I've been pretty much hibernating all winter. Now, the weather is getting better, and I'm starting to come back out of my den... like Punxsutawney Phil.
I'm in the middle of a camera and GPS upgrade. I got tired of my flaky cheap Chinese eBay GPS/rear-view camera locking up. The screen was never easy to see anyway. And, the camera is wireless, and sometimes the video is jagged or snowy, just what I need when backing up a half mile on an old railroad bed in the dark.
A while back, I got a CCD camera for my Chrysler 300. It's a nice camera, and when backing up in the pitch dark, I have "daylight" in the monitor. The backup lights alone make it look like I'm backing up in a football stadium. The same eBay order for the camera etc. was the logo projectors. They sent the wrong ones the first time, so they resent the entire order. So... I ended up with a 2nd CCD camera. Woohoo! The XK has not only LED backup lights, but a pair of 50 watt halogens on the roof rack, so it's be full daylight in the dark!
I'm putting the camera into a small enclosure since it's designed to replace a Chrysler 300's license light, so it mounts up under the trunk lid. (sorta) It's put in with silicone in the box's lid, and will be mounted on my roof rack with the lid and/or installed camera upside down to keep water out. (The box will be lid down, but the camera correct) It probably doesn't matter as the camera is weather sealed anyway, but why push my luck? A test run of the camera works good at 6 feet high. (on a portable monitor) The car's camera is only about 2 feet off the ground.
The new WIRED camera (no more flaky wireless crap) will be connected to a 7" mirror/monitor. (Replaces the Jeep's rear-view mirror) That has two inputs, so I'm going to put a second camera somewhere up front to get a close-up of rocks etc. when off-roading. I'm even considering the forward facing camera to be underneath somewhere to see the chassis. I also ran a power wire from the backup lights because the monitor switches to backup mode to prioritize the rear view cam. That way, when I switch to reverse, it goes from cam 1 to cam 2. (The rear facing cam) That input wire also turns on the monitor in case it's turned off. (The monitor is a mirror unless it's on and lit up)
The Chinese no-name GPS will be replaced by an easy-to-see-in-daylight Garmin, which I already have.
ALSO...
I just ordered a 40 inch LED light bar. After a Jeep rally last year and seeing one putting out a massive beam much like the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" I just HAD to have one. It should be here on the 20th via FedEx. That will replace the two halogens on the roof rack. The light bar is a 30 degree spot, with five figures of lumen output.My front bumper HID's are 3,500 lumens each for about 7,000 total, and the new bar will be double THAT.
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