Burst (Swollen) Rear Camera

[JTK37]

I was taking my gear out of the trunk and pondering the tailgate rattle. When I closed the tailgate and started looking at the spare something didn’t quite look right.

Upon closer inspection the housing for the rear view camera is swollen, burst and deformed on the left side. But the camera still works. Has anyone seen anything like this? It’s puffed like a bad LiPo battery, as far as I know there is no battery in there. So maybe a short or over heating? Not that it would ever get enough use to over heat.

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[Ducati1098]

The big split is one thing, but why is it so scratched up and stuff even on the front face of it? It almost looks like it was backed into something (or someone else backed into it) which caused all the damage

 

[Jakob1972]

Could it have filled with water and frozen?

 

[JTK37]

The big split is one thing, but why is it so scratched up and stuff even on the front face of it? It almost looks like it was backed into something (or someone else backed into it) which caused all the damage

I read your reply and thought “holy crap” it does look like it could have been hit or bumped. So I ran back out to look at it. I don’t think it’s ever been impacted, it would be really hard to line up to hit the camera on something that height, but not hit the lights or bracket. The rear light set up protects the camera pretty well. The spare has only been off twice at the detailers and once years ago when I put the lights on- I was about to take it off to work on the rattle when I noticed the camera. Spare also has no marks on it

 

[JTK37]

Could it have filled with water and frozen?

Very possible, was one hell of a winter here

 

[ejpaul1]

So,,,, you need to talk about the dangers of promiscuity with your bronco,,,,,

 

[5GENIDN]

What the hell is it filled with? mine was an empty hollow tube. Mine is a 23..... water (ice) expansion would explain the cracking but there is no way that would hold water to expand. AND as Ducati mentioned there are obvious marks on the very end that strongly suggest it has been struck by something. That "fill" almost looks like fractured portland cement.

 

[MrsTuffPaws]

I would remove the spare and see if there are any deformations in the plastic body of the tire holder. That should tell you if it was an impact. Also, it looks like dirt in side. Do you have any mud dobbers in the area?

 

[JTK37]

I would remove the spare and see if there are any deformations in the plastic body of the tire holder. That should tell you if it was an impact. Also, it looks like dirt in side. Do you have any mud dobbers in the area?

Yes we do. And I do have some in the yard. I’m hesitant to take the spare off at this point- not sure if it’ll fall apart. Guess no back up camera isn’t really the end of the world.

I need to figure it out, getting the spare off lets me look at the camera and see what happens with the tail gate rattle so I might as well give it a shot.

 

[Felix808]

The good thing is, if the camera still works it's just a plastic housing with some aluminum in it. The bad part is you would have to replace the whole tire carrier if you want to replace it as it is one piece. I have one on the ground but I cut the top of it up to make my new 3rd brake light set up

 

[Squatch]

Do you have bears in the area? Maybe curious raccoons or a crazy ex-girlfriend? It looks gnawed on.

 

[Strizzo]

corrosion could do that if it was between like an aluminum tube and the outer plastic. Also, do you have clay that gets super slick when it rains where you live? clays tend to swell when wet so that could maybe have caused it too. it gets in as dust and packs in, then gets wet and swells up.

 

[5GENIDN]

corrosion could do that if it was between like an aluminum tube and the outer plastic. Also, do you have clay that gets super slick when it rains where you live? clays tend to swell when wet so that could maybe have caused it too. it gets in as dust and packs in, then gets wet and swells up.

It swells up but that is a LOT of swollen material! Mine did not contain anything from the factory that could swell up to that volume. And how the hell would you get that much clay inside that? Good point about clays swelling but again that is like stuffed before swelling.

 

[DeathValleyBob]

Looks like something swollen from the inside expanded the plastic cover. Have you had it an area with sea water? If there were a crack in the plastic housing and sea water got inside I would expect to see effects like you have from hydroxide intrusion?

 

[JTK37]

Took the spare off today to see if that changed the tail gate rattle at all. Gave me a chance to get a better look. It definitely burst inside out, and it’s quite deformed but tough to say how/why. No visible damage to the tire carrier or tail gate.

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