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Installation Of A Pormido 998 Mirror/Camera System

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Gary Lewis

Re: Installation Of A Pormido 998 Mirror/Camera System

Administrator

Well, I got the camera yesterday as well as a note from Pormido answering my question about how to post a review of the camera on Amazon:

Really appreciate for your willingness to share your positive feelings on camera and service, but actually we're not going to sell it on Amazon, at least not now...because the camera cable is not high-temperature-resistant as we mentioned before, we cannot be 100% sure it can work stably, so we don't want to satisfy our customers 'for a while'...but considering you're really expected to add this camera to your system, so we send it to you for free as an exception:)

So I started installing it today. Pormido insisted that I needed to use the cable they sent with the camera, so I pulled the old cable out - which required removing the dash cover to get the A-pillar trim off and pulling the metal trim on the windshield and the driver's door.

But I got it installed just about the time we lost power, so I stopped working 'cause it was a bit dark in the shop. I did get to test the camera and it works. However the camera has to be mounted upside down from what I expected. The pic below is of the rear camera, but the front camera is identical.

I mounted the rear camera upside down from that and just used the "flip" function in the setup menu. However there's no such function for the front camera. So I emailed Pormido to see if they might create that function for me. Otherwise I'll have to figure out how to mount it as shown in the pic.

As for pics, I took some but said power outage prevented me from uploading them, so you'll have to wait a day or two for them. (I teach a Bible class on Sunday and tomorrow is reserved for getting the lesson together. But maybe it'll go more quickly than I think and I can get back out?

)

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
Blue: 2015 F150 Platinum 4x4 SuperCrew wearing Blue Jeans & sporting a 3.5L EB & Max Tow
Big Blue: 1985 F250HD 4x4: 460/ZF5/3.55's, D60 w/Ox locker & 10.25 Sterling/Trutrac, Blue Top & Borgeson, & EEC-V MAF/SEFI

Gary Lewis

Re: Installation Of A Pormido 998 Mirror/Camera System

Administrator

Got the camera installed today and I love it! Man, that picture is CLEAR! So much better than the picture I had shooting through the plastic box.

There's only one really minor downside and that is the issue of it mounting what looks like upside down. But that is, as said, very minor and I got it mounted. However I'll want to pull that red double-stick tape off as it is very obvious.

Anyway, here are some pics of the installation, starting at the mirror end. And I'm showing the whole route as I want Pormido to see how I did it and I'm giving them a link to this post.

First, here's the wiring at the display/mirror end, with the wires going up under the headliner:

Here's the wiring running down the A-pillar:

This shows the excess cable coiled and secured under the dash cover:

And here's where the wire goes through the firewall with a waterproof gland nut:

Now we are running down the frame, and you can see where when it goes over the shock tower it is not far from the exhaust so I have wrapped several turns of aluminum foil around the run to protect it. And I should note that the Pormido cable is inside the Pormido-supplied convolute, which is inside my high-temp convolute. That's the way I ran the original cable to the front camera, including the aluminum foil, and it had no problems so I'm sure this won't either.

Here's a pic from the shock tower to the front of the frame:

And here's a pic under the front bumper showing the routing:

To ensure that the connector between the cable and the camera is water-proof I wrapped it with electrical tape:

Now we have the camera mounted. To do that I drilled a hole in their mounting tab, ran the cable through it, and then put the other half of the mount between the bumper and the fog light bracket and tightened that down to hold it, which it does very well.

Last, here's a front view of the installation:

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

grumpin

Re: Installation Of A Pormido 998 Mirror/Camera System

Very nice! Glad it works well.

You could fashion a spoiler to put on the double sided tape!

Dane
1986 F250HD SC XLT Lariat 4x4 460 C6-Sold
1992 Bronco XLT 4x4 351W E4OD
1998 GMC Sierra SLE K1500 350 4L60E
Arizona

Gary Lewis

Re: Installation Of A Pormido 998 Mirror/Camera System

Administrator

Thanks, Dane. I'm really pleased with the picture I'm seeing.

As for the spoiler, I'm not sure how effective a 12" long device would be.

I spent a fair amount of time looking for the best place to mount the camera in order to get the view I wanted. And that view is from the trailer hitch on the bottom end to the sky on the top.

It would have been easy to put it in the grille, but that requires more down angle than where I placed it, and that would have limited the view of the horizon. So down where I mounted it is best as it doesn't require as much down angle.

Sure would be nice if I could figure out how to put it in the Ford oval, but that didn't pan out previously so I guess that's not going to work.

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

BigBrother-84

Re: Installation Of A Pormido 998 Mirror/Camera System

In reply to this post by Gary Lewis

Nice job Gary!

Don't understand why they are so hesitant about the resistance of the wire. Why not sell it with a split wire loom tubing kit, as you did... For me, that make sense.

Jeff / 1984 F350 Crew Cab 4x4/5.8L w351 4V/ T18/ D50 4.10 front/ 8' bed.
Restored 2019-2022.
Nicknamed «Big Brother 1984», due to its soooo-looong shape & nod to George Orwell's 1984 famous novel.

Gary Lewis

Re: Installation Of A Pormido 998 Mirror/Camera System

Administrator

Thanks, Jeff. But their wire did come with split-loom. It was small so I put it inside my high-temp split loom that I already had in place. Mine is Electriduct 3/8" Flame Retardant Polypropylene Split Wire Loom Tubing which has a "continuous operating temperature range of -40 °F to 275 °F". Perhaps there's isn't as good? I've suggested they use a higher temp loom.

And I also suggested that they add the flip function for the front camera to their firmware, and I got this response this morning:

About the flip function, we've communicated this issue with our engineers, and they said flip function can be added to the firmware, so you can install the front camera upside down. However, in this case, the image of recorded videos will also be upside down, may I know if this acceptable for you? Actually, if you want the recorded videos show normal image, not upside down, we need to adjust the motherboard inside the host, this is quite troublesome, we can only do this change when lots of customers have this need, sorry for this inconvenience caused...

Could you please kindly consider above and let us know your thought? If you decide to add flip function in this system, our engineers will work out a new firmware for you to achieve this function, thank you!

I've responded that I would love to have that function and can live with turning my display upside down if I need to review the video. But that maybe they could add a flip function to their playback software that is used to view the video. We shall see.

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Gary Lewis

Re: Installation Of A Pormido 998 Mirror/Camera System

Administrator

Another chapter in this saga. I got the 2nd waterproof camera from Pormido, the one that is flipped upside-down, while we were in New Mexico, but I didn't get to install it until today - it works great!

You can see in the pics below how the original one had to be mounted, with the flat part up, vs this new one with the flat part down. It is easier to mount that way and since the flat part has double-stick tape on it I can put that against the bumper and make the whole thing much more stable. (If you look closely I put some of my own double-stick tape under the camera on the left to get stability, but that wasn't quite as effective given the curved surface as having the flat part against the bumper.)

Also, we drove ~1800 miles on our jaunt to New Mexico and had no problems whatsoever with the mirror. The run of cable along the frame to the front camera, protected by high-temp convolute, looks as good now as it did when we left. So I am encouraging Pormido to market the system with the waterproof front camera and high-temp convolute.

However, I did find one thing I'm going to suggest they change. There is a setting for the rear camera that lets you zoom in or out for the view. But it only works in the full-screen view where the rear camera uses the whole mirror, and doesn't work in split-screen mode where you have the front camera on the left and the rear camera on the right. In that mode you cannot zoom the rear camera, which leaves the things behind you quite small until you are about to hit them.

I like driving in the split-screen mode as that way when I pull up close to something, like in a parking spot, I don't have to play with the mirror to see what is in front of the truck. But in that mode I can't tell that someone is following me until they are on my bumper, and once the vehicle had funny flashing lights on it.

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

BigBrother-84

Re: Installation Of A Pormido 998 Mirror/Camera System

Gary Lewis wrote

You can see in the pics below how the original one had to be mounted, with the flat part up, vs this new one with the flat part down. [...]
So I am encouraging Pormido to market the system with the waterproof front camera and high-temp convolute.

I agree, better look with the flat part down.

Are they finally willing to market it?

Jeff / 1984 F350 Crew Cab 4x4/5.8L w351 4V/ T18/ D50 4.10 front/ 8' bed.
Restored 2019-2022.
Nicknamed «Big Brother 1984», due to its soooo-looong shape & nod to George Orwell's 1984 famous novel.

Gary Lewis

Re: Installation Of A Pormido 998 Mirror/Camera System

Administrator

I don't know if they are going to market it or not. They initially said that the cable didn't meet their specs as it didn't survive wherever they ran it. But my guess is that their installer ran it too close to heat.

I used high-temp convolute and even wrapped it with several turns of aluminum foil where it was close to the header and I've had no problems. So I've suggested that they send high-temp convolute with the kit and even gave them a link to the stuff I got on Amazon.

And if you think about it there's plenty of heat to the rear in a vehicle with the exhausts and catalytic converter. But they don't make a big fuss in the directions about that. I'm thinking that explaining that they have to protect both wires, front and rear, would do the trick.

But they have a fine product and the weatherproof front camera makes it even better. I haven't seen anything like it on the market, and even perused the new Crutchfield catalog that came in yesterday to see what they have - weatherproof rear camera and in-cab front camera. Nope, that doesn't cut it.

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Powerman5K

Re: Installation Of A Pormido 998 Mirror/Camera System

In reply to this post by Gary Lewis

If you go the 3D printing route in the oval, you will need to make sure you use Nylon filament. PLA (and maybe ABS) will not hold up to the weather/elements. All filaments can be painted and you prep them the same way you would a piece of plastic.

1980 F100 Custom. Inline 6. Power steering. 3 on the Column.

Gary Lewis

Re: Installation Of A Pormido 998 Mirror/Camera System

Administrator

Thanks, but I think I'm going to use it mounted on the bumper rather than through the oval. The main reason for that is the work it would take to get it to work through the oval.

The camera needs to be tilted down at something like 20 to 25 degrees in order to be able to see the road close in front of the truck, which is one of the reasons for having it. And if you tilt it down that much then the hole in the oval is going to have to be that much larger.

And if you tilt it down that much the bottom of the view from the oval will be blocked by the winch and the bumper. You can kind of see that in the pic below which has the yard stick angling up from the winch's thimble, crossing the top of the bumper, and then hitting the top of the hood. So if the yard stick were to go to the oval the left end of it would be much farther in the air.

But I could mount it at the top of the top opening in the grille and it would have almost as good of view.

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

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