As most of us H3ers know it is very hard to see out the back window when backing up. I am sorry to say that I had to take out a small kid’s bike today Fortunately my 4 yr old was by the garage where I could see him.

I thought he put his bike to the side of the driveway before I told him to get where I could see him... Next thing I knew was a bump and then a crunch... At least for my little guy he got a new bike today. For all those out there, be careful backing up...

I'm gettin a back up camera system for the H3 when it gets here. I already squished my sons bike with the Ford pickup a couple of years ago. After that I put one of those back up beepers on it - drives the neighbors nuts.

I saw a H-2 today with a Mangeled Teddy Bear attached to the outside Spare Tire and a sign on the Bear that READ...

CAUTION ! POOR REAR VIEW ...

Gives me an idea for my H-3's

RYD

Hitchcam works for me. Cheaper than crashing into things.

S.

Haha...that bear thing is awesome.

Hey Guppy Glad to hear you didnt hit your 4 year old. The first month I had my H3 I backed up into a pizza delivery guys car, low profile honda civic. I put a nice dent in his hood with the spare tire > cost me $250.00 I couldnt even see the roof of his car through my back window, he was also very close to my H3 maybe 18 inches of my rear bumper. I learned that night to look behind my car whenever I have to back it up before I get in

Have you guys seen that back up cam on the 07 Tahoe? They use the screen on the in dash nav system, the camera comes on automatically when you shift in to reverse. It's pretty slick.

We are using a camera that mounts to the license plate bolts, leaves the hitch free. Comes 2 ways, one is an additional 4 inch monitor to mount antwhere you want and the second is a "V" chip that converts the Factory Nav system. The advantage to the "V" is that your nav system will also dispaly video now. Both should be available in most audio video shops.

We stuck one of these fresnel lenses on the back window and it makes a huge difference. There are several brands; we paid $7.50 on eBay. RV suppliers sell them too.

http://www.safeview.com/featured.html

What's the thing going to cost us?

haha funny you should mention this, , as i was backing out of my spot at the local coffe place, i gunned it and backed up fast and saw some guy jumping out of the way on my drivers side mirror.... i didnt see **** out the back and never knew he was there hahahahaa he looked pissed

We have the back up camera on our Black H3 and I think I have only looked at it once to see exactly how far away from the wall I really was. I personally would rather look out my side mirrors and the back window, but I also tend to look behind the vehicle before I get in.

On the other hand timgco uses it all the time and wouldn't go without!

I use Hitchcam and 3.5 inch monitor daily. Also helps when backing into tight space when parallel parking. I still use side mirrors. Since my monitor and side mirrors are mounted at almost the same level, it's easy to scan all when backing up.

S.

Ummmm........ well....... damn...... wellll....... ****, apparently it is kinda hard. Let's just say I have first hand knowledge.

DWPC, thanks for the heads up. A cheap solution that may work? I once took care of a kid that was pinned by his dad between the rear bumper of his pickup and the garage door. Not pretty...
One thing though, I couldn't help but notice that the photo illustration on the site for safeview shows a scene behind an SUV of a playground but the scene in the "safeview" product is that of a street. WTF? Does it look into the future or something
I just need one that looks down and back not back-to-the-future

LMAO thats pretty funny man

Ed:, if you look closely, you'll see that the image in the lens is, in fact, the wide-angle version of rear window view. Note that the same sign board seen out the rear window is in the center of the lens image. From that starting point, you can see the other details are correct too.

That is how it looks in use too; the wide-angle is reduced in size, but VERY wide. They should have used a much larger image on the webpage.

Here's another source with more pictures: http://www.rearlens.com/

ROFLMAO

The rear cam is my next project!

Seen a "Rear CAM" in one of those adult movies once......Geez who knew?

Well I backed into a co workers Saturn With my H3 and with my Zr2 with 14" of lift I backed up to pick a friend up outa the rain and Outa the corner of my eye i see a unbrella falling down It was a neighbor crossing the street behind me Lucky he did'nt get hurt ( i laugh now) but Then I was Worried

Well I backed into a co workers Saturn With my H3 and with my Zr2 with 14" of lift I backed up to pick a friend up outa the rain and Outa the corner of my eye i see a unbrella falling down It was a neighbor crossing the street behind me Lucky he did'nt get hurt ( i laugh now) but Then I was Worried



You nead to get a rear camera!

With all this backup crashing in H3's, I hope the insurance companies don't start considering our rigs "high risk".

S.

I was at stop sign and a truck was cut the corner tight. I looked in both side mirrors and the rearview mirror and nothing put it in reverse and crunch.

I put a 6x8 3M stick on prism in the upper corner of the wiper area. Not as high tech as a camera but it works.

The dog thinks it’s cool to he looks through it allot when we are going down the road..

LMAO doggy is stylin !!!

I added the back-up sensor more cost effective than the camera.

Where did you mount the sensors? Do you have any problem with the spare on the back?

Got the 6"x8" rear lens yesterday. I put it on the upper left (driver side) for a trial. With the H3 in the garage, I can see most of the driveway which looks promising. I am having a cataract operation tomorrow and my wife will be driving the next two days.

I will report on the results shortly.

Best regards, Happy Jack

Wait...that's not gonna solve the back-up problem

I would like to hear more info on a camera that can work with the factory Nav System screen. Any chance GM will offer it as an add on in the future? I think the Tahoe uses the same nav unit in dash and they do have a factory installed camera hooked up. Am I correct? A friend of mine just got a fully loaded Tahoe a few weeks ago, I'm going to take a closer look at the way it is set up.

I have attached photos that I took while the H3 was in the garage to show what can be seen with the new rear view lens. I took the photo of the inside rear view mirror from the driver's seat so the image is reversed. This view is what the driver sees looking forward without cranking the neck around, which appeals to me. The rear seat is folded down on driver's side, so the lower half of the rear window is not covered as it would be with the seat up, allowing an undistorted view through that part. We will drive it that way unless we have passengers.

The shadow from the roof on the driveway is about 1/2 way to the sidewalk which indicates that a child or dog would be visible. Without the lens, only the upper half of the neighbor's wall is visible as you can see in the photos.

We are quite satisfied that we won't need a back-up camera and think the lens is the ideal solution. It appeals to my frugal nature and as I mentioned, I don't like the idea of hacking into the electrical system.

Best regards, Happy Jack (driving again with two new eyes)

Rear view lens looks useful. Does it work okay at night?

S.

HAL,
Should be able to get a "V" chip at any car audio place. It is the chip that converts the signal for display on the factory Nav. It will also allow the factory Nav to display/play DVD. I pay about 450 for the chip and about 300 for the camera.

If you want to I can put you in contact with the guy I buy them from. If you cant get it local, he will send it to you.

I tested the rear view lens tonight and I can see the driveway by the light of the backup lights. I'm sold!

Best regards, Happy Jack

Rear lens could be a low cost alternative to various backup cams.

I've noticed a majority of accidents discussed on this H3 forum involve BACKING into objects and cars.

S.

OK - OK
I ordered the darn lens. Will let you know my thoughts as soon as it comes in...

RYD

The rear seat is folded down on driver's side, so the lower half of the rear window is not covered as it would be with the seat up, allowing an undistorted view through that part. We will drive it that way unless we have passengers.



Couldnt you put it in the area the wiper covers and seats could be left up?.

I have a rear cam but wouldnt mine one of those, list info on were to get one and price.

There are 2 links on page 1 of this post...

RYD

Duh again I didnt go back to begining of thread.