MCDavis

I've owned the car since 2/4 and one of my major gripes was the lack of use of the rear view cam at night. I live in an area where street lights are nearly non-existent, so the camera has been useless especially when trying to back up our driveway and avoid the ditch it crosses.
I had installed a pair of Rigid SRM on my F150 and was very happy with their performance. Additionally, the extra light helps with the tinted windows when trying to utilize the side mirrors.

The MDX has a dealer installed factory trailer hitch and harness, so I was eager to tap into the 7-way harness's reverse lead. Here's where I quickly ran into a road block. I could not find a single resource that would confirm the correct color for the reverse wire. I went as far as to attempt to open the factory plug, but quickly found that it's a sealed unit at the bumper...no luck there. All signs pointed to the PURPLE wire from what I could find. More on that later.

I wanted the light be to under the vehicle, but in a spot where road debris or other irregularities would not hit the light when mounted. I found that the factory jacking point located on the rear cross-member was the perfect spot as its location is lower than the lowest edge of the rear bumper as not to block too much beam output.

The install was pretty easy. Made the mounting spot out of 1" by 0.25" aluminum flat bar. Cut a template out of cardboard and got it to the point where I was happy with the size. Center punched two spots for holes (used the upper two marks in the picture) and drilled two small holes. Stainless steel hardware all the way around. I purchase a 3' extension from Rigid that I then put inside a small inexpensive loom for added protection. Ran the wiring up over the sway bar, Gorilla taped to the bottom of the cabin, and through the grommet where the trailer harness enters the cabin. I found through trial and error that the YELLOW wire in the harness is the reverse signal. That process was super frustrating by the way. The light draws roughly 1.4A of power, so it's hardly taking up any of the 7.5A in the reverse circuit, and still leaves room for a trailer when hooked up.

The end result is MUCH more usable nighttime camera display. For reference, the trash can is at the end of my driveway which is between 30-35' from the back of the car in those pics. I'm happy to answer any questions. This was a fun little project. See the second post for output shots (I exceeded the size limit).

MCDavis

Output sots.

MCDavis

Well I apologize for the sideways pics.

sockr1

iTrader: (5)

Looks great and thanks for posting up! Is that light blinding to anyone standing behind or how does it look?

I recently added some high power reverse vleds which greatly improved the visibility! I can put up some comparison pics if you don't mind. The oem setup is pretty bad in terms of visibility during night

MCDavis

Thanks.
Well since the light is under the vehicle and some 3' inward from the bumper it's hard to see. The horizontal center line is about 1" lower than the lowest spot on the bumper/hitch. You have to be some 20' back to have direct line of sight to the light. It only comes on which you shift into reverse so I'm not too concerned about that issue. It's about 1600 lumens which is about half the output of a one D2S HID bulb like in the TSX or TL. It's also the diffused pattern which helps scatter the light.

Post up your pics.

rsutoratosu

Dammmm you beat me to it.. Our reverse light is horrible, even with camera. Awesome job.... I dont have a hitch and is looking to get one, I need to put a snow blower hitch on it

I couldnt find anything for anyone without a hitch but I found this and was going to get it.. it mounts on the license plate and I would mount the led on the bottom instead of top.

8-inch Single Row, Cree LED Universal License Plate Kit | Rough Country Suspension Systems®

MCDavis

Thats 3200 raw lumens and it's gonna be bright. Won't be as inconspicuous either, which was a main reason for mounting mine where I did. I was mostly looking to light up the ground behind the vehicle, but this location also allows for some of the beam to reach objects like the trash can you see, even some of the fencing there too.

Regardless, it proves that additional lighting does help the camera at night.

EDIT: I just noticed that in the first picture of the camera display you can actually see a pretty well defined cutoff of the beam output on the tree trunk (right side of the picture). That should give most people an idea of the direct light from the beam vs. reflection/ambient light on other objects.

rsutoratosu

I'm so jealous right now, Im going to get a hitch attachment and do a similar install, thanks for figure out the wiring for us !!! big help

I probably get that for my bmw, also horrible rear lights.. if I did get it, I would angle it downwards.. need to see the ground, not to blind people also

MCDavis

Be mindful that when you angle it down that you're creating a hot spot right below the camera. As a result you won't pick up things in the distance. I would suggest for your needs the smaller SRM pod from Rigid. It's 2-LEDs and not 4-LEDs like the SRQ. Half the power and still an adequate amount of light to help with the camera.

EDIT: I had a pair of SRM on my truck and that's the reason I went with the SRQ as the SRM pair equals the output of one SRQ. I think a single SRM would fit the bill nicely. They also make a SRM2 which has 3-LEDs.