Ford Transit Backup Camera: What To Know
Photo by Yunus Yildiz on Unsplash
The Ford Transit is a valuable vehicle for the use of a work truck or for transportation of people. As a driver, your visibility is not bad facing forward, but depending on how many occupants you have in your vehicle, or if you have a van that is set up with no windows (work van), your rearview can be pretty poor. Using your backup camera may be your only choice for backup safety and success. Read this article for more on Ford Transit backup camera: what to know.
Oddly enough, most people would consider backup cameras a fairly new idea. You’re not going to find an OEM backup camera in an average late ‘90s vehicle or early 2000s. But the first backup camera was introduced in 1956 on the Buick Centurion concept car. The idea never got a lot of traction, but here were are today, with backup cameras being a mandate for all vehicles built past 2018.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) pushed to pass the law that says all vehicles from 2019 and newer will need to come with a standard built-in backup camera that will provide a clear view of the area 10-20 feet behind it.
Why Are Backup Cameras So Popular?
Safety and convenience! Ford Transit backup camera: what to know. The Ford Transit is probably in need of a back camera more than any vehicle on the market. With the driver’s line of vision limited much more than most vehicles, this vehicle that is sometimes designed to carry people, possibly many kids, a backup camera is almost a most.
There are 210 deaths from backup roll-over accidents every year, and children under 5 account for 31-percent of those fatalities. The backup roll-over injuries amount to an estimated 15,000 a year. The new backup camera law is put in place to help prevent these kinds of accidents at all costs. Obviously, this number can’t go to zero, but it sure can be lowered by the use of backup cameras and backup sensors.
Backup sensors are a great use of safety equipment, but they are only known to reduce a driver’s rearview blind spot by 2-3-percent. That’s not good, considering a backup camera with a 180-degree line of vision can reduce your rearview blind spot up to 90-percent.
According to Michael Barry, a spokesman for the Insurance Information Institute, this new rule has yet to affect the cost of insurance rates. But he does say that if the number of claims goes down, and that number can be directly related to the use of backup cameras and sensors, lower insurance rates are a possibility.
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Learning How To Use Your Ford Transit Backup Camera
Like with anything, there is a little bit of a learning curve, but nothing to be scared of. It might actually be harder for the older generation to use them because of all the years of looking over your shoulder when backing up (bad habits can be hard to break).
But there can’t be anything worse than having a backup camera and still getting into an avoidable accident. If you learn how to use the guidelines that appear on the monitors and listen to the sensors, you should have no problem catching on to backing up while using your backup camera.
Benefits of Using Your Ford Transit Backup Camera
A Ford Transit can be a great van for loading cargo in, but backing it up to the perfect spot may become a hassle. With enough practice using your backup camera, you should be able to back into any spot like a pro. That also goes with parallel parking as well.
If you have to tow something with your Transit van, make sure to find out how to zoom in on your trailer hitch. This closeup view should line you up just right, even if you don’t have a backup conductor. The guidelines will also help you when backing up a trailer, one of the hardest things to learn about trailer hauling.
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Aftermarket Ford Transit Backup Cameras
We really encourage people who want to hook up an aftermarket camera to their Transit van to go through a Ford dealer. Whether you decide to do it yourself or you have a dealership do it for you, you would be getting the most compatible parts for your new backup camera hook-up.
But if you decide to go non-Ford aftermarket, make sure you go with a reputable dealer. We suggest that you go through a parts wholesaler or a Car Audio shop. A backup camera is no good to you if it doesn’t work right, doesn’t display the view correctly, or doesn’t display enough of the view. Cheaper versions of this product may cause you a lot of hassle.
The minimum view angle you should go for is 130-degrees, but a 180-degree angle is better. In an aftermarket backup camera kit, look to see if everything comes with it. Make sure you get a monitor, a programming chip if you’re going to hook it up to your stock infotainment system, and check and see if the camera has functions like guidelines, sensor warnings, and closeup views.
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Location of Your Backup Screen
If you have a newer model Ford Transit that comes with a backup camera installed, then your backup screen would share a space with your infotainment center.
Other locations for your Ford Transit backup Camera: what to know.
If you go aftermarket, which you can still do even if you have an OEM backup camera, you have some choices. Some people actually hook up their backup screens to their tablets; some kits come with a rearview mirror replacement where the screen will show up on the mirror when backing up. And other kits come with a separate monitor to mount where you wish.
When it comes to backup cameras, the best thing to do is learn how to use them correctly and never just depend on your camera. You still need to use your Ford Transit rearview mirrors, backup sensors, and side mirror. Nothing is 100-percent, but everything used in tandem can be the difference in backing over something, running into something, or not.
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