Back up Camera - Auto-Vox Mirror w/ Wits End Mirror Arm (1 Viewer)

[joebattle1]

I finally got sick and tired of my mirror falling off in my hand every time I adjusted it. I ordered a mirror arm from Joey at (Witsend.com) it’s really nice and sturdy. I also ordered an Auto-Vox, combo mirror/back-up camfrom Amazon. My 07 Tacoma came with one of these aftermarket mirrors and I’ve become completely dependent on it.

Install was pretty simple. I tapped my trailer reverse wire, which came right off the tail light pig tail. I found some solid metal in the rear quarter for ground.

Here’s some pics…

Here’s the kit from Amazon

Removed the plate light assembly as you need to feed the wire thru here. You have to remove the rear door carpet kit to get to the 3 nuts holding this on.

Fed the wire thru here…

Here’s the arm from Wits End. You don’t need any of the adapters from mirror kit. The Wits Wnd one mounts right up. You tighten it down with a small Allen wrench.

Mounting the mirror up to the arm.

 

[joebattle1]

I cut a slit in the driver side plug in the tailgate to run the camera cable thru. Then I just ran the cable under the back end right next to the eye hole for the spare tire rod thingy and zip tied it off to my trailer wiring below my bumper.

I had a 10 pack of these fused cables laying around that I got on Amazon so I used a 5amp fuse.

Little heat shrink…

I jumped into the driver side rear quarter of the truck here with my trailer lighting enters the truck. No drilling!

Doh! I don’t have a good pic of where I tied in at but it was right off the t alight pigtail. I marked them all with my P-Touch back when I wired it all up for my trailer so it was super easy for me to locate the reverse light wire. I’ll go back in and snap a pic of it later if someone wants me to…

 

[joebattle1]

Testing the wiring before final cable run down the driver side…

Mounted it up…

Ran the cable down the driver side.

 

[joebattle1]

Here’s a screen shot of the mirror.

 

[Snicklephritz87]

This is awesome. I had this on my build sheet as well! Glad to see your solution. How did you run the wire in around the windshield to avoid headliner?

 

[joebattle1]

This is awesome. I had this on my build sheet as well! Glad to see your solution. How did you run the wire in around the windshield to avoid headliner?

Ugh… removing the headliner would definitely be the better solution. This brings me to my one complaint about the mirror... The connector is too close to the mirror (about 12”) itself which means you have the connector to deal with in the headliner routing.

The connector… Wish it was like 6’ instead of 12” from the mirror.

I used the orange pry tool to push the wire as far into the rubber seal channel as possible. Mind you I’m also running my stereo cell phone mic wire in this channel as well so it’s a bit crowded. The other side has my dash cam power cable running in it.

 

[Snicklephritz87]

Brilliant and makes complete sense! Well done. Just ordered the mirror. I am also adding in a shark fin antenna.

I am doing a full windows out restoration though. Just pulled the windows 2 weeks ago.

 

[joebattle1]

Brilliant and makes complete sense! Well done. Just ordered the mirror. I am also adding in a shark fin antenna.

I am doing a full windows out restoration though. Just pulled the windows 2 weeks ago.

Awesome! Don’t forget the mirror arm from Witsend. This won’t work with the stock application.

With the restoration you’ll be able to run it properly thru the headliner.

 

[Sirlosealot]

I finally got sick and tired of my mirror falling off in my hand every time I adjusted it. I ordered a mirror arm from Joey at (Witsend.com) it’s really nice and sturdy. I also ordered an Auto-Vox, combo mirror/back-up camfrom Amazon. My 07 Tacoma came with one of these aftermarket mirrors and I’ve become completely dependent on it.

Install was pretty simple. I tapped my trailer reverse wire, which came right off the tail light pig tail. I found some solid metal in the rear quarter for ground.

Here’s some pics…

Here’s the kit from Amazon
View attachment 3317216

Removed the plate light assembly as you need to feed the wire thru here. You have to remove the rear door carpet kit to get to the 3 nuts holding this on.
View attachment 3317217

Fed the wire thru here…View attachment 3317218

Here’s the arm from Wits End. You don’t need any of the adapters from mirror kit. The Wits Wnd one mounts right up. You tighten it down with a small Allen wrench.

View attachment 3317219

Mounting the mirror up to the arm. View attachment 3317220

Do you know if Joey is still selling these arms? I went to buy one and the website says they are not for sale.

 

[taoofbean]

Nice report, adding my own backup cam to my new stereo head unit soon. Why did you add the 5A fuse in the way you did and can you detail here you ended up putting it? If you have it all still open, it would be great to see how you have added both your trailer wiring and your backup cam into the same spot without making a mess of connections off of that single reverse light wire, something I am thinking about as I consider adding a third addition, a backup light off my new roof rack as well.

 

[Sirlosealot]

Joey emailed me about arms and they are in production at this time but would be a few weeks out. For those interested.

 

[joebattle1]

Nice report, adding my own backup cam to my new stereo head unit soon. Why did you add the 5A fuse in the way you did and can you detail here you ended up putting it? If you have it all still open, it would be great to see how you have added both your trailer wiring and your backup cam into the same spot without making a mess of connections off of that single reverse light wire, something I am thinking about as I consider adding a third addition, a backup light off my new roof rack as well.

Ya know… there’s a bunch of old wire between the battery and that reverse tail. I’d rather blow a fuse than blow the mirror up.

I’ll try and pull the cargo panel tomorrow morning and snap a few picks.

 

[joebattle1]

Nice report, adding my own backup cam to my new stereo head unit soon. Why did you add the 5A fuse in the way you did and can you detail here you ended up putting it? If you have it all still open, it would be great to see how you have added both your trailer wiring and your backup cam into the same spot without making a mess of connections off of that single reverse light wire, something I am thinking about as I consider adding a third addition, a backup light off my new roof rack as well.

Here’s a couple pics of the tail light pigtail.

This is the reverse wire.

How I jumped the mirror in with a dual wire splice clip.

Extra trailer wire…

 

[Spike Strip]

@joebattle1

Now with a few months of use, how do you like your setup?

I definitely want/need a backup camera, but would prefer something that I can plug into a small Android or Windows Tablet that can be alternatively used for Navigation.

But the Mirror monitor seems like a nice alternative if the tablet setup is too cumbersome.

 

[joebattle1]

@joebattle1

Now with a few months of use, how do you like your setup?

I definitely want/need a backup camera, but would prefer something that I can plug into a small Android or Windows Tablet that can be alternatively used for Navigation.

But the Mirror monitor seems like a nice alternative if the tablet setup is too cumbersome.

Love it! First thing I look at is the mirror back up cam when backing up. Also makes backing up to my camp trailer a breeze.

It’s to bad I’m reading that Witsend has completely fallin apart. Sounds like you can’t get the mirror bracket anymore. Someone else needs to take up machining them.

 

[Spike Strip]

I have one of those Wit's End Mirror arms I bought a few years ago (with adapter) sitting on the shelf... I've ordered a LOT of stuff from Joey and never a problem. People have to remember he's a one-man band and is having some family health issues coupled with supply issues, etc. He's not Amazon and certainly wants to maintain his business the best he can how he can. I learned the hard-way, just gotta be patient and plan ahead with some boutique MUD businesses.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[joebattle1]

I have one of those Wit's End Mirror arms I bought a few years ago (with adapter) sitting on the shelf... I've ordered a LOT of stuff from Joey and never a problem. People have to remember he's a one-man band and is having some family health issues coupled with supply issues, etc. He's not Amazon and certainly wants to maintain his business the best he can how he can. I learned the hard-way, just gotta be patient and plan ahead with some boutique MUD businesses.

Thanks for the reply.

Oh man… I too thought like you until I read through this thread. Really sad… I’ve also bought things over the years from him. I have mixed reviews of my experiences with him as a customer. Mostly positive but there was this one time he gave me the run around and it wasn’t until I said I was going to just refuse the payment did he refund my money. I chalked it up o one bad experience out of many… read this thread and you’ll think otherwise too I’m guessing.

Wits End Order Issues / Joey Romero

I think I’ve read through this thread in its entirety, but has anyone actually heard from, seen, or know if Joey and his wife are alive and well? Regardless of my previous posts I don’t hate the guy or wish him harm. Simply think he made some piss poor business decisions and that he’s pretty...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[cruiserpilot]

I used the orange pry tool to push the wire as far into the rubber seal channel as possible. Mind you I’m also running my stereo cell phone mic wire in this channel as well so it’s a bit crowded. The other side has my dash cam power cable running in it.

Take that out of there.
I pryed the rubber window molding to install dash cam wire. In the middle of a trip, way up in the freakin boonies, my
windshield fell out!

 

[joebattle1]

Take that out of there.
I pryed the rubber window molding to install dash cam wire. In the middle of a trip, way up in the freakin boonies, my
windshield fell out! View attachment 3497048

Good to know!