Adding a front (OEM) camera…?

[PeterGriffin]

2024 Polaris XPEDITION XP Premium: Starting at US $28,999
2024 Polaris XPEDITION ADV Premium: Starting at US $29,999
*This trim will be made available in 2024.
The Polaris XPEDITION Premium features a 4.3” JBL® Color Display and Trail Pro 2000 Audio, 660 W stator charging system, FOX ® Shocks, Pro Armor 30” Crawler XP tires with 15” wheels, standard bumper, winch and roof. The ADV 5-seat model includes covered cargo area with flat fold and 60/40 split flip-up rear seats, while the XP 5-seat model includes a dumping cargo box and 60/40 split flip-up rear seats.

2024 Polaris XPEDITION XP Ultimate: Starting at US $31,999
2024 Polaris XPEDITION ADV Ultimate: Starting at US $32,999
In addition to the premium offering, the Polaris XPEDITION Ultimate also includes Polaris’ industry-leading seven-inch touchscreen display powered by RIDE COMMAND, 900W stator charging system, JBL® Trail Pro 4100 surround sound audio system with 400W AMP and 10” subwoofer, front and rear cameras, tilt and telescopic steering, plus padded console and auto stop winch.

2024 Polaris XPEDITION XP NorthStar: Starting at US $38,999
2024 Polaris XPEDITION ADV NorthStar: Starting at US $39,999
Rounding out the lineup is the top-tier Polaris XPEDITION NorthStar. Including everything from the Ultimate trim, the NorthStar trim features a fully enclosed cab with HVAC temperature and zone controls, lockable full doors with power windows and a tip-out front glass windshield. The NorthStar trim also comes standard with RIDE COMMAND+, allowing for vehicle health monitoring and more.

To learn more, please visit polaris.com/PolarisXPEDITION

^ I wanted to quote @Dragoon’s post (particularly the part that’s in bold green italics!) because I thought I was losing my mind…

I have NO idea why, in Gawd’s name, would Polaris make a front camera standard in the Ultimate…but not include it in the higher trim model Northstar. It’s honestly mind boggling…

But not as mind boggling as trying to get a straight (as in directly from Polaris) answer about which part number (front) camera I need to add to my ADV Northstar.

On the Polaris website there is no such part number. There’s several front camera part numbers including 4019855 and 4081063 that are listed on working with RZRs, Generals and Rangers with Ride Command…but it specifically states that they will NOT fit/work with the Xpedition…despite the fact that the Ultimate comes with one standard…?…!

Checking eBay for “Polaris XPedition front camera” I came up with this search result:

Pardon Our Interruption...

That has the older part number, 4019855.

Checking the feedback the first entry states:

Plugged right in to my 2025 Polaris Xpedition ADV Northstar. Works great.

Call me crazy but that would lead me to believe that if I plugged it right into my 2025 Polaris XPedition ADV Northstar it would work…great!

When I went to look for the corresponding wiring harness where it would plug in it’s literally zip tied down with a rubber plug cap right above when the camera plugs in.

Lot of nickel and diming going on here…like there’s no rear overhead cabin light…but they’ll happily sell you one for a hundy +. They must be taking marketing lessons from Hardley (sic)-Davidson…

I was rather surprised when I initially did a search and didn’t find this asked and answered previously which is why I started this new thread…

 

[JTBarlow]

It’s the ‘24 year model Xpedition that has the front camera included. Both Northstar and Ultimate.
They stopped putting them in the ‘25+. Granted, you can’t even get a ‘26 Xpedition Ultimate, but still. Even the Ranger XD 1500 doesn’t include the front camera, although it’s also wired for it.

Most people have never noticed that it was missing after the ‘24s, which says a lot about how rarely it ever gets used. While I agree that Polaris is fond of nickel and dime-ing everything (there really needs to be an updated phrase for this. It’s more of $100-$500), I really don’t blame them for discontinuing the front camera. There’s probably only 1 of every 200 Customers who ever actually use it. And rarely even at that.

I’ve personally never actually used mine while riding. Just switched to it to check it out. Now if they’d do a RC software update that’d allow you to record with the front camera, that’d change the whole game.

 

[DogRunner2]

I agree I never use mine,lol.Not sure about part # but I just went to my dealer and he had one in stock

 

[EricB]

I'm one of the few the wants and needs the front camera.I use it when loading on a trailer and when parking in the garage. My garage is long (70 ft), so I park my vehicles one behind the other. I need to park withing a foot of each vehicle to get everything to fit. The front camera helps with parking this close. In fact I've installed a front camera on my Jeep Cherokee for the same reason.

 

[garciava]

this should work from Amazon. Put one on my Pro XP

KEMIMOTO PRO XP Front Camera, HD Wide-Angle for Factory Installed 7 in Ride Command Accessories​

 

[PeterGriffin]

this should work from Amazon. Put one on my Pro XP

KEMIMOTO PRO XP Front Camera, HD Wide-Angle for Factory Installed 7 in Ride Command Accessories​

Which is EXACTLY what I ended up ordering yesterday. I’ve used their stuff before and have been satisfied with the quality and price and it was relatively short money ($65) compared to the Polaris one ($200) and allegedly has better picture quality than the Polaris…we’ll see about that!

 

[PeterGriffin]

It’s the ‘24 year model Xpedition that has the front camera included. Both Northstar and Ultimate.
They stopped putting them in the ‘25+. Granted, you can’t even get a ‘26 Xpedition Ultimate, but still. Even the Ranger XD 1500 doesn’t include the front camera, although it’s also wired for it.

Most people have never noticed that it was missing after the ‘24s, which says a lot about how rarely it ever gets used. While I agree that Polaris is fond of nickel and dime-ing everything (there really needs to be an updated phrase for this. It’s more of $100-$500), I really don’t blame them for discontinuing the front camera. There’s probably only 1 of every 200 Customers who ever actually use it. And rarely even at that.

I’ve personally never actually used mine while riding. Just switched to it to check it out. Now if they’d do a RC software update that’d allow you to record with the front camera, that’d change the whole game.

There was at least a 1/2 dozen times yesterday when a front camera would have saved me from getting out of the vehicle to check my line…

If you’re flat landing it on fire roads and what not, then yeah, I get it, but on the riding that I do which ranges from wide open flat desert to extremely technical off camber crawling it’s not optional; it’s a necessity.

My Jeep Gladiator Mojave came standard with one and it made our riding so much more fun and safe it wasn’t even funny. We didn’t use it just to use it, it was absolutely critical and saved us from taking a bad line and/or making a bad decision early enough in the ole OODA loop to prevent disaster…or at least hurt feelings.

We just literally had a year’s worth, if not several, of rain here yesterday. That inevitably changes the trails we ride on today that we rode on yesterday.

I don’t hammer haphazardly, ripping through the desert and hope for the best by any stretch, but if there’s any mechanism that makes our adventuring safer, I’m all for it.

That’s not to mention how handy it is (and it just was…) in parking in tight spots, getting positioned on a trailer, etc. For actually less than a hundred dollars in this case it’s money extremely well spent, my original point was it was an fiscal/profit maximizing reason why Polaris left them not, not for a lack of use.

When I buy a flagship product from any manufacturer, I expect exactly that; flagship build which means everything is MAXED out. This is similar to the same nonsense that BMW is doing where you need a subscription to use the heated seats in the vehicle that you bought…and if you don’t pay up they disable it remotely. That’s just…ridiculous. ANYTHING to get you to spend more money after, in this case, I paid the same for this that I did for my daughter’s JLU Jeep Wrangler Willy’s a couple of years ago…

 

[JTBarlow]

I 100% agree that it was about maximizing profit, but no OEM completely loads out any machine. The top end of every SxS line has tons of add-on options are over and above the initial price of the machine.
I mean, the Ranger XP 1000s and XD 1500s come with a winch remote, but it’s an upgrade option on the Xpedition. At the same time, I’m not aware of any OEM SxS with even close to as good of a stock stereo as the Xpedition has.
Had Polaris not started out with the front camera on the first years, this discussion would look a lot more like the one on the Ranger XD forum where they just asked how to add one. Because the first year, top line, XD 1500 never came with a front camera. And it’s msrp is even higher than the Xpedition.

 

[PeterGriffin]

Sooooo…I got the camera installed.

Short story long, the spinning lock ring on the Kenimoto camera significantly complicates the install as compared to the Polaris/OEM camera which uses 2 locking tabs to keep it in place.

Specifically the backside of the camera where the locking ring is supposed to secure the camera to the backside/inside of the camera mounting area is extremely tight…like ridiculously tight (space wise)…like un-possibly tight!

Unless you have action figure size hands, good luck getting the locking ring tightened to the point where the camera doesn’t spin/move. After wrestling with it for an obscene amount of time (compared to what it would have taken to install the OEM front camera), and chewing up the camera bezel in the process trying to prevent it from moving when tightening the ring down, I came up with a method to keep tension of the camera to prevent it from shifting. This was after I had gotten it as tight as I possibly could, but that still left enough room for the camera body to move.

I drilled 2 holes on either side of the camera cable, pulled the cable tight enough to provide constant tension on the camera mounting face against the bracket and zip tied it down.

The 3+ hour, almost 50-mile ride yesterday was enough to demonstrate two things; (1) the front camera for our riding environment/style is absolutely required and (2) it performed exactly as expected…

It didn’t move, at all, and the picture quality is comparable to the rear OEM camera but I would say it’s slightly lower quality, but not by much without knowing the exact specifications.

Bad news is if I ever need to remove the camera because it stopped working, etc., it’s gonna be a show and I’d likely have to cut a portion of the sides off the mounting arm/bracket to get more wiggle room. For a minute while doing the install and before coming up with the zip tie idea I thought I was going to have removal the entire fascia that houses the camera mounting bracket to get a better angle on the locking ring.

Did I COMPLETELY overlook an easier method of instruction or installed it incorrectly? Possible but not likely; instructions are not included and it’s pretty straightforward not to mention there’s really only one way to install it…it just ain’t that simple.

Biggest win was spending less than $60 on something that Polaris wants $200 for…I’ll wrestle with a not so straightforward install to save $140 any day! I’m retired and have nothing but time…