Fitting a Dash Cam

[Bloggsy]

Hi folks - so, I previously had a dash cam in my old car which I hard wired to the fuseboard. I had ran the wires under the headlining to the A-pillar, then behind the pillar to the dashboard and, finally, down the side of the dashboard to the fuseboard which was located under the dashboard - very neat and you'd never have known it was there (even if I do say so myself! ;-) LOL).

Anyway, I was hoping to so something similar this car but the only fuseboard that I can find is in the engine bay.

Can anyone suggest where I can run the power to the dashcam from? I don't want to use a cigarette lighter socket as I will forget one day (no doubt that will be the day that I need any recorded footage!).

Cheers

Bloggsy

 

[jaapv]

You can splice it from the rear of the cigarette lighter socket.

 

[richr]

The interior fuse box is behind the glove box (if your car is right hand drive). There are pictures in the manual if you need help in getting to it.

 

[user 2238]

http://www.myoutlanderphev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=3084&p=35797

 

[Bloggsy]

Thanks folks - not sure how I didn't pick that up when I did some searching! However, that's exactly what I was after (and it's remarkably similar as to how I wired my last dashcam!).

Well, that looks like a job for me next week!

Cheers

Bloggsy

 

[user 2238]

It's incredibly straightforward, the most challenging bit is getting to the earth! Great cam too.

 

[Bloggsy]

It's incredibly straightforward, the most challenging bit is getting to the earth! Great cam too.

Thanks bigbaldbloke - very much appreciated

Cheers

Bloggsy

 

[Bloggsy]

Well folks - managed to get to this yesterday.

Thanks to everyone who replied and to jonwarby for the 'How To' on his website - fantastic! It was very similar to how I had it set up in my old car, although on the Outlander, the cable was run down the passenger side, whereas it was the driver's side previously.

The only difference between Jon's method and mines, was that I popped off the pillar cover and ran my cables down behind the dashboard.

Cheers

Bloggsy

 

[STS134]

I wired to the fuses underneath the steering wheel. Power wires up the A pillar and into the headliner to the dashcam. Then I ran the second wire up into the headliner in the other direction, to the rear of the vehicle. Most difficult part was getting the rear cable through the tube to the liftgate; I had to tape the wire to a string and pull it through. Once through, I removed the plastic piece above the rear window and ran it underneath that, then attached it to the rear cam. Make sure that your rear cam is in the path of the area cleared by the rear wiper blade.

 

[Bloggsy]

I wired to the fuses underneath the steering wheel. Power wires up the A pillar and into the headliner to the dashcam. Then I ran the second wire up into the headliner in the other direction, to the rear of the vehicle. Most difficult part was getting the rear cable through the tube to the liftgate; I had to tape the wire to a string and pull it through. Once through, I removed the plastic piece above the rear window and ran it underneath that, then attached it to the rear cam. Make sure that your rear cam is in the path of the area cleared by the rear wiper blade.

Thanks STS134 - I haven't got a rear cam but am considering it for the future, so I'll keep this in mind. I had considered running the power cables under the centre console but your method seems much more straightforward!

Cheers

Bloggsy

 

[user 1833]

I wired to the fuses underneath the steering wheel. Power wires up the A pillar and into the headliner to the dashcam. Then I ran the second wire up into the headliner in the other direction, to the rear of the vehicle. Most difficult part was getting the rear cable through the tube to the liftgate; I had to tape the wire to a string and pull it through. Once through, I removed the plastic piece above the rear window and ran it underneath that, then attached it to the rear cam. Make sure that your rear cam is in the path of the area cleared by the rear wiper blade.

Hi STS134, I am installing the rear dashcam too. Which power supply did you use and where did you install it - right there in the fuse box under the wheel I suppose? I assume the dashcam came with the cigarette lighter power supply - did you just solder the wires onto its contacts? I think for reasons of maintaining voltage on such a long cable it may be better to trace 12V till the tailgate and install the supply close to the rear camera under that tailgate plastic cover you mentioned - there seems to be plenty of room there.

 

[Regulo]

I have both my dashcams, front and rear, supplied from the front accessory socket. Used a 2-way splitter, and plugged both cameras individual plug adapters into it. It all lives under the glovebox kick panel, and I've had no issues with low voltage at the rear camera.

 

[ShadeTek]

I installed a Nextbase 422GW with optional rear facing camera on the rear window. The front camera had the power wire tucked under the headliner and hidden in the facings down to the side of the drivers seat. it then travelled under the seat and up and into the centre console lighter socket via the thoughtfully provided notch in the console bodywork.

The rear camera has a wire to the front camera. I took out the front overhead light and rear seatbelt cover and using a cable rod, fed the wire over the headlining and pulled it out of at the rear seat belt. Try and avoid snagging the insulation when doing this.

I removed the left side rubber hatch hinge conduit and put my hand into it and fed the cable to the rubber conduit port. I lubed-up the inside of the rubber conduit and fed a guide wire in and pulled it all through. Then remove the hatch facia window surrounds and hide the cable, placing the camera within the sweep of the rear wiper so you are not shooting through a rain soaked window. I would put it at the end of the first travel sweep away from where it is parked as it will be visible in the very wide angle lens, (as I found out).

 

[vikki]

I installed a Nextbase 422GW with optional rear facing camera on the rear window. The front camera had the power wire tucked under the headliner and hidden in the facings down to the side of the drivers seat. it then travelled under the seat and up and into the centre console lighter socket via the thoughtfully provided notch in the console bodywork.

The rear camera has a wire to the front camera. I took out the front overhead light and rear seatbelt cover and using a cable rod, fed the wire over the headlining and pulled it out of at the rear seat belt. Try and avoid snagging the insulation when doing this.

I removed the left side rubber hatch hinge conduit and put my hand into it and fed the cable to the rubber conduit port. I lubed-up the inside of the rubber conduit and fed a guide wire in and pulled it all through. Then remove the hatch facia window surrounds and hide the cable, placing the camera within the sweep of the rear wiper so you are not shooting through a rain soaked window. I would put it at the end of the first travel sweep away from where it is parked as it will be visible in the very wide angle lens, (as I found out).

Any chance you can post some pics ? I got a dashcam and am looking to install over the next few days. Thanks !

 

[ShadeTek]

I will, when it stops raining. It hasn't stopped.

 

[ShadeTek]

I attached the camera behind the rear-view mirror so I can't see it during normal driving, (UK RHD).

 

[DaveL59]

Good luck with that, I had a similar one and the rear camera was intermittent at best, in fact it rarely recorded. The camera itself seemed OK tho when using the car one periodically it never seemed to stay powered up (internal battery charge level perhaps) but the magnetic holder didn't help, was more reliable with the USB plugged into the camera itself.

I dumped it (halfrauds were not interested in refunding) and went with a couple Garmin Mini 2 cameras instead which just work.

I hardwired to the fusebox behind the glovebox using piggy-back fuse adaptors on switch-live fuses rather than always-on to save draining the 12v aux flat.

 

[ShadeTek]

Agreed on the Nextbase dashcam. I got mine real cheap from an auction for £22. It worked fine until I added the second camera and from that moment on it had a distorted rear view camera(it recorded mush), and it would display the rear camera P.I.P in mushvision. for about 2 seconds before hanging the whole camera. Only a reset using the hidden button underneath would recover it. I have since worked out that this happens when the internal battery runs completely flat. There are lots of other people online with the IDENTICAL symptoms of which there is no definitive fix yet. There is a firmware update (doesn't cure it), "it's a bad connection to the rear camera", (no it isn't). I do like the functionality of the camera and the fact that it will start recording if the car gets a bump while parked, which could catch a number plate of a hit and runner. So, best avoided till a fix comes along. My other car has a DDPAI 2 for the front camera and some other generic rear camera of which are both reliable. I wouldn't go anywhere without them. As for the Nextbase, I guess if you use your car everyday then it will keep the battery charged enough so it will not run flat enough to cause the issue, and let the internal battery last longer, disable the park mode.