Water droplets on rear camera

Blackheads, whiteheads, redheads, IDGAF. The point is the facilitation of extruding impurities of essence.

 

He's on a roll. Don't even get him started on the Fluoride.

 

Ignore the camera. I just do the same thing when I parallel park, if I feel something solid I go back forward, change angle and try again.

 

DID WE GIVE UP WHEN THE GERMANS BOMBED PEARL HARBOR?!??!??!!

 

For those that don't get the reference...

 

3rd gen owners...

 

The camera on my VW hides behind the emblem until you turn the car on and put in reverse. Emblem tips up and camera comes out. Always clean and clear. The Tacoma well its basic as shit.

 

I never had this issue LIKE NEVER with my 2014 Taco but recently traded for a 3rd gen and it's horrible enough I almost want to swap the tailgate for a 2nd gen.

 

What a thread!
The problem is there, the camera gets covered with rain and dirt, making rear view almost impossible-especially in the dark.
It is a design flaw and nothing will help there. Rain-x works with airflow. You will never get the airflow fast enough at the location the camera is. Besides it is called Rain-x not dirt-x. It works great on water, not on dirt. Even a little spoiler would probably not do the trick and it would obstruct full vision. Wipe it before you drive is like wiping the butt before taking a dump. Great idea!
Guess this is one of the design flaws we have to live with.
After all, the Tacoma is a simple and basic truck-that is what we were willing to pay for. Want more high-tech? Spend a bunch of Ks more, get another brand truck and join their forum.
For the number of (useless) replies, we all could have spent the time to sent Toyota an email outlining the problem and asking them to fix it in Gen 4. You will get a useless answer from them initially, but they do improve products if they get enough complaints and the lobby is big enough. See the development through and even inside the Gens of Tacomas-good changes have been made.
All owners of a new Tacoma get the product survey email. Take time to list it there!

 

I just hope Ironman never, ever sees this thread…

 

We took a trip up to Ogden Utah and it was raining snowing sleeting the whole time. My front and rear cameras were useless and when we got the the hotel I couldn't get the tailgate to unlock. I had to break into the tonneau cover to get our bags out of the truck. My son, lives up there, carries a spray bottle of something he sprays on the windshield and camera etc. I can't remember what it was, I will ask him next time I talk to him because it sure worked great. Came home in even worse weather and smooth sailing.

 

No design flaw, simple fluid dynamics law.
Air flow under and over truck is more laminar than when it gets to the tailgate, which is a low pressure area, causing all the dust and moisture to get sucked back up on the tailgate.
Toyota does a lot of things but they cannot control the fundamental laws of fluids.

 

So I just got home after a rainy day drive and I noticed this issue as well. I’m still in the stage where I back up with my mirrors then remember afterwards that I have the camera.

I’d contend that it is an engineering problem, or at least a cost-cutting/bean-counting problem, and isn’t impossible to solve. I’ll see if I can dig it up, but I remember a recent video of some package thieves in an apartment hallway who try to spray paint one of those newfangled doorbell cameras with spray paint. Pretty much as soon as it goes on it comes off, purely based on the weight of the film and whatever is suspended in there as well. Since it’s an indoor hallway I’m suspecting it had almost zero ambient air movement, at least in comparison to my truck on the highway. So there are industrial coatings, along the lines of the Rain-X solution, that would improve the performance but at an increased production cost. Unfortunately wiping isn’t a workaround for me since I back into my driveway instead of the other way around, so I’d want a clean camera after I’ve driven and not before.

 

I'm not reading through a 5 year old thread, but.

Whenever I back into the garage after a day of weather, I give the camera a quick wipe with the ol finger.

Boom, clear picture for tomorrow.

 

True - and if you know that aerodynamics are like that (not fluid dynamics, we still drive in air, not water) which Toyota certainly knows and still mounts a camera at that spot, it is a design flaw!

 

Um, I took Fluid Dynamics in College and it covers gases too, including air. Not much difference between air and water flow besides drag. Here https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluid_dynamics
As far as solutions, there are only two, mayber three.
1. A wiper over the lens.
2. A steady stream of air flow across the lens.
3. Maybe a hydrophobic coating over the lens. Problem is water will still bead and the clarity could be an issue.
Those that think recessing the lens in a cone or a little roof over the lens have not thought it through.
And, I have the same problem and I use the thumb solution. Pretty simple.

 

Terrible on all cars not just tacoma

 

Here’s the video I was referencing https://www.reddit.com/r/therewasanattempt/comments/xuegtr/to_disable_a_security_camera/

I’ll admit my dad was the engineer and not me, as my mind was always on more abstract topics, but I picked up a little bit of Greek on the turnip truck. There are consumer devices that are relatively affordable that have oleophobic (legit blast of Rust-Oleum enamel there) and hydrophobic coatings that don’t affect clarity, or certainly no more than the lighting blasting at the camera that was installed by Toyota.

I might not know Floyd Dymamics, but I know when I give my dingle dangle a jingle jangle that any beads of liquid go flying. That just makes me question the impossibility of keeping water from beading on the camera as I negotiate the turn into my residential neighborhood at 70 mph. If I had one of these doorbell cameras I’d absolutely try lashing it up to my truck on a rainy day to compare. But as far as I know there aren’t a lot of people saying they need to give their cameras a good old fashioned rub down to get useful video.

 

I think the only realistic solution to this is going to be some sort of relatively sealed cover/cap that pops open when the camera is being used. The Tacoma isn't terrible compared to a lot of vehicles these days, but I miss the outward visibility of old cars/trucks. My prior daily '03 Forester was like driving a greenhouse..

 

Do anyone know the definition of a first-world problem? That's when your life is so amazing, you have to make shit up to complain about

-Louis CK