[Uncle George]

Well I have found it a bit of a nervous challenge to back out of parking spaces with my van that doesn't have a window in passenger side cargo door and also at other situations in traffic. My mirrors work great to see behind along side me but am going to have to find a solution. I have been trying to get an OEM style window for my 118 and it has proven to be more of a challenge than I ever anticipated. Found out that OEM style windows for a cargo door are very easy to come by for the 136 and 159 wheel bases from dealers and aftermarket sources. But hard to find for 118 as it is a shorter window. CRL doesn't make one. Dealer said he couldn't find any available. An auto glass place here in Austin has been looking for me one for a coupla days and haven't heard back from their sources yet. If I don't find one soon it looks like I will have to go with a Motion Window as they do have one that fits my 118 but is a slider that I don't much want and takes about two months to get one.:|

Only other solutions I have thought of is multiple rear view/side view cameras or just plane ol' parking where I can see better and staying away from traffic situations that cause a viewing problem which is pretty near impossible. Any other solutions y'all may have come up with?

 

[keeponvaning]

No question that the OEM look is the best but several people here have simply found an aftermarket RV window large enough to fill in the opening and gone for it. It’s not elegant (IMHO) but it does the job quickly and fairly inexpensively, PLUS, it can always be removed when you can find the correct window and resold or moved to the opposite side.

Check this place out http://www.tristatesurplusllc.com/

 

[ACRGLASS]

The OEM back up camera, at least in a high top, has proven very effective for us backing out of diagonal parking. Once the "check all mirrors" or whatever that warning is, goes out, we can see almost a block down the street. Most of our diagonal parking slightly dips the van nose, and again, ours is a high top. I have yet ot find an aftermarket camera that has as good of a field of view as the OEM, without a dramatic fish eye effect.

There's also another string on this subject of the 118" sliders being different, and windows for them.

Not much help for your question though. Sorry, but HTH, somewhat. What's below won't be of much help to you either....but may for some.

NAGS, National Auto Glass Specifications, a division of Mitchell, has not assigned one of its "aftermarket" NAGS numbers that correlates to the sliding door for the 118" WB yet. There are other anomalies in NAGS that do NOT appear to make sense on other Promaster glass parts, also, so be wary of them on the Promaster listings, IMHO. For example, they show 2 different glass' for the sliding cargo door that EXCEPTS out the 118" WB, one block sizes @ 55.2" wide, the other block sizes @ 32.6" wide. One makes sense, one does not. They are also showing different glass' for the 159 Extended WB side doors, and from what I understand, that extension is strictly behind the rear wheels, the doors are the same. SO, after 3 years of production, going into the 4th, NAGS is still apparently confused, but then, I don't have access to the OEM specs that they do, so perhaps there are some window anomalies that technically exist, but never actually made it to vehicles that hit the pavement. THAT has happened in the past, from time to time. So has the reverse.

http://www.promasterforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=73210

 

[Uncle George]

The OEM back up camera, at least in a high top, has proven very effective for us backing out of diagonal parking. Once the "check all mirrors" or whatever that warning is, goes out, we can see almost a block down the street. Most of our diagonal parking slightly dips the van nose, and again, ours is a high top. I have yet ot find an aftermarket camera that has as good of a field of view as the OEM, without a dramatic fish eye effect.

There's also another string on this subject of the 118" sliders being different, and windows for them.

Not much help for your question though. Sorry, but HTH, somewhat. What's below won't be of much help to you either....but may for some.

NAGS, National Auto Glass Specifications, a division of Mitchell, has not assigned one of its "aftermarket" NAGS numbers that correlates to the sliding door for the 118" WB yet. There are other anomalies in NAGS that do NOT appear to make sense on other Promaster glass parts, also, so be wary of them on the Promaster listings, IMHO. For example, they show 2 different glass' for the sliding cargo door that EXCEPTS out the 118" WB, one block sizes @ 55.2" wide, the other block sizes @ 32.6" wide. One makes sense, one does not. They are also showing different glass' for the 159 Extended WB side doors, and from what I understand, that extension is strictly behind the rear wheels, the doors are the same. SO, after 3 years of production, going into the 4th, NAGS is still apparently confused, but then, I don't have access to the OEM specs that they do, so perhaps there are some window anomalies that technically exist, but never actually made it to vehicles that hit the pavement. THAT has happened in the past, from time to time. So has the reverse.

http://www.promasterforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=73210

Thanks, I will look again more closely at my OEM backup camera.

I just got off the phone with ProGlass up in Georgetown, TX and they gave me a quote of $1466 for the side cargo window and the two rear cargo windows installed. They have an outta town source that has glass that is OEM size and look alike that they guarantee to be just that for the side cargo door. Parker or Parkinson glass, not sure but assured me it was quality glass that they use regularly in vans. Says the rear cargo door are readily available locally.

 

[B1GBLEU]

The OEM back up camera, at least in a high top, has proven very effective for us backing out of diagonal parking. Once the "check all mirrors" or whatever that warning is, goes out, we can see almost a block down the street. Most of our diagonal parking slightly dips the van nose, and again, ours is a high top. I have yet ot find an aftermarket camera that has as good of a field of view as the OEM, without a dramatic fish eye effect.

There's also another string on this subject of the 118" sliders being different, and windows for them.

Not much help for your question though. Sorry, but HTH, somewhat. What's below won't be of much help to you either....but may for some.

NAGS, National Auto Glass Specifications, a division of Mitchell, has not assigned one of its "aftermarket" NAGS numbers that correlates to the sliding door for the 118" WB yet. There are other anomalies in NAGS that do NOT appear to make sense on other Promaster glass parts, also, so be wary of them on the Promaster listings, IMHO. For example, they show 2 different glass' for the sliding cargo door that EXCEPTS out the 118" WB, one block sizes @ 55.2" wide, the other block sizes @ 32.6" wide. One makes sense, one does not. They are also showing different glass' for the 159 Extended WB side doors, and from what I understand, that extension is strictly behind the rear wheels, the doors are the same. SO, after 3 years of production, going into the 4th, NAGS is still apparently confused, but then, I don't have access to the OEM specs that they do, so perhaps there are some window anomalies that technically exist, but never actually made it to vehicles that hit the pavement. THAT has happened in the past, from time to time. So has the reverse.

http://www.promasterforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=73210

I took an hikvision ip camera and set it up with a password. I then temporarily mounted it to the ladder rack. The wires are sandwiched in the door gasket for now. I'll drill holes later when I'm satisfied with the setup. No leaks. I then took a spare netgear Wi-Fi router and connected it to the convenience outlet in the back. I plugged in the camera to the router by Ethernet cable. I split the power wire for the router to also accept the camera power using a terminal strip.
I took a spare Android phone and logged into the router through Wi-Fi and suction cupped it to the windshield where the mirror used to be.
I now have a rear view mirror. The camera has a 2mm lens, it catches 3 driving lanes behind me but it's a bit too wide. If I rotate the phone (while using Onvif camera app) it zooms in tight but I prefer to see all travel lanes. I'm going to order a camera either with an 8mm lens or a zoom.
Total cost$250, $175 camera, 40 router, 35 old phone.
The right side is still a. Major blind spot, I figure I'll need at least another camera for exiting highways.
I actually mounted a second camera on the back, old school low resolution but I'm waiting for Santa to bring me a new 7" monitor for it. The old audiovox DVD screen is a dark pos and way too bulky for the windshield.

Sent from my LG-H918 using Tapatalk

 

[ThomD]

One thing to watch with IP cameras is there can be a lag of 1-3 seconds depending on a lot of factors. Be sure you test your setup and know what your lag is. I'm looking at regular SD cameras for simplicity. I did pick up an 7" screen from Amazon that has 4 inputs and can act as a DVR. Still sitting on the bench while I work on other things.

I think TinyCam pro will let you use the Android phone as a DVR. Don't get stuck with a "he said, she said" fight with an insurance company - record everything.

Check the firmware on that Hikvision camera. They had some nasty security flaws for a long time.

(I think this camera discussion merits its own thread.)

 

[B1GBLEU]

One thing to watch with IP cameras is there can be a lag of 1-3 seconds depending on a lot of factors. Be sure you test your setup and know what your lag is. I'm looking at regular SD cameras for simplicity. I did pick up an 7" screen from Amazon that has 4 inputs and can act as a DVR. Still sitting on the bench while I work on other things.

I think TinyCam pro will let you use the Android phone as a DVR. Don't get stuck with a "he said, she said" fight with an insurance company - record everything.

Check the firmware on that Hikvision camera. They had some nasty security flaws for a long time.

(I think this camera discussion merits its own thread.)

Yeah, the lag was horrific with ivms4500 app. Even with resolution lowered and quality at lowest. I tried 6or 7apps and finally found onvifer. Less than 1/2 second delay and if I rotate phone to portrait, it zooms in! I can almost count nose hairs on the driver behind me!

Sent from my LG-H918 using Tapatalk

 

[Brad Anderson]

I just installed one in my cargo door last week. The complete job took 3 hrs. I didn’t want to pull out in front of anybody and get t-boned. If your pulling out at even a little angle and don’t have anybody in the passenger seat to check for traffic you’re totally shaking the dice.

 

[Club Rider]

Post office , fed ex , Ups , on track , Don't have any issues , come on people put on your big boy pants and learn how to drive a windowless van

 

[Uvan]

You can't see the on coming right traffic if you are making a left on intersection with weird angle(not 90 degree). I only encounter those intersection a dozen times but its pretty scary. If im by myself and know it will be an issue for that intersection, i will angle the van more to the right side so i can see the right on coming traffic. But most of the time, my gf is with me so it isn't an issue.

 

[Brad Anderson]

Yes I would become one with my van if I get broadsided by a semi.

 

[cas]

 

[CarKeys]

2 Aerostar's , Transit Connect , Full size Transit , Promaster , Never had a problem with no side/rear Windows commercial driving 8 hr days , I would say 95% commercial working vans have no side /rear Windows and driver's seem ok with it