Cali Raised LED "anytime" camera on 5th gen?
 

Hey guys, I am on a search for a fix for the absolutely horrendous backup camera quality in the new T4R with MTM or 360view or whatever you want to call it. Everybody complains about it, its literally worse than my 2008 tacoma which came with the backup camera in the rear view mirror. The camera quality on the screen is absolutely horrible, anyone that has sat in the seat of the new 4R with the multi camera systems all complain. ALL of the boards are full of complaints, Reddit, 4RunnerForums, 4Runners.com, Toyotaworld, EVERYBODY is complaining about it, and everybody wants to know how to fix it but nobody has gone anywhere with it other than one guy adding lights to his rear bumper and everyone else just dealing with it.

SO, question is, the CAMERA isnt the problem, it would appear that the software in the head unit has been programmed to only view the camera at a lower quality or lower resolution giving the grainy appearance. In daylight its not a real deal breaker but at night or in the rain, its practically useless. This is not my first toyota, i sat for two years trying to locate the perfect 4Runner and finally snagged my new 23' model and fly to california to pick it up off the boat before anyone touched it, hop in and start driving it home absolutely in love. I stopped in Tuscon to grab a bite to eat and put it in reverse for the first time to back in a parking space and was literally floored at how poorly the image quality was. I have had this thing two months and i seriously cant take it anymore i gotta fix it.

One person on a forum said they were going to install the Cali Raised LED Anytime backup camera as seen here

Anytime backup and front camera Kit Fits 2020+ Toyota Tacoma
– Cali Raised LED

Since it can be wired into the stock harness/head unit, this seems like a solid way around the OEM backup camera quality. I have been looking for two hours today for reviews on this, doing a search on the forum brings up ALL sorts of threads and they are about everything from lights to dash kits ect ect and its hard to weed thru them all and find anything about the camera. Can it be done on our newer 4Runners? Can we install an aftermarket camera with this PNP harness to jump into the factory inputs on the head unit?

If this isnt a fix, i am going to the local dealer and seeing if they can reflash the vehicle with the standard flash to delete the technology package MTM cameras, i dont care about the others, i simply MUST make the backup camera better quality at all costs. This is my wifes daily driver and i am getting hounded about it and i gotta fix it soon.

If what you say is true and its not the camera that is the problem. What would adding a anytime camera do to make the quality better?

Its wired into the back of the head unit differently, not using the factory input from what i can tell, they have their own harness. My thoughts are maybe since its separate of the OEM, it wont be bound by the same parameters as the head unit is displaying the OEM rear view camera.

I plan to call them monday and ask questions and see what they say, the Tacoma forums pretty much rant and rave about how much better it is than their factory front camera. Seems all the guys on the Tacoma forums are using it to replace their front mounted camera, so they can see forward better, and pictures of OEM vs CaliRLED camera is a drastic improvement. Seems the hot ticket to do on them for a better front mount camera, well i dont care about seeing in front of me i wanna see behind me better. So basically instead of mounting it up front, just mount it in the back. And honestly if it works, i wouldnt be too opposed to try to replace all 4 of mine. The factory quality of all 4 is absolute garbage. I have had 2 Ram heavy duty trucks and the wifes prior vehicle to this was a Grand Cherokee and they all had the same head unit and camera system and its like watching HD OLED television in a fancy home theatre vs this new crap Toyota is putting out is worse quality than my 2005 Nokia 6255i flip phone camera and video quality. No joke, my 2005 Nokia 6255i flip phone produced WAY better picture quality than any one of the 4 cameras on this 2023 Toyota. Toyotas current picture quality on their vehicles with the MTM multi camera system is worse than a 20 year old cell phone. I am not the only one saying this, its every forum, anywhere you read, people are complaining. This could be an easy EASY fix toyota could put out a TIS Service Bulletin and reflash peoples ECU to fix this if they wanted to. Its very VERY poor of them to put out a vehicle with such poor quality that costs what these vehicles cost. A bargain car like a Yaris maybe, a base model Tacoma SR model ok.... Not the fanciest vehicles with every option listed. This isnt only the 4runner with this problem, its the Tacoma, Rav4, 4Runner, and Tundra with the MTM multi camera systems. EVERYBODY complains about it. If i was 16yo and this was my first vehicle it might be different, but i have owned 20+ Toyota vehicles in my life, i have seen them do better on previous models, this is unacceptable in ANY current model vehicle. My 2008 tacoma with the very first tailgate handle camera system and the picture in the rear view mirror was leaps and bounds better.

They claim it works on the current model 5th gen 4Runner and yes it can be used to replace the OEM back-up camera. So naturally i ordered it and will install and see how it goes and report back. If its good, great. If it doesnt work i will end up at the dealer and have them reprogram the ECU to ditch the 360 degree camera system.

Thanks for choosing us, we appreciate it!

Love my Anytime backup camera.

I think you're able to get 5% off from Cali Raised with my code "TRDHULK5"

I found when you have proper lighting the camera clarity get significantly better. I have some LED reverse lights and LED fogs. I use the camera every single day when backing into my garage and have used it on trails etc. One of my favorite mods by far.

Its also very durable...

https://i.imgur.com/HQ56tmh.jpg

Do you have one on the front AND rear of your vehicle?
Did you buy two kits to run two cameras?
Did you have the 360 degree camera system from the factory or did you only have the backup camera from the factory?

I received the kit, gave it to wife for christmas, and will likely install later this week or this weekend depending on work. I plan to do pic of before and after quality.

Mine already had a rear camera, so I just added the front camera. I also added a switch so I can toggle from from to back at anytime.

I do not have the 360 camera system.

When you install, be careful pulling the wire through the firewall; I tore my first harness and had to order another. They aren't as strong as they appear...or maybe I'm stronger than I thought lol...

Install is fairly easy with basic mechanic skills. Put tape on your dash on either side of the radio when you pull it out to prevent sharp edges scratching the dash.

Ah... Mine has the factory 360 degree camera system, which if you read my blog above you would see from my gripes, the 360degree camera system quality is so pathetic. Lucky for you, the vehicles that only have a rear camera, the quality is MUCH better. The camera is the same, but something something something and Toyota decided to water the quality down because of the available memory / data computation or whatever in the stock headunit. So basically the camera quality and resolution you have in your OEM rear view, i have spread out across 4 cameras. The resolution is so poor you cant see anything. In the dark or in the rain you are basically flying blind.
I read up on the kit, got it in Saturday and read over and looked at it. I see the switch that it comes with allows you to toggle between the views ect. The stock 360 degree camera system has the same button and features, i can toggle the switch while driving and see the different front and rear and side views, BUT, the quality is so poor you cant see squat so its not worth anything. I think i am going to tackle the Cali Raised camera system this weekend, i will be using it to replace my OEM rear view camera and we shall see what the caliber of the camera system is like when hooked up to the OEM head unit. I have my fingers crossed that somehow, some way, it gives a better image quality over the stock setup.

Gotchya, yeah i read it too fast. I didn't know the quality was that bad.

Good luck!

Alright, an update
Good news / Bad news
Good news - It works and its better than stock
Bad news - It doesnt work with the vehicles that have 360 MTM camera systems
BUT - with a few emails and phone calls i finally got some help with a guy who knows the wiring of these vehicles enough that he helped me figure it out and get it working.
So, YES, you can install the Anytime Camera system on the newer 5th gen and YES its considerably clearer than the OEM camera. HOWEVER when you install it, it will eliminate the 360 degree camera system. This didnt really hurt my feelings too much, because the OEM 360 degree camera system is SO SO SHODDY you cant make heads or tails of anything. Here are a few pictures of what you SHOULD see, vs what you DO see, and at the end is a before and after comparo of the OEM camera and the Anytime camera.

First picture is from my cell phone camera, an iphone 7, nothing fancy.

Second picture is what the OEM backup camera sees in early morning

Third picture is what the OEM backup camera sees at night

Fourth picture is the OEM backup camera in front of my shop earlier

Fifth picture is the OEM backup camera in full screen mode

Sixth picture is the Anytime camera systems new camera


Its clearer, its better, i will have to see what it looks like in the dark and in other situations to tell whether i think its worth what its taken me to get it working plus the amount of work to mount it, and run the wiring. I was hoping for spic and span perfect quality. This is kinda on par with most other backup camera add-on systems for other vehicles. This camera may be the best there is, maybe its the screens quality or maybe i am just being too picky. This isnt as good of a picture as my 2008 4R with an aftermarket double din radio and cheap $100 backup camera but its leaps and bounds better than the OEM setup.

Yes it does fit on the newer 4Runners and we do not have a answer for your last question, please contact the manufacturer at 929-274-4891 and they can help answer that. Please let us know if you need anything, we are happy to help :)

.....and this is a great reason to avoid middle men and drop shippers when you can buy direct from the manufacture.

So just an update now that i have a little more time
This is for anyone who is going to pull off the rear emblem piece, be forewarned, there are 4 bolts that have green loctite on them and YOU WILL break the plastic buckets they sit in and you WILL NOT be able to get the rear emblem piece off very easily. I have done backup cameras in a few older 4th gen 4runners and also had to pull this same piece off on my 2012 5th gen to replace it. I have never seen loctite on these 4 bolts so naturally when i went to pull the rear piece off this current 2023 i just stuck my long extension and 10mm on the impact and zipped the nut off, however in all 4 the nut was stuck and the bolt head spun and broke the plastic bucket the heads sit in. Once the bucket the bolt head sits in breaks the bolt spins with the nut. The only way to get the nut off is to grab the tip of the bolt with pliers and back the nuts off with a wrench. This mauls the tip of the bolt up and you cant get the nut off so you have to file the threads with a triangle file, up in the rear hatch, and boy its a pain.
If i was going to try this again i would use a mini propane torch like you light cigars with or something to heat the bolt and nut up before i pulled it apart. You are going to have to melt that loctite before you are going to get the nut off without breaking the plastic clips that hold the bolt head secure.

Here is a few pictures of the mount i made, and the camera installed. I put the lens out a little further than the OEM lens, intentionally to try to get away from seeing so much of the vehicle on screen. The OEM backup camera was tucked in pretty deep in the pocket and you would see the whole bumper pad on screen, as well as the tag light and plastic piece overhanging, as well as the sides of the tailgate beside the tag. I pushed the lens a little further outward to try to minimize any "static" in the background and just get a clear image of whats behind me.