Running Cables for Dashcam - Help Wanted

sc52 · Feb 10, 2013

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elevenup · Feb 28, 2013

I''ve fitted a front cam as follows. I prised up the cigarette lighter socket bared the two cables and soldered two more from a spare cigarette lighter socket. It is easy to run this cable forward and out into the space below the dashboard and above the brake and clutch pedal. From here I connected the new cigarette lighter socket to the plug from the camera and placed these behind the trim in front of the drivers door. It is easy to pull this trim back and therefore easy to get at the socket if ever the it's fuse blew. Running the cable behind the trim to the top of the windscreen is also easy and it is quite out of sight.The advantage of using the existing cigarette lighter socket is that it is only live when the ignition is on. It is also fused at 15 amp, I think.
Be sure to run your cable on the right side to avoid interference with the radio aerial which comes down the left side.

I think if I were to want a rear camera I would still take the cable from the existing cigarette lighter socket and try running it under the carpet to the rear.

Good luck.

Red move with sensor and winter pack.

sc52 · Feb 28, 2013

The rear cam is powered from the front unit, so no need for an extra
socket at the rear. But it means I've got to get two cables to the
mirror area; one the length of the car.

I'll have a look at the
trim in front of the driver's door - but how do you get from there to the
upper edge of the windscreen? Is the wire hidden at this point or do
you just go over the A pillar with it exposed (about an inch or so from
memory)?

Personally I'm not fussed with wires dangling when I'm driving, but my
wife and son refuse to use the cam with it looking so unfinished....

elevenup · Mar 1, 2013

Hi Sc52.

It is easy to take one cable - and this is all I had to do - up the door pillar. Simply pull back the door seal rubber and put the cable underneath. It is quite invisible there. When the cable reaches the top of the door continue the cable underneath the roof lining until the point at which you require it to go into the cam, at the rear view mirror. Cut a slight nick here in the roof lining so that the cable doesn't force it away from the windscreen. In practice it is better to start with just sufficient cable exposed at the point it goes into the cam and then continue placing the cable along the roof lining and down the door rubber and tidy up any spare cable where you will be placing the cigarette lighter plug and socket. As I suggested earlier this very conveniently fits behind the trim below the dashboard (to the right of and below the headlight switch). There is actually an open space at this point in which to insert the plug and socket.

What could well be a problem is running two cables around the door pillar as I do not think there is sufficient room for two cables. You could run the second cable down the passenger side and possibly from there beneath the carpet.

Now I understand why you want to put the second cable underneath the roof lining. The lining seems to be glued at the sides and so you would have to find a way of feeding something through a narrow space about 2 metres long and which has a large bend at the back of the car. That will be difficult if at all possible.

I understand that the rear camera is connected into the front camera. Is this because the front camera does both recordings, or simply for the power supply? If the latter you might find it easier to connect to a separate power input.

Get the cable for the front camera done first and then think about the one for the rear.
Perhaps someone has some ideas about feeding the cable through the roof lining.

What else are you doing this weekend?

elevenup · Mar 1, 2013

Hi again,

I've found that it IS possible to run a cable from the front to the rear underneath the roof lining.

I tried 3 different materials to push through the gap before coming up with a thin, one inch wide, plastic strip. You need something that flexes easily in one direction and not at all in the other.

You first need to remove the interior light, known as the courtesy light in my day. To do this first prize off the plastic cover to the bulb. Do this from the front of the cover and put it aside.

This exposes the bulb in order to change it. You need to remove the whole unit. Locate the 2 screws in recessed housings. These need a star shaped screwdriver size T20. Having removed the screws you then need to prize the plastic clip on one side to remove the light fitting from the roof.

Now for the difficult bit. At the rear of the car prize away the rubber surround so exposing the edge of the roof liner. Lay the plastic strip across the roof and mark the approximate point on the plastic strip where it should finish when it reaches the interior light. Now push the plastic strip into the gap. You may find that there are one or two points of resistance. Just keep wiggling. After about 20 or so tries, less if you are lucky, the plastic strip will appear at the gap where the light is; although in my case it was just to one side. Join a piece of string to the plastic and pull it back.

The plastic strip I used was actually an old piece of tile edging that gives a quarter round to the edge of tiles. I cut this edge off so as to have a flat piece of plastic. If you have any trouble finding something I'll send this to you.

I wish you every success.

sc52 · Mar 5, 2013

Thanks elevenup,

I'll have a go at your method - if I can wrestle the car back from my wife or son..... they both seem very taken with it and I'm not getting a look in at the moment!

I'll let you know how I get on - the wiring may be the easy bit!

Cheers

Ecksile · Mar 5, 2013

The subject of dashcams is quite interesting.

I can see now that there is every likelihood that they will become compulsory fitment within say, 5 or 6 years.
I think this will be forced upon us by insurers in an effort to limit claims.

The market for cameras which give GPS position, time, date, speed at time of accident etc will increase dramatically and I can see car manufacturers making integrated versions available as an option in their new cars.

Forward facing at first, but then rearward facing as well later on. Some vehicles already have rear facing cameras for parking, not much of an extension to make them record on the move as well.

Would be interested to hear other views.................

ducatikid · Mar 5, 2013

I agree. Anyone behaving like a plonker will have evidence available at their conviction. I do not know why all new cars have black boxes fitted. It would make idiots think twice before driving down the motorway 20 yards from your bumper.

sc52 · Mar 6, 2013

ducatikid said:
I agree. Anyone behaving like a plonker will have evidence available at their conviction. I do not know why all new cars have black boxes fitted. It would make idiots think twice before driving down the motorway 20 yards from your bumper.

Funnily enough with the wires hanging as they currently are, I think it has had the effect of slowing some drivers / making them drop back. It could be a coincidence but on a long run recently I got the impression that cars would come hurtling up and then back off.

Might post a vid next time it happens.

Personally I have got one because I was a victim of a bogus claim. I touched a vehicle in front at less than 1 mph (I literally just rested on their car) and despite there being no damage and the occupants of the other car being fine, before I knew it my insurance co was paying out for personal injury, hire car etc etc.

Now I would know how to deal with the situation if it were to happen again, but if my son was driving I'm not too sure that he would. Had I had a cam at the time, especially if I had pointed it out to the other driver, I doubt there would have been a claim. Whilst my premium went up a bit at the next renewal, it would be a disaster for my son as he's not been driving for long.

Ecksile · Mar 6, 2013

Hi sc52

Can you tell me what camera you bought. I've seen there are loads out there from like £30 up to £400 and beyond.

Just interested to know your thinking as far as spec of the camera.

elevenup · Mar 7, 2013

sc52 said:
ducatikid said:

Now I would know how to deal with the situation if it were to happen again, but if my son was driving I'm not too sure that he would. Had I had a cam at the time, especially if I had pointed it out to the other driver, I doubt there would have been a claim. Whilst my premium went up a bit at the next renewal, it would be a disaster for my son as he's not been driving for long.

Click to expand...

I bought my dash cam because I was nearly the victim of a head on crash (fromA BMW driver!)which was only avoided by my immediate evasive action.

I watched a tv program quite recently on 'Crash for Cash' schemes and the advice there (for any accident) was take pictures. Use your mobile phone. Photograph the damage and the occupants of the car, particularly when the driver is inspecting the damage. I think I would still do this even with the dash cam as levels of dishonesty and fraud are now so high.

elevenup · Mar 8, 2013

Ecksile said:
Hi sc52

Can you tell me what camera you bought. I've seen there are loads out there from like £30 up to £400 and beyond.

Just interested to know your thinking as far as spec of the camera.

The range of prices and quality are indeed confusing. For help with choosing a dash cam there are a number of sites with reviews.
This one I found helpful and a good starting point for general information and impartial reviews.
http://dashcamtalk.com/dash-cam-buying-guide/

On the basis of the advice on the above website I went for the ITRONICS ITB-100HD full hd, forward facing only. It cost me about £105 on ebay. It came directly from S Korea in a week, free postage.
The picture quality is good.

Edited by: Collas

karmone · Apr 30, 2014

I purchased 2 dashcams from szswill.com and installed one in my Challenger and also my Dodge Truck. In bothcases it just plugs into the cigarette lighter or an available power outlet. I wanted my cameras to come onwhen I start the car and drive, so it needs to plug into an outlet that is switched off when the car is off(not powered all the time). If you want it to record on motion when you are not around then it would haveto plug into an outlet that is powered all the time. But then it would record when you are driving too.

In both cases I mounted it to the windshield just left of the rearview mirror. Just be sure you put it farenough forward to be able to use your sunvisor. In both cases it was very easy to tuck the power cord intothe front of the headliner and then behind the A-pillar and then in behind the weatherstrip going down tothe kick panel and under the dash over to the console. The cord is only in view for 2 or 3 inches andmostly hidden. You may need to use a popsicle stick or broad screwdriver blade to help out in some areasand possibly tie wrap it up while under the dash etc. It was very easy to do.

In my dodge Challenger the Cigarette lighter receptacle was switched off with the car off, and the other 2were on all the time. In my dodge truck all 4 outlets were switched off with the engine off.

Please note, there was a very trick feature in the challenger that is worth knowing about and the Corvettemay be similar : in the fuse panel for the cigarette lighter (only), the fuse could be repositioned toprovide power all the time, or to be off when the car is off. My truck may be the same but I never checkedthis.

yazz · May 1, 2014

You could try using a fully outstretched metal coat hanger, run it from the back to the front courtesy light attach the wires to it then pull them back through to the back.

grooveclip · Oct 5, 2014

I would love to see your results as I'm currently planning on wiring up a dashcam the same way, do you have any tips for hiding the cable near the front in the A pillar?

shakotanVIP · Oct 6, 2014

You dont need to go to the front of the A pillar, when you get to the top corner of the windscreen, tuck the cable behind the top of the A pillar trim and then bring it down the back of the A pillar trim, tucking it under the black rubber door seal, until you get down past the dashboard. Remove the kick panel trim and run the wire under the dash.

grooveclip · Oct 6, 2014

Will give that a go this afternoon! I hadn't thought of hiding the cable in the black rubber door seal.

daynismith · Aug 27, 2017

As per your discussion! you people have knowledge of good dash cams.
Right now i'm facing trouble to select dash cam! some buyers guide didn't conclude me to the final decision.
I'm not sure what to choose from garmin 55 and nextbase 412 dash cams

Edited by: daynismith

PeterWestSussex · Aug 27, 2017

From my personal experience I would NOT have another NextBase device.

Just had a local firm supply/install a BlackVue camera. They also stock NextBase but did not recommend that make. Likewise, another mobile fitter I contacted was of the same opinion re NextBase.

My understanding is that a) Micro SD cards need to be regularly re-formatted b) A Capacitor is far preferable to an internal battery. BlackVue can reformat SD card insitu (button on device); BlackVue has a Capacitor. NextBase has neither.

daynismith · Aug 29, 2017

PeterWestSussex said:
From my personal experience I would NOT have another NextBase device.

Just had a local firm supply/install a BlackVue camera. They also stock NextBase but did not recommend that make. Likewise, another mobile fitter I contacted was of the same opinion re NextBase.

My understanding is that a) Micro SD cards need to be regularly re-formatted b) A Capacitor is far preferable to an internal battery. BlackVue can reformat SD card insitu (button on device); BlackVue has a Capacitor. NextBase has neither.

Hmm point noted .. Any experience of garmins?

Running Cables for Dashcam - Help Wanted

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