Anyone have a front view camera installed?

[Jayhovah]

For parking, etc...

I plan to install one myself... hoping others here can post up some examples of good mounting locations, etc. Who's got one?

[NorthStyle]

Most installations I've seen have them near the rear view mirror mount at the top of the windshield slightly pointing down to capture the hood.

[JARblue]

I've got a dash cam mounted behind my front mirror such that I can hardly even see it from my driver seat.

But it's not really a parking aid. I prefer to use my own spatial awareness rather than electronic aids. I've never really had trouble maneuvering a car within inches of objects around it. Big trucks are much more cumbersome to park than my tiny Z.

[Jayhovah]

Not looking for a dash cam really.. want to put something similar to a backup cam in the front to help with parking... Your spatial awareness may work - but mine seems to be lacking lol. Probably 1/10 times I scrape the factory chin spoiler over a parking pylon and I have a set of Swift springs on the shelf waiting to go in one day... I figure I am going to need to solve the spatial awareness problem before lowering.

[JARblue]

Originally Posted by Jayhovah

Not looking for a dash cam really.. want to put something similar to a backup cam in the front to help with parking... Your spatial awareness may work - but mine seems to be lacking lol. Probably 1/10 times I scrape the factory chin spoiler over a parking pylon and I have a set of Swift springs on the shelf waiting to go in one day... I figure I am going to need to solve the spatial awareness problem before lowering.

Well, it sounds like you are just talking about running over a wheel stop, which is much different than pulling up to a wall or other vehicle, at least in terms of spatial awareness due to the fact that the wheel stop disappears from view as you pull closer to it.

I stopped worrying about the plastic chin spoiler long ago. I don't think I hit it 10% of the time, but I bet I've done it far more times than you have given the 86K miles I've put on my Z. It's holding up just fine to this point - I shave it down with a razor blade occasionally to keep the edge looking clean. One thing to keep in mind is the Z is pretty short, so you don't have to pull up far into most parking spaces, which are typically 18-20' long (the Z is barely 14' long). I often find myself several feet back from the front of the space and the medium-sized truck adjacent to me sticks out further than my Z.

I know that pretty much all OEM parking aids have the sensors built into the bumpers. But the cameras typically are not. For example, my father's Rogue OEM camera system shows all the way around the car using a rear camera, a camera facing down on the bottom of each side view mirror, and one embedded in the Nissan emblem up front. It would be really cool if you could do something like that, but it would definitely take some customization. Your best bet is probably something in the front bumper opening. I feel like I could easily strap a camera to the plastic fins on my stock bumper, but I'm not entirely sure about other model years or aftermarket bumpers.

Nissan Rogue emblem w/o camera:

( Click to show/hide )

[Jayhovah]

Originally Posted by JARblue

Well, it sounds like you are just talking about running over a wheel stop, which is much different than pulling up to a wall or other vehicle, at least in terms of spatial awareness due to the fact that the wheel stop disappears from view as you pull closer to it.

I stopped worrying about the plastic chin spoiler long ago. I don't think I hit it 10% of the time, but I bet I've done it far more times than you have given the 86K miles I've put on my Z. It's holding up just fine to this point - I shave it down with a razor blade occasionally to keep the edge looking clean. One thing to keep in mind is the Z is pretty short, so you don't have to pull up far into most parking spaces, which are typically 18-20' long (the Z is barely 14' long). I often find myself several feet back from the front of the space and the medium-sized truck adjacent to me sticks out further than my Z.

I know that pretty much all OEM parking aids have the sensors built into the bumpers. But the cameras typically are not. For example, my father's Rogue OEM camera system shows all the way around the car using a rear camera, a camera facing down on the bottom of each side view mirror, and one embedded in the Nissan emblem up front. It would be really cool if you could do something like that, but it would definitely take some customization. Your best bet is probably something in the front bumper opening. I feel like I could easily strap a camera to the plastic fins on my stock bumper, but I'm not entirely sure about other model years or aftermarket bumpers.

Nissan Rogue emblem w/o camera:

( Click to show/hide )

Indeed! Approaching a wall is no problem for my brain to work out... also my laser jammers behave as parking sensors in that case. I am a little worried that after I lower the car, the scraping of the chin spoiler problem is going to turn into a destruction of bumper problem.

The rogue emblem is pretty slick!

I also think I will just end up 3M taping something to a bumper fin... looks like not too many folks around here have pioneered it for me yet.

[RonRizz]

or hire someone to follow you around and park your car for you.

[YzGyz]

I only scrape my front end when I turn into a steep incline of some kind. I never scratch my front end parking. How do I manage that? I always back into parking spots in my Z. I backed up further than I needed to once in bright summer sun. There curb be and pavement was the same color and I ended up scratching up my cans. I'll make a diy on buffing it one day. I didn't have been a back up cam then. Now I need do not so I bought dont hit anything backing up now.

YzGyz