I want parking assistance in the front of my car too

September 14, 2011 10:56 AM

Forward looking parking helper/distance measure/camera.

Hi there,
My car now has backward facing camera which can be helpful when parking. I would like to have some parking help with the front of the car as well. Prefrably something indicating distance to the nearest wall or whatever at different points of the front bumber.

I have seen a lot of kits for doing the backward looking (and got one installed) but I havent seen a lot of kits for looking in front of the car.
Does anyone know of a kit, or a place that installs such things in the US? I would prefer something that is as non insvansive as possible as far as having to make holes and changes to the car itself.

posted by digividal to Travel & Transportation (1 answer total)

You can use the back camera kits for the front too. Same technology. Two tricks:

1) You'll want to choose a custom alarm/car audio shop to install it. They'll be able to figure out all the details.

2) They'll need to install a video switch for you that can switch signals from the front to the back. A good shop will figure this out for you (or you can research "video switchers" and choose the best option yourself).

Also note: you don't really need a distance measuring device. If you have a camera and it looks like you have room, then you have room. If you're the kind of person who has trouble parking and thinks you would even have trouble with a two camera system, consider buying a car with self-parking technology (I think Lexus makes one for sure).
posted by Murray M at 5:32 AM on September 18, 2011