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Wanted Wolfbox G900 Dash Cam for 3 reasons: blind spot mitigation, better view of cargo, and rear view with tailgate down.
Took me forever to install it because I hate hate hate the way it looks as an exterior installation; it looks like an afterthought to me. My eyes go right to them like a magnet, which is odd for me because I don't normally care about the way vehicles (mine or other folks') look.
Anyway, one day it hit me that maybe I could install it inside the 3rd brake light assembly. I asked an AI and it said yup, it'll fit. As an experiment, I ordered a $28 Nilight replacement brake light off Amazon. It is smoked, which helps hide the camera inside the unit. User Dave O did make a mention/question about this idea here, but I didn't see any followup by anyone.
Used a Dremel to chop out space for the camera. Black urethane roof sealant holds camera in place. Yes, this was a no-going-back sort of experiment. Worth noting that in chopping out some of the guts, I did lose (cover) 2 of the 6 red brake leds. The 4 remaining are plenty bright, and I'm not concerned about violating a DOT rule about # of lumens here. I like that the finished job looks 'intentional' and it disappears from notice. I do need to get a pic of the red lights when the brakes are on; 2 on each side of the camera hole, so it looks balanced.
The results? I'm delighted! I had originally thought about installing camera inside the cab, but the tinting costs too much light for my liking. See post here. Did I do a perfect job? Alas, no. While the urethane was curing (for a week), I failed to notice that I placed the camera a tiny bit off-center: see red arrow in above pic for the area I lost on that. I could bevel that edge of the hole and likely recover that area, but I'm guessing future me isn't going to do that. Walking around the truck, no one notices this; it looks perfect to passersby.
Lastly, a list of some thoughts
- Just connected it a day ago, so no idea yet if water will get captured in the camera hole. This may be an argument to bevel that outer edge.
- This video was great for getting up to the headliner via the passenger side C pillar. Only needed to do one side.
- Once the stock brake light is out, you can see 2 white "cones". These are a sort of clip you'll need to release. Squeeze them with needle-nose to release. You may need to rotate them (also with needle-nose) before you can squeeze them.
- Once I was done, it hit me that I really should have looked around for an extension M/F wire to get access to the brake assembly plug. As it stands now, if I want to put the stock light back in, I'll need to fiddle with the C pillar trim & headliner again because there is no other way to reach it. Adding a 6" extender in there would have been a great idea.
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