Installing a CF-100 in a 2008 Toyota Sienna van

if you have the JBL system you probably also have 3-zone digital AC. i know the climate/temp sensor for the driver side is straight in front of your right knee - it's a set of small slots below the ignition. not sure where the sensor is for the passenger (it might be in the blower, behind the glovebox), but i can't imagine that it would be up on the top of the dash, since the sun would give false temperature readings. and i wouldn't think a dash cover would go so far down as to cover the temp sensor on the driver side.

even without the JBL system, the center grille (which doesn't have a speaker in a non-jbl setup) still gives some reflections in the windshield, as do the wood trim pieces on either side of the radio/ac stack. ask for a picture of the actual cover to make sure it covers the grille before you buy.

worst case you can probably remove the JBL logo. the grille simply snaps in. wedge a flat plastic pry tool in between the front edge (closest to windshield) right in the center, and pry the grille up. be careful, as the speaker is attached to the grille and has a short wire. thankfully the wire easily unclips so you can work with the grille outside the car if you need.
Toyota should hire you as a technical writer, lol. You sure know your Toyota's.
 
if i could change anything about the CF-100 it would be the mount. the ball socket is easy to bump out of aim, such as when you put the fold-up shade in the windshield on a hot day, or if you're adjusting the rearview mirror. since there's no screen it's not easy to get it aimed back correctly. the wide angle lens makes it so it doesn't have to be perfect though, so it's not a dealbreaker. i've thought about putting a thin, 1cm square of rubber into the socket of the ball mount so it's less likely to move when bumped.

I did come up with a solution: I cut the fingertip off a surgical rubber glove and slipped it over the ball part of the mount. reinstalled the camera, and now it's nice and solid. it just needed that tiny bit of grip to keep it from being bumped out of alignment so easy.
 
I did come up with a solution: I cut the fingertip off a surgical rubber glove and slipped it over the ball part of the mount. reinstalled the camera, and now it's nice and solid. it just needed that tiny bit of grip to keep it from being bumped out of alignment so easy.
Now that is a nifty solution. I was never able to find anything to accomplish what you did. Thanks for sharing that tip! @Gibson99 gets the idea prize for today!
 
Hi Gibson99,
When I fitted my Lukas 7950 to my Auris I could not find a way to get the A or B pillar covers off. There are no hard plastic covers and even with the weather strip removed I could not find any hidden clips. Not wanting to damage the covers I ran the cable for the rear camera along the top of the windscreen, under the top of the A pillar cover at the top where it meets the head liner, then followed the weather strip and joins all the way to the rear. Its tucked away nice but not behind any airbags. I am due a service so phoned to ask if they could remove the A pillar cover so I could route the cable behind. The techie said he would not want me to play around the airbags, and as long as the cable was loose the airbags would just blow it away so no problem.
Thanks for all your pics and help I love my Lukas 7950 as it is well hidden, no light, or distractions. The only problem I had was the feed to the rear camera through the gator on the tailgate. Once I got the hard white plastic hole surround out it was ok, but I spent hours trying ti get the back end of the gator re-seated properly. Toyota GB have an attitude problem, they think the cars are only on loan, customer can only have what Toyota think they want. Accessories or user mods are not allowed
 
Gibson99:
Awesome review, how to and followup. You should get a customer support stipend for this thread.
Anyway, I have a 7" touchscreen head unit in my 2013 Silverado PU. It has an unused AV-In port that I was thinking I could hook up to my as yet to be purchased dash cam. That would make adjusting the CF-100 pretty easy, I would think. I would think it is doable with this camera? no?
Only problem is having to run another cable along the headliner and A-Pillar and under the dash. hahaha
So, are you still sold on the CF-100? I was looking at them on Amazon earlier today and they were $69. I just looked again tonight and they went up to $89. Same listing.
 
Thanks for the compliments. Yup, still a solid camera. No real need for video out since the lens is such wide angle that simply eyeballing the aim is close enough. It's not like it gets moved often.
 
Here is my install: the dash cam mounted to the windshield via dual lock 3m nails on the passenger side behind the rear view mirror. Easy to remove and it's not abstracting the view.
DSC03238p_zps48001972.jpg


I really like your idea of using the 3M dual lock nails instead of double-sided tape! I've never used this product, so does it add much or any flex to the mount?
 
Hmm, I didn't even catch that in the tutorial. And I didn't even know that stuff existed. My question is: How does it hold up after a summer with sun hitting the windshield?
 
Hmm, I didn't even catch that in the tutorial. And I didn't even know that stuff existed. My question is: How does it hold up after a summer with sun hitting the windshield?
i didn't use dual-lock. someone else did. and it's a good solution for various things. i haven't tried actual dual lock, but i did try velcro with my a118 and it melted off the windshield after a couple weeks in the hot houston sun. but who knows - maybe dual lock uses different adhesive, or the shape of it gives it better heat tolerance?
 
The camera is attached to the plastic trim around the back glass, so it goes up and down along with the hatch itself. this keeps it out of the way for loading/unloading cargo, and gives the best view out the back.

My CF-100 arrived last week but it will have to wait for the Christmas break to be installed.

I also was intending to attach the rear camera to the plastic trim around the back glass, but this would mean that the camera would be recording through the dirty glass above the area swept by the rear wiper. I was thinking of:
- using a piece of square plastic (or aluminium) extrusion to act as a spacer, thereby dropping the camera view down into the clean, wiped area. Or,
- alternatively, I could attach the camera directly to the rear glass

Which option would be preferable, or is there another idea I should consider? Either way, I'm going to try molsen.david's 3M Dual Lock idea.

Many thanks.
 
You don't say what kind of vehicle you have but assuming it has a rear hatch like the sienna, then there's no problem mounting it on the glass as long as the glass does not open separately from the door. Especially if the glass has factory tint, since that will help hide the camera from the outside.
 
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