Interesting alternative to mirrors

[ceejayt]

These have just been type approved for motorhomes. Been available on Lorrie’s for some time. Not cheap at around £1500 but no blind spots

 

[bladerunner]

I gather the truck drivers don't like them as you can't shift position to see better.
For a little more you can have an Omni 360 system which I can recommend.

 

[WESTY66]

Yeah this^^^^^^^

Gimme mirrors anyday, cameras not for me. Have a look through your reversing camera on a dark wet stormy evening

 

[ceejayt]

I gather the truck drivers don't like them as you can't shift position to see better.
For a little more you can have an Omni 360 system which I can recommend.

I have the Omni system which I would not be without.

My concern is saying approaching a roundabout with the mirrors obscuring the view of approaching traffic resulting in shifting positions to see and make sure. The Omni system doesn’t cover that

 

[funflair]

I gather the truck drivers don't like them as you can't shift position to see better.
For a little more you can have an Omni 360 system which I can recommend.

I guess the answer to that would be that you don't need to as the cameras cover those areas without shuffling about, and as others have said 360 as good as it is doesn't replace mirrors.

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[tonyidle]

I bought a set last week as yet to be installed (I'm waiting for better weather) and yes they're expensive. Worth it for me because of the massive blind spot created by my top hung mirrors - mainly affecting entry to roundabouts - and because of the wind noise and vibration they cause.

 

[poacher]

.

 

[Coastal Cruiser.]

Have Camos 360 on mine and I hardly ever them just naturally use the mirrors.
Hate to think what would happen if these went ‘tits up’ while you were awayat least with mirrors you can cobble something together with and bit of mirror and some duct tape

 

[bladerunner]

The 360 is in addition rather than replacing mirrors.
I find them good to spot the Range Rover undercutting me at a roundabout.
Great for parking tight spots.
Good for left vision at junctions abroad if driving alone.
Prob also good for security e.g. Caen

 

[jongood]

Funnily enough - I was speaking to a lorry driver with cameras a few days ago. He's been using them for some time as his company were one of the early adopters with Mercedes. The previous complaints I have heard are that LED lights flash constantly in the monitor, they re not good in poor weather and distance perception is difficult.

He finds the Daf system better but he finds the monitors too bright and has taken to wearing sun glasses. Yes they are adjustable but as soon as you start the engine they revert to default settings. The LED headlights are still a problem, to the point where he's so used to the flashing that he sometimes fails to distinguish emergency vehicles. He said that his firm were ordering more new with mirrors than cameras because of driver resistance.

Of course our situations are different, we can park up when we choose and dont need to drive in all weathers or reverse onto narrow bays. Those who think driving a Mh is like driving a Truck

Ive fitted some small additional cameras on my Mh and I find them really useful, less blindspots, and really good for kerbside, however I think I'm a long way off ditching the mirrors.

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[funflair]

Funnily enough - I was speaking to a lorry driver with cameras a few days ago. He's been using them for some time as his company were one of the early adopters with Mercedes. The previous complaints I have heard are that LED lights flash constantly in the monitor, they re not good in poor weather and distance perception is difficult.

He finds the Daf system better but he finds the monitors too bright and has taken to wearing sun glasses. Yes they are adjustable but as soon as you start the engine they revert to default settings. The LED headlights are still a problem, to the point where he's so used to the flashing that he sometimes fails to distinguish emergency vehicles. He said that his firm were ordering more new with mirrors than cameras because of driver resistance.

Of course our situations are different, we can park up when we choose and dont need to drive in all weathers or reverse onto narrow bays. Those who think driving a Mh is like driving a Truck

Ive fitted some small additional cameras on my Mh and I find them really useful, less blindspots, and really good for kerbside, however I think I'm a long way off ditching the mirrors.

Luddite

Only kidding Jon pretty good feedback to be honest and I think it "reflects" what many other truck drivers feel about these new systems, and yes we as motorhome drivers don't have to drive in the dark so I wonder what the truckers consensus would be if they only drove in the daylight, I think your mirrors have the advantage that they are basically in line with the body footprint where ours are usually in a different postcode to the rest of van.

 

[Jenka]

Funnily enough - I was speaking to a lorry driver with cameras a few days ago. He's been using them for some time as his company were one of the early adopters with Mercedes. The previous complaints I have heard are that LED lights flash constantly in the monitor, they re not good in poor weather and distance perception is difficult.

He finds the Daf system better but he finds the monitors too bright and has taken to wearing sun glasses. Yes they are adjustable but as soon as you start the engine they revert to default settings. The LED headlights are still a problem, to the point where he's so used to the flashing that he sometimes fails to distinguish emergency vehicles. He said that his firm were ordering more new with mirrors than cameras because of driver resistance.

Of course our situations are different, we can park up when we choose and dont need to drive in all weathers or reverse onto narrow bays. Those who think driving a Mh is like driving a Truck

Ive fitted some small additional cameras on my Mh and I find them really useful, less blindspots, and really good for kerbside, however I think I'm a long way off ditching the mirrors.

Great post ,we had a daf with cameras and it was a full recovery when the cameras decided not work

 

[jongood]

Great post ,we had a daf with cameras and it was a full recovery when the cameras decided not work

I asked him that one and he reckons they now come out with a bolt-on mirror, probably depends where you are though.

I think some of the problems will be developed out, the flashing LEDs cant be unsolvable. And there also needs to be a bit of blue sky thinking about the size and mounting position of the cameras, I was sitting right next to the DAF camera and noticed that it stuck out a long way and I don't imagine the driver could actually see it.

 

[Guigsy]

But when I'm bombing along on a country lane, how will I know I'm close enough to the hedge?

Seriously though, I am considering getting an omni360. My reversing camera is really unreliable, so it seems like a good time to switch.

 

[jockaneezer]

A mobile HGV mechanic I follow on YouTube (Professional Struggler) isn't a fan of the new camera systems and gets similar feedback from the drivers ?
They do seem massively over complicated/expensive when compared to a mirror, with very little advantage over them ?
It annoys me when some "expert" thinks they can apply complicated technology to perform relatively simple tasks ? Remember when microwaves had a clockwork timer and a bell, whereas now they have a multitude of sensors, a touch screen, Bluetooth connectivity and the food still comes out frozen in the middle ?
Putting "cutting edge" technology into a product just for the sake of it may impress some tech dweebs, but I'd go for simplicity and reliability every time.
Edit, just seen your post Jenka, that's exactly what happened with the mobile guy, an electrical fault on the cameras grounded a truck for a week or so and "If the wheels ain't turning, you're not earnin' !" A sticky backed replacement mirror would have got a standard vehicle back on the road.
ps. I do like my reversing camera though !

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[jongood]

A mobile HGV mechanic I follow on YouTube (Professional Struggler) isn't a fan of the new camera systems and gets similar feedback from the drivers ?
They do seem massively over complicated/expensive when compared to a mirror, with very little advantage over them ?
It annoys me when some "expert" thinks they can apply complicated technology to perform relatively simple tasks ? Remember when microwaves had a clockwork timer and a bell, whereas now they have a multitude of sensors, a touch screen, Bluetooth connectivity and the food still comes out frozen in the middle ?
Putting "cutting edge" technology into a product just for the sake of it may impress some tech dweebs, but I'd go for simplicity and reliability every time.
Edit, just seen your post Jenka, that's exactly what happened with the mobile guy, an electrical fault on the cameras grounded a truck for a week or so and "If the wheels ain't turning, you're not earnin' !" A sticky backed replacement mirror would have got a standard vehicle back on the road.
ps. I do like my reversing camera though !

Agree with most of this but also don't think they are being creative enough with the cameras. The position of mirrors is dictated by the positions of the driver and the windows, and the size of the mirror is also dictated by the required view. The camera doesnt need any of this so maybe they would be better sited lower and closer to the body or even some mounted on the rear lights to help with blind spots

As I'm sure most reading this know, There are some massive blind spots with larger vehicles ( especially Artics) , and OK the cameras follow the trailer which is great for blind side reverse but still leaves a big blind spot at the rear and opposite sides of the trailers.

 

[funflair]

I have the Omni system which I would not be without.

My concern is saying approaching a roundabout with the mirrors obscuring the view of approaching traffic resulting in shifting positions to see and make sure. The Omni system doesn’t cover that

I think mixing the Camos 360 which I find really useful, with mirror cameras might get a tad confusing with so many screens going on all at once, that said though at £1500 you could give a them a go and if you didn't like you could just switch back to mirrors and sell the kit on, just looked at Morelo price list and they want just over €10k for the system and that obviously takes into account not fitting the coach mirrors which everbody says are really expensive

 

[mondo]

As a former truck driver..my vote goes to mirrors..I was (un)fortunate to test drive one of the first Mercs in UK with camera rear view tech..not a fan I was 10 minutes out driving one fully frieghted at just under 44 tonnes..and the system went on the blink..had to find a safe place to park....phoned the Merc agents..explained the problem..waited 2 hours for the fitter to arrive..he could not fix it...so 100ks worth of Mercs finest VOR.
where as if I had broken a mirror..slap on a replacement mirror and away...as I said not a fan personal choice at the end of the day...and mirrors are a damn sight cheaper
and I don't do automatics either..yes old fuddy duddy but I drive it..it don't drive me

 

[jockaneezer]

You raise some good points jongood, perhaps the cameras should just be used in a supplementary role, rather than primary ?
As an aside, we hired a wagon and drag for shifting felled timber. It had a crane mounted on the back of the wagon section, but instead of sitting on the crane, you had a VR headset that you operated it with from inside the truck's cab. My brother was driving the truck, but when it came to loading/unloading, he became extremely "travel sick" from operating with the VR headset, so much so that we had to get a young lad (Xbox generation !) to sit in with him to do the loading. I know it wouldn't have affected every operator, but again, it's use of technology that isn't appropriate to the task ? Fair enough, you'll keep out of the weather while you're doing it, but it's a lorry for goodness sake, you're gonna have to be outside at some point to check over the load and strap it down ?

 

[Guigsy]

Another way to look at this... If cameras were the way everyone checked their rear view. But then some bright spark invented wing mirrors, would we switch? I don't think we would. Worse drag. blind spots. Can't record. Affects the design of the cab because you need to see the mirrors. It lR illumination doesn't work, so you need lamps or external lighting to see in the dark. And a coach style mirror arm and adjustment mechanism probably costs about the same as a camera and screen.

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[jongood]

Another way to look at this... If cameras were the way everyone checked their rear view. But then some bright spark invented wing mirrors, would we switch? I don't think we would. Worse drag. blind spots. Can't record. Affects the design of the cab because you need to see the mirrors. It lR illumination doesn't work, so you need lamps or external lighting to see in the dark. And a coach style mirror arm and adjustment mechanism probably costs about the same as a camera and screen.

I like the look of the MH cameras in the original post and yes agree that £1500 probably wouldnt buy a new coach mirror but I reckon the MPG saving would be very very small, again a bigger deal on lorries doing 80K pa, not on a Mh doing 5-10K

 

[Fatboy]

Camos 360 all the way, you cant replace mirrors because you can move your head for field of vision but the cameras compliment them, i wouldnt be without mine

 

[stevewagner]

The mirrors on mine are £800 each so camera mirrors at £1350 + VAT is not so bad. In addition there would be reduced wind resistance and therefore reduced fuel consumption.

 

[WESTY66]

Having met this twat, I’d like to say I’d go camera route, but I guess I’ll have to get the mirror fixed

Maybe if he’d slowed down a bit (I did slow right down) we could have BOTH been a bit more over

 

[Coastal Cruiser.]

Having met this twat, I’d like to say I’d go camera route, but I guess I’ll have to get the mirror fixed
View attachment 853379
Maybe if he’d slowed down a bit (I did slow right down) we could have BOTH been a bit more over

How did you get on with that did they weigh you in??

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[WESTY66]

How did you get on with that did they weigh you in??

They wanted the insurance involved and you just know it’ll be 50-50 so I didn’t pursue it

 

[Coastal Cruiser.]

They wanted the insurance involved and you just know it’ll be 50-50 so I didn’t pursue it

Scumbags should have just knocked him out on the day

 

[WESTY66]

Scumbags should have just knocked him out on the day

If I could have caught him I would have done

 

[Coastal Cruiser.]

If I could have caught him

Sorry forgot you was in a Carthargo

 

[ceejayt]

The manual- has very precise positioning instructions

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