Rear view camera mod

My 2011 Taco doesn't have the rear view mirror guidelines built into it like the newer trucks do. So I decided to add my own. The project cost me $2.50 and took about 30 minutes.

1 - Get some super thin tape. I found this at a hobby store.


2. Get some PVC pipe, 2x4's, long straight poles, to mark the edges of your truck. I had two 10' lengths of PVC pipe in the garage so I used those. Place them next to your rear tires and make sure they stay parallel to each other. The idea is to mark the edges where your truck ends. They don't need to be as long as the truck, just long enough to provide a straight line to mark.

In the picture, on the right side, you can see a white line, that's the PVC. I just took a length of tape stretched it tight between my hands and stuck it down over the white line.

3. Here is the work in progress. I took a razor and trimmed the extra off.


4. Here's the finished product.


- and what it looks like during normal driving


The top and bottom horizontal lines mark the full length of the truck and 1 foot beyond the rear bumper. The center vertical line is the center of the truck and the two outside lines mark the edges. I don't find the tape on the mirror a bother in the least. I never use that part of the mirror in normal driving.

I've had this on the mirror for about a month now and really like it. A quick glance tells me if I have to worry about hitting something or not. It has proved its worth many times during parking. A surprise bonus was the improvement for parallel parking. It was easy to tell where the curb was in relation to the edge of the truck and just how close I could get to that guy's bumper without hitting it.

For $2.50 I'm pretty happy with the result. Sure beats the $1,000 price of a replacement mirror.

 

looks pretty good considering the work in progress picture. The sight lines do help a bit when using the camera. I mostly just use it for not backing into the car behind me in parking lots and offroading once i get to that point with the new rig. That center line helps with trailers a lot though

 

That turned out awesome!

When I had my 2010, I didn't have the lines. I was fine with it. When I got into my 13' I hated the lines for the first while. I was so use to not having them, they were really annoying. Once I got use to them and started using them they were a big asset. Living in the city with small spaces and the way people park, I would never go back to a mirror camera without the lines.