camera for hooking up the trailer!!! My trailer has a extra long hitch, and the Durango is a pretty long vehicle, so it's hard to hook it up without a few "jump back in and back up 6 more inches" type maneuvers. I get it right on the first try, every time now.
 
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Might be easier to just build a bigger garage, Jeremy. :p Actually, it's a cool idea. I'm saddened to hear back-up cameras are becoming mandatory, tho.

Just found out that my wife backed her car into our house. More accurately, she caught the side of the car (a little Volvo V50) on the side of a 7 foot wide door opening. I back my full size Dodge Ram pickup into the same garage, with less apparent trouble.

Now I have to repair the car... and the house.
 
Eeesh. I hope she stopped the car on contact and didn't keep backing up? That is too bad. That's won't be a cheap car repair.

How bad is the damage to the house?

A
 
Hey Swede... Damage isn't too bad. Just some scraped paint on both house and car. She caught the door handle and door trim on the car, which are both painted the same color as the car, but no metal. On the house , she scraped the door jamb, but with a little sanding and paint, it'll be gone.
 
They do make hooking up a trailer the first time easy. I have them on all of my vehicles now. The around view monitor on the Infinitis is pretty cool IMO. I've found ways to turn factory versions on when driving. Easier to see how close someone is behind you or it can act as a visual blind spot monitor. I have to turn the blind spot monitoring off on my cx-5 when towing trailer or I get false positives.

Op: good tip though...I've thought about doing a line on garage floor for wife.
 
I'm trying to figure out a way to get both my and my wife's car into the garage this summer. They'll both easily fit, but she hit the garage twice living with her parents, and I'm trying to prevent a way to have to fix both the car and garage. This is our first winter living together. I'm debating either lining both sides of her car with hanging tennis balls. Or just building tracks with 4x4's down the driveway, forcing her tires to pull in and back out straight. Even if I installed a back up camera I don't think she'd pay attention.
 
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Hire a personal valet.
 
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