I just got back driving from Texas in my wife's Outlander. The thing goes 72mph and gets 27.5 MPG...no chit. So I got to thinking about how my Ranger's side mirrors are like paddles and that the Outlander's are swept in many different angles. Then I got to thinking...shouldn't we be about at the technology to put small camera pods on the side of the doors and small LCD screens on either side of the steering wheel. Kinda like bringing the mirrors inside the cabin.

I know I'd never do it due to financial reasons, but just for giggles...thought I'd start a brain storm.

You'd need a power cable and data line from camera to inside dash. Small pod to install on door side with a clear rear for the camera...waterproof for when it rains. Camera would have to withstand large range of temps. Panels would just have to mount somehow in the interior.

 

If done right it could look great. But other wise it wouldn't look to good.

 

Seems like it would probably be too expensive to maintain once you did get it built...Cameras prolly wouldn't be cheap to get ones that would last a while with a decent picture...

I dunno, it is a cool idea tho.

 

The mirrors aren't your only aerodynamic problem. . . . the entire front end of the ranger is like a sail. . . . just catches all the wind. But the camera thing sounds cool. . . . but the truck would look weird without mirrors.

 

yeah, I think it would be hard to get looking right for the Ranger...dash just isn't setup to accomodate.

maybe 5-8 more years that kind of tech will get low enough. I would think camera tech is getting close though, especially if a car manufacturer would back it up, the demand would be there to bring the supply.

 

You could actually get two pinhole cameras with a housing that could duble stick onto the mirror. The signal can be ran with phone cable, but the most expensive part would be the monitors to view the live feed. Small monitors are not cheap.

 

Color Cameras - Anything Trucker

 

wow...that's really interesting.

 

On Ebay, I have bought several broken Garmins. The LCD screens on most are fine, but the GPS doesn't power on, or won't connect to satellites. I take others with broken screens that work, & put the good screens in. I just won't pay more than $20 for one. I'm sure there must be a way to use the screens in other ways, like camera monitors... Any electrical/computer types out there?

 

For a monitor (if you had a double din with a backup camera option) couldn't you tap the mirrors/cameras into the backup camera so you could see it on your double din? That would be cool. But I guess that would only work for reverse.

 

You can set the AV2 to a back-up camera so you can see it all the time. You just have to make sure to have full power to the camera though. Then just a AV switch and you can have as many cameras as you want.

 

To take the lcd and use it for whatever you want, you need to find an LCD controller for it, Which I think they are pretty expensive.
Taking the LCD out something like that always seems like a good idea, buts its really more difficult than it sounds. Not that it cant be done though.

 

Well, as long as we are going all out here, why not make some kind of heads up display? Either with some kind of head set or a screen in front of the windshield. Shows the tac, speedo, gas, or any other info you want, then on the sides of the screen/head set you can see the image from the side cameras. That way you never have to turn your head...

That's just if we are going all out, lol.