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DIY 2014 Grand Cherokee Front View Camera

42K views 51 replies 17 participants last post by  porkandrinds6 
#1 ·
I will document in this thread my progress in installing a Front View Camera (FCV) in my 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee equipped with a RA4 (8.4 AN) radio.

I decided to install the FCV for a number of reasons:

  • Parking (parallel, street, garages)
  • Off-Road (over-the-hill visibility)
  • Pothole avoidance
  • Blind entry/exit (alleys, garages)
I have previously considered adding Parksense Front Parking sensors and I have no doubt I would be able to, at a higher price but the fact remains that the addition of the sensors would not help the driver view the ground directly in front of the car (about 15 feet from my driving position).


Until recently there was only one choice on the market: the hardware-based Coastal Tech Lockpick CHR558 v2 solution. In the past few weeks, a new software based solution has emerged, the Customtronix software-based choice from Europe. I chose the Coastal Tech Lockpick solution for these reasons expressed here.


I will be using instructions for the Lockpick installation and for an external CB radio antenna installation posted elsewhere on this forum. I will not reinvent those and I will up-link then here as I progress with my install.



Unfortunately I had a stomach flue over the week-end and made zero progress and then today the weather did not cooperate. I hope to have it installed in the car by next week-end and I will detail the relevant installation aspects here.



I will be using:

  • Coastal Tech Lockpick CHR558 V2
  • Pyle PLCM37FRV camera (with optional lines)
The camera works, is not the best ever but at $23 dollars, I can replace a few. I will have details as the installation progresses.



Meanwhile if anyone has done this before, please point me to your installation thread but I have successfully handled more hardcore car navigation projects before. Thanks.
 

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#6 · (Edited)
We've been working on the mounting gear. The bracket that came from the factory only allowed tilting and that would have been insufficient. Moreover, we were under the impression that it would not reach out far enough through the front grille slot, therefore limiting its field of view.

As such, we fabricated a new aluminium bracket. The bracket has been machined to match the external dimensions of the camera, drilled for any pins and tightening screws, and would allow the camera to be adjusted on 3 axis:
- moving the camera forward of the radiator or backwards towards the radiator
- panning (rotating) left (driver) or right (passenger)
- tilting down (bumper) or up (sky)

Of course we are only talking adjustments of a few millimeters here but we did not have that adjustment possibility in the first place. And since we are not Chrysler, to have engineered the grille for this purpose, anything added aftermarket that was not part of the original design, must some room for error and adjustments.

The picture I included here shows the location - front grille, center slot, off-set right. Initially I wanted it smack in the middle and I was prepapred to cut (dremel) the plastic insert in the slot, for a "dead center" installation but the camera turned out to be smaller than expected. The camera does fit through the 2 center slots but it is a tighter fit and maybe in winter they will break. I think it is sufficiently centered.

This location was chosen for several reasons:
- we avoid removing the bumper
- we mount it high in a position approximating the location of the rear camera, whose view angle we are trying to replicate
- we have an existing solid bracket which is pre-drilled and which can be further drilled: the hood latching mechanism - onto which we will attach our bracket.

We will see what the week-end brings.
 

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#8 · (Edited)
well I have adaptive cruise control so it was not a choice.
that location will be prone to road rash, dirt, dust, grime and will require permanent cleaning. It will also not provide the spatial view / location awareness as well as the higher location: there is a reason why you are able to see your rear bumper in the rear view camera - so you can spatially place the car in relation to other objects. As such, a radar eye location would not allow you to see the car bumper in reference to other objects unseen from the driver seat. That's my take. Besides you'd have to run wires alongside the radiator which means shielding and front bumper removal which I wanted to avoid.
 
#9 ·
Understood. I have a different grill so want to consider alternative locations. I also have different needs for the front camera than the rear and seeing the bumper isn't important to me. Appreciate your perspective and think you did a great job but looking for other options.
 
#10 ·
The camera attachment was finalized (pictures are still at an intermediary stage) but I did not have enough daylight left either Saturday or Sunday to start the Lockpick install and running the wire through the firewall. And it seems that I will be unable to do it over the Labor Day week-end. Anyways, the mounting took much longer than initially anticipated due to the fact that I wanted to plan for a possible camera replacement (either with same model or another brand) and I wanted to make the process go as smoothly as possible.
 

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#20 ·
Thank you so much for great postings/pictures.
Where are you drawing the power for the front camera from?
I have a front camera but I am a newbie and am not sure how to do this.
My camera came with yellow jack for video output and red/black line for power. I am not sure exactly what to do with red/black line...
Details will be much appreciated.
 
#11 · (Edited)
I messed something up so i will finish tomorrow. I worked a cool 6 hours on it, the Lockpick doesn't like the BACK button only the remote, there is no grommet pass-thru, I had a CEL, and solved it all except the wrong wire I soldered which i have to fix tomorrow.

But I will start the write-up tonight. It will be great parking aid though. It will cover the entire front of the vehicle. And no - the camera isn't anywhere near the proper position. It was just leaning on the car.
 

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#12 · (Edited)
Removal of the radio face plate and the HVAC controls

  • Straight forward, please use the instructions posted in post # 3 of this thread: Coastal Tech CHR558 Installation Instructions (Dropbox - CHR558.pdf)
  • Ensure that the battery power is disconnected. I removed the (+) in the engine compartment.
 

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#13 · (Edited)
Removal of Glove Box and Vehicle Firewall Pass-Through

I used the instructions listed in the Glovebox chapter of the Interior Trim Removal section of the tear-down manual, which were provided on www.wk2jeeps.com site. See below this PDF file 2014_wk2_interior_trim_removal_001. Use only plastic trim removal tools (15 dollars for a set of 4 at your local auto store)

The instructions (2014 WK - Body/Instrument Panel/GLOVE BOX, Instrument Panel/Removal) start on page 61 of the PDF and they are very basic and unclear. They start with asking the user to remove the cylinder lock. I found this step to be unnecessary during the re-installation process. I also ended up splitting the upholstery from the plastic cover by probably misinterpreting instructions on page 63, at the top, also something that you guys should avoid. The upholstery is glued, and although it came out in one piece, I am afraid that I will either have to re-glue it myself or buy a new glove box compartment altogether.


In the process, you will also reach the compartment for the cabin air filter. Replace it while you are in there. Mine was grey colored but not soiled. I left it in there after blowing it with air, but you will be reaching it as part of the process. See the relevant section Filter, Cabin Air of the interior trim removal instructions.

At the end of the day, this is what you want to see - the wiring behind the glove box leading into the engine compartment. You can easily trace the battery cable and a few others (like the clear/white hose).

The interior trim removal took 4 hours for us, first timers.

There was NO spare grommet on my 2014 Limited with Tech, Lux and ORA-2 packages. Apparently the Australian versions do have one (see Post # 2 of this thread), but we don't. It may be due to the RHD configuration and something could not be mirrored on the other side of the car, so they may have an additional grommet that is normally on the North American driver side of the vehicle. I don't know. I looked and I could not find it.

We peeled off the grommet in the middle, between the thick harness and the battery cable. For clarity, it is the one with the clear/white hose. Then from the engine compartment, using a wood rod (for flowers to tie up the plant so it grows straight) we pushed gently until we were able to get part of the grommet back into the engine compartment.

You can see a black cable going from top left of the picture into the middle grommet. We pushed it from the cabin into the engine compartment and fish it up with a hook on the engine side. The black cable was an audio cable which was canibalized for connectors and soldered to the LockPick connector for power.

A big thanks to Schumi the dog for providing security and visual re-assurance with his tail wags that no mater how $#%@-ed up the process was, everything was just fine, in the grand scheme of things.
 

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#14 · (Edited)
I installed the following connectors to the LockPick

- USB cable for any future updates to the Lock Pick
- RCA video inputs
- Remote Control
- Additional Camera power connector
- Front Camera

The installation instructions at Post # 3 of this thread also explain how to add an HDMI input. There is also an IPOD connector provided with the LockPick which I did not use, due to my long-standing anti I-P00P (pod, pad, phone) philosophy. There is enough room behind the navi to hide it all. And if you route the cables smartly, you could have them drop into the little cubby compartment that hosts the SD card reader, the USB plug and the aux in. A natural location if you asked me - one place for all your audio-video connection needs. That is where I keep the remote as well.
 

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#15 · (Edited)
I have not finalized the camera installation as previously mentioned, but it seems that if I add the lines, the image gets mirrored (as if for reverse cam use). I will sort it out tonight. This is how the camera was positioned on the car, when I tested it. I may have to try a different camera but the attachment points and the wiring is all done, therefore any replacement should be relatively painless.

I did drive the car around the block last night and also my wife to work this morning. The LockPick removed the restrictions for address entry while in motion. There is a slight delay for the front cam activation, just like in the videos posted by the gentleman with the software Lockpick. This delay is somewhere around 1 sec. Another way to quantify it, we have an option in UConnect settings to delay the rear cam when engaging the reverse gear. This front cam reverse is, time wise, between that delay and the regular timing of the rear cam. In other words inconsequential. The front cam gets activated when you put it in drive up to speeds faster than the rolling motion of the car without throttle input.

For the time being one significant difference to the software -LockPick version is that you cannot go back to the main radio screen easily during that time or if you are in Drive but stopped, foot on the brake. Placing the car in park or neutral brings the regular radio screens as does speeding above 7 mph. BUT I speculate that is because I wired the power to the front camera to the RED ACC wire and the BLACK GROUND rather than the ORANGE WITH STRIPES CAM wire and the BLACK GROUND. I think if I solder correctly, I will be able to use the BACK button on the radio to go back to the main radio screen.

I am split on whether this is annoying or not but it is really a matter of re-learning how things work. The front cam switches on only when you are stationary but in Drive and you cannot control the radio functions anymore. A nudge to Neutral solves that. The cam will not really switch on at the typical stop and go intersection with a STOP sign but in stop and go Chicago traffic or at a traffic light you will get the front view more than you want. At the traffic light you can put it in Neutral though. This is where the software LockPick might be more advantageous but then again, for that one you have to tap the screen to switch between inputs. If I make the Back button work, then we are good.
 

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#16 ·
Great work. I don't have access to a Red Setter, though so I will have to look at other options.
 
#18 · (Edited)
I have finalized the installation and I am about 90% happy with how it turned out. I will revisit the mounting mechanism as well as the view. I am not yet fully decided on whether being able to see the front bumper is important or not, because I can use the yellow guiding lines. I may decide to mount it lower, closer to the radar sensor but I have already voted against that previously. Maybe it will be just closer to the bumper, at the lower edge of the radiator grille. But I must now turn to other projects.

Approximate views from my driving position, relative to the car in front and the space I actually have in front of the car. Each yellow line is about 1 foot (14-15 inches).
 

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#23 ·
It would have been better if the RAX jailbreak would have come with a harness that also provides power. But it doesn't. Someone, in the other thread, mentioned where they tapped for power.

MTNMERLIN,

could you please share the make and model of those cameras and where you purchased them from? I would like to add a few myself.
 
#24 ·
could you please share the make and model of those cameras and where you purchased them from? I would like to add a few myself.
I mounted a camera on the rear bumper of my trailer so I can see behind it when towing. It is a mirrored, rear-facing camera. I got the kit from www.camera-source.com. It is on the Automotive->Universal page. (I also got my Lockpick with this kit.) They call it: "Heavy Duty 5th Wheel, Trailer, Camper Camera Kit for Lockpick and Universal Monitor Applications"

The three forward-facing cameras I got from Red Peak Off Road Home Page. Since mine are forward-facing, the two bullet cameras need to be unmirrored cameras. Make certain they know that (it took them three tries to get mine correct). They call them: Bullet Style RubiCam cameras. The main front camera is their Heavy Duty Style RubiCam (Reversible) camera. It has a couple swappable screws whose position selects mirrored (rear-facing) or unmirrored (forward-facing).

Disclaimer: I have no connection with either of these companies and there may be better and/or cheaper sources. Both had great customer service when I had issues.

And just for the record, the middle camera is permanently mounted to the bottom of the RRO winch mount. The bullet cameras are on brackets I made out of scrap angle brackets I found in the garage. They slide into the outside lower facia tab slot with a bolt through the slot when I remove the lower facia.
 
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#26 ·
Thanks for reviving the thread. I'm still trying to figure out how to get through the firewall.
The firewall was an issue. There is an existing hole that is rather full down low under the fresh air inlet (a 180 degree looping plastic piece). I figured there was no way I would get four cables through the firewall hole and cutting the grommet was going to be difficult (very hard to reach). So, I did something rather goofy, but much easier. I went through the air intake. One hole in the plastic on the inside near the firewall. The cables run above the filter on the side. I am not recommending it, but it was much easier than other methods.
 

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#34 ·
I have the CHR558 lockpick and after bad luck with cheap forward looking camera's, went with this little guy

https://camera-source.com/products/universal/automotive-side-camera-kit

It's small and very waterproof. I installed mine low for best parking assistance. As far as trying to get through the firewall, I found a much easier route. If you open the passenger door, there is a body plug in the front lower door frame. take off the interior kick panel and run a coat hanger through the foam insulation. Make a small hole in the body plug, and there you go. I cleaned it up with flexible wire conduit that I zipped tied in place on the inside of the body plug, so it wouldn't pull out. From there, you can run the wires (in the conduit) through the door jam into the engine compartment. I had to remove some of the screws attaching the fender liner. This doesn't interfere with the door at all.
 

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