Some Dash Cam Installation Tips

[DannyUncanny]

I just installed a single forward facing dash cam today and figured I’d share a few notes while it’s fresh in my mind.

• I tapped into fuse 3. The top pin was 12V live (when the ignition is on).
• I grounded to the M6 stud just below the fuse. The nut has an integrated washer that makes it hard to put a grounding lug behind it, so I just added an extra M6 nut on top of it to clamp my ground.
• Wiring ran up the passenger A pillar and was dead easy after dropping the glove box and removing the door seal. None of it is exposed anywhere.
• The rubber door seal just pulls straight out with a bit of pulling and there’s no need to monkey with any plastic panels.
• There is a hole behind the glove box in the top right that exits straight into the A pillar and from there it’s easy to pull up the wire.
• The only place I needed to flex anything was to pull down the A pillar cover a little bit where it meets the headliner and then a bit of work to get my fingertips behind the headliner.
• The headliner fabric looks pretty fragile around the edges so be delicate up there.
• Make sure to run the wire behind the airbag, not over top of it.
• I put my dash cam to the right of the mirror and ran the wire straight into the headliner.

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[RichardCranium]

Thanks for this info. I have a dash cam coming for when I finally get my truck. Mine is a 2 camera system, so I will be running some wire to my back window as well.

 

[Hammer]

I just installed a single forward facing dash cam today and figured I’d share a few notes while it’s fresh in my mind.

• I tapped into fuse 3. The top pin was 12V live (when the ignition is on).
• I grounded to the M6 stud just below the fuse. The nut has an integrated washer that makes it hard to put a grounding lug behind it, so I just added an extra M6 nut on top of it to clamp my ground.
• Wiring ran up the passenger A pillar and was dead easy after dropping the glove box and removing the door seal. None of it is exposed anywhere.
• The rubber door seal just pulls straight out with a bit of pulling and there’s no need to monkey with any plastic panels.
• There is a hole behind the glove box in the top right that exits straight into the A pillar and from there it’s easy to pull up the wire.
• The only place I needed to flex anything was to pull down the A pillar cover a little bit where it meets the headliner and then a bit of work to get my fingertips behind the headliner.
• The headliner fabric looks pretty fragile around the edges so be delicate up there.
• I put my dash cam to the right of the mirror and ran the wire straight into the headliner.

Thanks for taking the time to post this info. I took a screenshot with my iPad and saved it for future reference ( a good tip for avoiding future issues trying to search threads and find something you remember reading in the past but can’t find when you need it ).

 

[Johnkn]

I have wiring tapped in and run in a similar fashion. Make certain you don’t actually cross the A-pillar at any point or the wiring will interfere with that air bag deployment.

Good luck


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[SLJ]

Did the exact same thing today only dash cam and self dimming mirror with garage door openers at the same time. Wires down the passenger pillar, and used fuse #3 and #20. Used the post under the fuse box for ground also. Tomorrow I'll install the rear facing camera.

 

[jlcinga]

Nice write up…thanks.

Nextbase makes some really nice cameras.
Some have a built-in rear view camera that record nice images through the back glass.
I made a USB port by the mirror by tapping into the upper console lights.

 

[jlcinga]

Did the exact same thing today only dash cam and self dimming mirror with garage door openers at the same time. Wires down the passenger pillar, and used fuse #3 and #20. Used the post under the fuse box for ground also. Tomorrow I'll install the rear facing camera.

Would you share the information on th mirror you used…part number if possible

 

[SLJ]

Would you share the information on th mirror you used…part number if possible

Gentex Advent ADVGEN40A4
Got it off ebay new for half of retail. Some KIA mirrors (made by Gentex) can be used also but the cheap ones seem to have dried up.

 

[Joester]

USB port near the mirror...
I'm wondering when manufacturers will start putting USB ports up there. Considering the uptick in webcam use you would think engineers would accommodate them.

 

[DannyUncanny]

If manufacturers were gonna design for dash cams why not just include them in the car to begin with like Tesla.

The Maverick already has a front facing camera in that mirror windscreen assembly. It would only be a matter of storage and software to give customers access to that footage.

 

[colinl]

If manufacturers were gonna design for dash cams why not just include them in the car to begin with like Tesla.

The Maverick already has a front facing camera in that mirror windscreen assembly. It would only be a matter of storage and software to give customers access to that footage.

the copliot360 camera is not a dashcam. it's low resolution and has very specialized software to recognize lanes and vehicles.

anytime you want to compare functionality in a Maverick to a Tesla maybe first consider the vehicle selling prices.

 

[Mavreezy]

I recently installed a front Dash Cam myself. Due to my OCD, I didn't want to start pulling off plastics on the pillar to run the wire for power. I bought an adapter from Amazon that allowed me to tap the power from the auto-dimming mirror. The adapter made the installation an easy plug-and-play solution. The entire install took around 15 minutes.

The dash cam is a Garmin 47. It has a lot of cool features built in and the picture quality is quite impressive.

 

[Hcopter]

the copliot360 camera is not a dashcam. it's low resolution and has very specialized software to recognize lanes and vehicles.

anytime you want to compare functionality in a Maverick to a Tesla maybe first consider the vehicle selling prices.

Two wheel drive Model 3 with tax credit is $800 less than I paid for my Lariat Maverick.

 

[colinl]

Two wheel drive Model 3 with tax credit is $800 less than I paid for my Lariat Maverick.

and this model has a factory dashcam? I doubt it.

 

[Montana]

and this model has a factory dashcam? I doubt it.

Don't they all? I thought they all came with the cameras. At this point I'm wondering why more manufacturers don't offer it, at least as an option. It would be proprietary so that's more money for them.

One trend that can eff right off though is camera side mirrors. Incredibly stupid. Same for the rear view mirror cameras... If the camera goes out you have nothing.

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