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06-06-2010, 05:09 PM | #1 |
Drives: 2007 Toyota Yairs Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: .
Posts: 36
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DIY headrest camera mount
Howdy! Stopped by to brag a little about yesterday's accomplishment -
I've wanted an in-car camera mount for my '07 hatchback for some time, but the only ones I found required some permanent modification to the car, had flimsy suction cup anchors, or were $50+. So I went to Lowes yesterday and built one: And it works like a dream. I tweaked my first design and made it smaller/lighter, and easy to store (I haven't checked yet, but it might even fit in one of the compartments next to the spare tire in the hatchback) - it's also now effortless to tighten down without any tools. Furthermore, I repurposed one of the nuts from the original design to act as a retaining nut; the camera mounting bolt no longer drops out once the camera is removed. Cost was the same, and I could actually replicate it for a few cents less in the future. If people were interested, I could easily make a kit available; it'd probably cost about $13, shipped. Also, push-on caps are readily available (I'd considered them for storing the wingnuts inside the PVC tube), but they were $1.34 each at Lowes, effectively defeating the original "budget" concept. I will, however, add a second set of holes to accommodate the narrower middle backseat headrest in the hatchback Yaris. Last edited by Echostatic; 06-08-2010 at 11:06 PM. |
06-06-2010, 05:38 PM | #2 |
Drives: 08 BB LB Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Maiden, NC
Posts: 785
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The tube you used looks like pvc electrical conduit. Am I right?
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06-06-2010, 05:42 PM | #3 |
Half a Bubble Off Plumb
Drives: 2009 Yaris Sedan Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Bristol, Tennessee, USA
Posts: 1,593
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Wouldn't it work just anchored to one headrest, avoiding the need to keep both seats adjusted the same?
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06-06-2010, 05:46 PM | #4 |
Drives: 2007 Toyota Yairs Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: .
Posts: 36
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Sure is. Here's the equipment list, in case anyone feels like building one:
1x - 3/4" PVC electrical conduit (Lowes had 6ft pieces for 94 cents) 2x - 1/4" x 1-1/8" x 2-1/4" U bolts 1x - whatever combination of 1/4" bolt (for the threaded socket on your cam) and washer/nut to hold it in place. All holes were drilled through markings eyeballed by holding the pipe against the headrest). |
06-06-2010, 05:51 PM | #5 | |
Drives: 2007 Toyota Yairs Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: .
Posts: 36
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Quote:
Also worth noting, the range of movement of the seat lets you pitch the mount about any way you'd need it to go, and this rig doesn't interfere with a passenger's comfort, since it's behind the posts. |
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06-06-2010, 05:57 PM | #6 |
Half a Bubble Off Plumb
Drives: 2009 Yaris Sedan Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Bristol, Tennessee, USA
Posts: 1,593
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OK. I thought it looked like it was clamped to both headrests.
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06-06-2010, 06:38 PM | #7 |
Drives: Yaris LB Turbo Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Miami FL
Posts: 782
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Nice! Ill be making one like ur next weekend. Good job!
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06-06-2010, 09:28 PM | #8 |
Drives: 2007 Toyota Yairs Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: .
Posts: 36
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Thanks! May your solution be inexpensive and effective!
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06-06-2010, 11:23 PM | #9 |
Drives: 2009 Meteorite Metallic LB MT Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Southeast Wisconsin
Posts: 810
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What is the camera you are using? That short clip seemed rather steady. Does
the camera have a steady-cam feature? Is that an HD camera? |
06-07-2010, 12:13 AM | #10 |
Drives: 2007 Toyota Yairs Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: .
Posts: 36
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I used two - one's the Aiptek HD cam shown there, and the other is a Sony Cybershot T20. Both are consumer-level, and both got great results!
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06-07-2010, 05:01 AM | #11 |
Drives: no-longer-boosted '10 Yaris Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Angus, Ontario
Posts: 1,891
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06-07-2010, 08:56 AM | #12 |
Drives: 2007 Toyota Yairs Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: .
Posts: 36
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06-07-2010, 04:17 PM | #13 |
Drives: 2007 Toyota Yairs Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: .
Posts: 36
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Had a couple of ideas today that will make the mount all the fancier and raise the cost by a weensy $1 - I've switched the nuts to wingnuts (for tool-less mounting/dismounting), and I'm capping the ends so I can store the hardware inside the hollow PVC. I also swapped out the camera socket mounting bolt for a different one that I can leave in place when not in use. New pictures to follow when I get it all polished and nice looking!
(tl;dr - Didn't want to spend $50+ on a headrest cam mount, so I built a great collapsible one for $3). |
06-08-2010, 12:54 AM | #14 |
ULTIMATE
Drives: 07 Yaris Turbo Join Date: May 2007
Location: Canoga Park, CA
Posts: 14,859
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If I had stock seats, I'd be hitting you up for sure.
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Micro Image forums, online store and shop are now closed. It was a great eight year run, but it was time to focus on other things. I'm still selling parts on eBay under micro*image seller ID and customers can still make requests for anything specific. |
06-08-2010, 01:27 AM | #15 |
Drives: 2007 Toyota Yairs Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: .
Posts: 36
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If your seats have posts anything like the stock ones, I can just offset the holes accordingly (or I can just send the materials for cheaper, and you can drill 'em yourself :) )
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06-08-2010, 06:36 AM | #16 |
vroom vroom
Drives: lil red 5-door Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Bangkok, Thailand
Posts: 7,744
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with wide enough hoops (or whatever those U-shaped pieces are called), you could go around the sides of the harness holes on racing seats... iiiinteresting!
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06-08-2010, 11:07 PM | #17 |
Drives: 2007 Toyota Yairs Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: .
Posts: 36
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New video added - nice drive through West Austin. Also wrote the music for it!
http://www.phreque.com/_tempor/camrig/wlh_cmtd.wmv (Video link in OP updated to this as well) |
06-19-2010, 12:22 PM | #18 |
Beast
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Ive had a similiar setup to this for past years now;D, it works good for what it is, it would be way nicer to have an actual suction mount to place anywhere in the car
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