Hey guys, Briohny here from Accelerate Auto Electrics and Air Conditioning, on the Sunshine Coast. Today I’m gonna show you one of our favourite accessories for towing, dual rear vision cameras.
This is what we think is a must-have for everyone that is towing a caravan or camper trailer. So what we’ve got installed in Andrew’s Ranger is a Polaris in-dash multi-media centre. Basically, this replaces the standard head unit, and what it allows us to do is to hook up dual rear vision cameras. We’ve got one on the rear of the car, that allows us to see behind the car like a normal reverse camera could, but then we’ve also got one installed at the back of the camper van here, which allows us to see behind the camper van when towing. I’ll show you a few of the little features of it.
Vehicle Camera
So on the back of the Ranger, we’ve got your standard reverse camera, which is installed here. This allows us to see behind the car when we’re driving normally. We’ve also then got this woza cable here, that connects the car and the caravan. We have to plug that in every time we tow, to allow us to see behind the caravan. Let’s go and have a look at that.
Trailer Camera
On the rear of the caravan, we’ve got a camera here installed on the spare wheel. There are lots of different mounting options for cameras on caravans, we like the spare wheel one, it fits nice and tidy. There’s one sort of same that’s on the Ranger. For taller caravans, there are ones that can sit up higher and look down, and also different colour options available.This allows us to see, basically behind the camper, and generally the two lanes either side as well. So let’s go have a look in the front of the car and look at the dash there.
In-Dash Unit
In the car, we’ve got this in-dash unit. That replaces the existing one that came stock standard from Ford. Basically, in here you’ve got options. Your standard ones are radio, we’ve got a USB or SD card input, iPod connectivity or iPhone connectivity. It’s got Bluetooth, so it takes over your normal call control and that sort of thing.
It takes CD and DVDs, and you can do an aux in. We’ve also got the feature that when I pop the car into reverse, on the screen we get behind the car and then using my little toggle switch which is located just under my knee, I can then flick that to display behind the camper as well.
That’s really fantastic for overtaking on the freeway, or anything like that. You can see what is behind you. You can see them coming up behind you and know when you’ve cleared them to change back into the lanes or move back to the left-hand side and your right-hand side.
Safer Towing
This really is a must-have for safety when towing I think. It makes me feel a lot more comfortable when I’m towing because I can see all around me, and behind the camper as well. There are lots of different brands available. This unit is the Polaris, there are stacks of different brands that do different models to suit different cars. There will be a different head unit for a Ford Ranger, for a Toyota Land Cruiser, for a Mazda BT50, just because of the shape and the space that comes standard from the dealer.
So if you would like some advice, or would like to get dual rear vision cameras installed for caravan or your car, you can give us a call on 1300 227 353.
You can comment below, or you can send us an email to info@amae.net.au.
