LawnDart
Senior Member
I've had a LOT of questions sent my way about this mod, since I think I *may* be the first one to tackle it.
Essentially here's the challenge: For those of us running a swing away tire carrier, you're blocking the view of the factory camera in the tailgate. As such you get a sweet view of the back of the table for most aftermarket bumpers, especially the CBI. This makes backing up to a trailer especially difficult, or parking your truck in urban scenarios where an aftermarket bumper would absolutely DESTROY anything you backed into, people or vehicle included.
Solution: I didn't want to relocate the existing camera, as that would expose the inside to elements unnecessarily, and especially in the PNW that would lead to issues down the road. So I wanted to essentially bypass the camera with another OEM style camera.
The challenge is that the OEM camera is 6v, not the more common 12v. A 12v will work, but it's likely to either burn out or not work reliably. The solution came in the form of this kit:
https://camera-source.com/10-15-tacoma-license-plate-camper-camera-kit-plug-and-play.html
Not cheap, but 2-300 less than another factor OEM camera from Toyota or any other source such resource (Camelbak, etc.) This is the same cameras in in the Toyota systems, just as a plug and play backup unit and not in the same enclosure.
It has 4 leads: positive, negative, ground/trigger, and one that enables or disabled the parking line overlays (more on this later).
This kit is intended for use with the Tacomas, where accessing the harness is pretty simple since it's in the tailgate. But this is a 4Runner so it can't be that simple. So here's the challenge, getting the wiring from the tailgate (at the camera) to the swing arm.
The solution is simple but you'll have to call Camera Source and request a much longer cable harness. How much longer? LONG. Like 19' feet long. That's feet, not inches. Why? Because to get from inside the tailgate you'll have to snake up the tailgate, through the rubber connector from the tailgate into the headliner, down the driver D-pillar, under the leading edge of the cargo area scuff panel, out a grommet on the passenger side, and then under the vehicle...AND then you can go out to the swing arm. The distances are generally the same between the dual and single swing arms. If your camera sits on the driver side you obviously save 4-5' by not having to go across/under the kick panel.
The only cutting, splicing, soldering will be when you cut the plug off the factory tailgate backup camera. I searched for a week trying to find that connector, to essentially make an extension cord, but realized it was a waste of time because I had no intention of ever reverting back to the tailgate camera.
Once you make the cable run you can connect the camera. While I may eventually drill and tap holes for the mount bracket, we used 30+lb 3M semi-permanent tape, which is ridiculously strong but easy to remove down the road. We're also currently using cable keeper for the looming, but may eventually go to something more permanent with the use of those self tapping P-shaped cable brackets. But for now this works fantastic.
The end result is you get your camera back, and it's flexible for use with aftermarket swing aways.
Hope this helps. Figuring out the cable run, sourcing the camera, were all more time intensive than the install, which I'd say was maybe 1-2 hours max to make it clean.
Essentially here's the challenge: For those of us running a swing away tire carrier, you're blocking the view of the factory camera in the tailgate. As such you get a sweet view of the back of the table for most aftermarket bumpers, especially the CBI. This makes backing up to a trailer especially difficult, or parking your truck in urban scenarios where an aftermarket bumper would absolutely DESTROY anything you backed into, people or vehicle included.
Solution: I didn't want to relocate the existing camera, as that would expose the inside to elements unnecessarily, and especially in the PNW that would lead to issues down the road. So I wanted to essentially bypass the camera with another OEM style camera.
The challenge is that the OEM camera is 6v, not the more common 12v. A 12v will work, but it's likely to either burn out or not work reliably. The solution came in the form of this kit:
https://camera-source.com/10-15-tacoma-license-plate-camper-camera-kit-plug-and-play.html
Not cheap, but 2-300 less than another factor OEM camera from Toyota or any other source such resource (Camelbak, etc.) This is the same cameras in in the Toyota systems, just as a plug and play backup unit and not in the same enclosure.
It has 4 leads: positive, negative, ground/trigger, and one that enables or disabled the parking line overlays (more on this later).
This kit is intended for use with the Tacomas, where accessing the harness is pretty simple since it's in the tailgate. But this is a 4Runner so it can't be that simple. So here's the challenge, getting the wiring from the tailgate (at the camera) to the swing arm.
The solution is simple but you'll have to call Camera Source and request a much longer cable harness. How much longer? LONG. Like 19' feet long. That's feet, not inches. Why? Because to get from inside the tailgate you'll have to snake up the tailgate, through the rubber connector from the tailgate into the headliner, down the driver D-pillar, under the leading edge of the cargo area scuff panel, out a grommet on the passenger side, and then under the vehicle...AND then you can go out to the swing arm. The distances are generally the same between the dual and single swing arms. If your camera sits on the driver side you obviously save 4-5' by not having to go across/under the kick panel.
The only cutting, splicing, soldering will be when you cut the plug off the factory tailgate backup camera. I searched for a week trying to find that connector, to essentially make an extension cord, but realized it was a waste of time because I had no intention of ever reverting back to the tailgate camera.
Once you make the cable run you can connect the camera. While I may eventually drill and tap holes for the mount bracket, we used 30+lb 3M semi-permanent tape, which is ridiculously strong but easy to remove down the road. We're also currently using cable keeper for the looming, but may eventually go to something more permanent with the use of those self tapping P-shaped cable brackets. But for now this works fantastic.
The end result is you get your camera back, and it's flexible for use with aftermarket swing aways.
Hope this helps. Figuring out the cable run, sourcing the camera, were all more time intensive than the install, which I'd say was maybe 1-2 hours max to make it clean.
