Installed a digital rear view mirror

[HammaMan]

Use a 5m fast curing epoxy to stick to it after scuffing it. A decent plastic zip tie holder is preferred vs metal due to thermal expansion issues potentially allowing the metal to separate from the epoxy (unless it's got holes or recesses in it that epoxy can flow into). Be sure to scuff up the plastic bottom after removing the sticky as well.

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[DadBald]

Thanks @HammaMan, I did scuff up the bottom of the plastic clips too, but that hasn't been the issue. Everything sticks to them pretty well, it's just the fiberglass causing issues for some reason.

 

[fordtruckman2003]

Use whatever adhesive necessary and permanently attach some of these. Then thread zip ties to hold your wiring and easy to remove as needed.

 

[DadBald]

Been about 18 hours, here's an update.

This topper is made out of pure teflon. Duct tape is coming off now! lol

I put the goop on each scuffed-up clip and scuffed up topper patch, let it sit for a few minutes per the instructions, then put the wire loom up, stuck them all together, and duct taped everything into place. It actually lasted the night just fine, but at lunchtime today the tape was all loose. Perhaps it's the temp, but it's not really hot today either (76F), although it is sunny.

I think the goop has set up enough overnight to have held it's position ok. I stuck the tape back up and crossed my fingers for another 24 hours. We'll see!

 

[spiritrider1]

I know this may be over the top, but it appears you are someone who likes doing things the right way.
Fiberglass some small washer nuts or inserts to the surface, then just screw the loom on with adel clamps.
Chop up some fiberglass cloth and mix with resin. put a screw into the nut to keep the resin from filling the threads and apply mixture generously around it. Lay a small patch or two of cloth over it and let cure. Remove the screw and sand the area smooth.

Below is a video that somewhat resembles what I'm trying to describe. This guy used embedded T-nuts but just imagine flipping them around. The main thing is to build up the resin around the outside of the washer nut but not over it. It will make a small mound.
Have fun!

 

[DadBald]

Yeah that appears to be a good strong solution. A bit more involved than I'm looking for currently, but who knows, maybe I'll get there soon. Thanks for the tip!

 

[fordtruckman2003]

Four bolts in your photo that hold the top hardware, plus this from above.

Secure to the black thing at top instead of the top itself for another connection point.

 

[spiritrider1]

Four bolts in your photo that hold the top hardware, plus this from above.

Secure to the black thing at top instead of the top itself for another connection point.

Come to think of it... I didn't even pay attention to the ALREADY EXISTING studs in the fiberglass!
??‍ But yea, that would work.

 

[DadBald]

Update, took the duct tape off today... What was left of it anyway, at least half of each strip was hanging loose. The Goop seems to be holding well though!

I checked it out a bit more and even on mild days, the inside of the roof is pretty hot. I'd guess about 130 degrees by feel, checked with an IR temp gun and yeah it's between 120 and 140F. No wonder stuff is having a hard time sticking.

The Goop is rated for 180 in short durations... We'll see if it's enough over time. I'll let you know if anything happens.

 

[Calson]

I used a change to the Forscan settings in my truck to eliminate the warning message that shows when engaging the camera view. That is all that was needed to provide a view of the road behind the truck.

I would never tint the front side windows as I want to be able to clearly see what is around while driving at night. I also want to use the side mirrors as I rely on them for the most part with every truck I have owned over many years.

I found that by adding black cloth curtains to the sides of my Snugtop topper that no one can see inside through the standard tint on the rear of the truck. The Velcro strips on the curtains sticks very well to the liner used by Snugtop.

 

[DadBald]

I did that Forscan change too, and it's handy in a pinch. But several reasons I don't think it's a perfect substitute for the mirror:
1. It takes over the whole center stack screen. I prefer to use other things on this screen
2. The center stack screen is too big and bright for the reverse cam all the time - it's way too distracting. I actually turned the brightness all the way down on my mirror display and it's just about right.
3. The camera angle on the tailgate camera is unnatural for a rear view mirror. Perhaps a younger driver may not have this issue, but I'm used to seeing up at the mirror, and out the back. The mirror camera is mounted up high which is more what I'm used to. Also the tailgate cam is way too wide. A mirror naturally has a much narrower field of view since you're looking down the length of the vehicle and out the back glass. The mirror cam is narrower like this too.
4. The tailgate camera can't see over a small trailer, but a high-mount mirror cam can.

I'm not sure what you're getting at with tinting the side windows... I also agree it's not the best idea. The issue I have is looking through the tinted rear glass, then the tinted topper rear glass, which makes a regular rear-view mirror very dark. Sometimes it's hard to see anything at all.

Is your topper lined with carpet? The carpet is usually attached with some kind of contact cement I believe. The velcro is a mechanical connection that doesn't care much about the temperature. I don't have a liner in mine so I didn't have the velcro option.

 

[SkyPuncher]

3M VHB tape will basically stick to anything. This is the type of adhesive a lot of dashcams will use. It's thick, semi-squishy, very adhesive, and pulls of relatively cleanly.

I believe a variation of VHB tape is now commonly being used to keep windows on sky scrapers.

Available on Amazon. I think it's available at Home Depot (and probably others) under the Scotch brand.

 

[22SpaceWhiteXLT]

A note on all this - I did get the dimming working again with the new mirror... but I realized afterwards that it never really dimmed anyway because of the tinted rear glass situation. It measures ambient light with the forward sensor, then there's another sensor behind the glass looking backwards, and when it senses a differential (i.e. when a car is blaring its lights behind you), it will dim. But with the dark rear glass, it never got a differential reading and essentially never dimmed... If it never dims, it never needs the 12v reverse light override either. I was thinking of the exterior mirror, didn't want to lose dimming on that one, but alas, it is also controlled by the mirror inside. So if you're installing a camera for a topper situation like mine, you can probably skip the dimming wires altogether and simplify the job. Unless you're a sucker for features like me, even if you know it'll never be used.

Question for clarity. If I was to install something like this and just unplugged the OEM rear view mirror what would exactly be lost in terms of features? Would auto bright headlamps/interior cluster and screen auto brightness adjustment/etc... be lost or throw any codes?

 

[DadBald]

I don't recall 100%, but I believe the mirror only controlled the outside left/right rear view mirror dimming based on the status of the center mirror inside. I don't think it affects anything else. There are no codes thrown for disconnecting the mirror.

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