Hard-wire Dash Cam Install

[SPYvSPY]

Hope this helps you!

THANK YOU!!!!


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[Ortiz7983]

Is there a dash cam that records while driving and while the truck is parked and off? Also the chance to upload the footage to a cloud service? That way if bad situations with cops go wrong, they can’t just take out the SD card and you got nothing.

 

[JK47TheWeapon]

Is there a dash cam that records while driving and while the truck is parked and off? Also the chance to upload the footage to a cloud service? That way if bad situations with cops go wrong, they can’t just take out the SD card and you got nothing.

Many cams have parking mode. I use the Viofo 129 duo for it.

As far as cloud service, that's trickier. Your cam needs internet access, such as tethering to a phone. The internet from uconnect would not be enough, it would cost a ton. A few cameras have this feature though.

Better off with a hidden recording device on an always on circuit (another reason I want to add a 2nd aux battery)

 

[Ortiz7983]

Many cams have parking mode. I use the Viofo 129 duo for it.

As far as cloud service, that's trickier. Your cam needs internet access, such as tethering to a phone. The internet from uconnect would not be enough, it would cost a ton. A few cameras have this feature though.

Better off with a hidden recording device on an always on circuit (another reason I want to add a 2nd aux battery)

I see. I’m new to the dash cams and have no knowledge of getting it power and what not. May you elaborate on what you plan on doing with your dash cam? If you have the time. Am interested on this.


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[JK47TheWeapon]

I see. I’m new to the dash cams and have no knowledge of getting it power and what not. May you elaborate on what you plan on doing with your dash cam? If you have the time. Am interested on this.


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Dashcams that are hardwired and have Parking mode enabled only hace 6-12 hours of available power from the battery before the battery hits 12.4v, the safe cutoff point of the battery so you don't drain it too much. So many add a battery isolator and second (deep cycle) battery. In this case, all auxiliary electronics would pull from the 2nd battery, not the starter battery.

 

[TruckDriver]

...looking again today for a solution to run my dash cam for 7 days in parking mode. ... The camera draws Avg. 380 mA (4.56 W at 12 V
...

Saw this and wondered if there's any merit in wiring up a solar trickle panel? Most $20 panels can trickle around 500ma, plenty to keep the drain of a dashcam at bay or at the least extend life.

Anyone considered this either temporary or permanent installs?

 

[@733]

How did you get into the mirror assembly and where did you tap into for power and ground?

All credit goes @smcgt, for his extremely well documented post here: https://5thgenrams.com/community/threads/hardwire-radar-detector-to-rear-view-mirror.718/post-15901
The only thing I did differently was to run the MirrorTap wire through the mirror stem hole instead of out the bottom.

 

[tango1179]

May I ask why you need or have a dash cam? just curious

I had a Blackvue 650 2 Channel dashcam installed in my 2017 Pacifica within 2 days of receiving the vehicle. The day after the dash cam was installed, it caught someone backing into my front grill while parked, and on the same day the lady that rear ended me at a traffic signal. I was very happy that I had proof of both incidents on video.

 

[zignice]

These are 2 I used for mine. The top is always on.

View attachment 15179

Why 2 power cables? and why are you connecting to the always on fuse? Wouldn't that drain the batterY?

 

[JK47TheWeapon]

Why 2 power cables? and why are you connecting to the always on fuse? Wouldn't that drain the batterY?

There are 2 power wires, and a ground. Red power wire goes to always on. Yellow power wire goes to AUX. There is a little device on the kit, that you set the minimum voltage that you will allow the battery to drain to, and then it'll shut off the power.

If power is flowing on the AUX, then it doesn't need to worry about drain. Power is feeding the battery from the alternator. The camera will draw from there.

If there is no power on AUX, but there is power on Always On, voltage sense kicks in.

I'd recommend not to go below 12.4v.

 

[firecadet613]

I am using the Viofo A129 Dual HD dashcam. It's full HD with a front and rear camera. The front cam is wedge shaped and sits high on the windshield near the headliner....out of the way. The rear cam is up high and dead center of my back glass and I bent a 1" wide aluminum strip to make a bracket that slips behind the headliner to hold the rear cam so it isn't touching the glass which would interfere with opening the back window. It is at the extreme edge of the glass up high, just low enough to have a full rear view.

The dashcam records full HD front and rear 24/7 since it has a parking mode which uses time elapse or reduced bitrate while the ignition is off for more than a selectable time. I hardwired everything. All wires are totally hidden. The 3 wire hardwire kit is 20 bucks and has an inline device to turn off the cam if battery power falls below a user selected value. I selected 12.2v. That allows it to run at least 24 hours parked without deep cycling the battery. Any longer and it shuts off. You can go as low as 11.8v for longer park mode time. It prevents draining the battery so the truck won't start.

The A129 is top rated by users who have also used more expensive brands. $170 for the A129 and $20 for the 3 wire hardwire kit. Another $15 for a Center Polerized Lens filter to eliminate front windshield glare and dash reflection in the image. $15 for the Bluetooth remote mount button used to trigger an HD photo on demand (optional).

The dashcam has 5ghz wifi interface and smartphone app to view recordings or live images anytime. Also great for aiming the cams during install.

Uses up to a 256GB micro SD card (not included). Get one rated at 100MB per second. You'll have to format it using the dashcam. Microsoft doesn't format Fat32 over 32GB.

The A129 has NO BATTERY. It uses a super capacitor which won't fail in high temps. Dashcams are notorious for dying due to heat if you live where the summer sun gets hot. The cam sits baking in the sun behind glass. No matter what you get, consider models that use a "super cap" instead of a battery.

Thanks for your detailed post. I'm circling back to this as I'm tired of my G1W dash cam not retaining the date/time if the truck isn't used in 12-15hrs.

Regardless - I just ordered the A129, hardwire kit and CPL filter. Looking forward to installing it. The parking mode will help while my truck is parked at the launch ramp all day (something I hate doing, but it's a must do).

 

[securityguy]

www.thedashcamstore.com

Buy a nice camera for just a bit more than the cams on Amazon. I have used BlackVue for years and one of the highest rated cameras on the market. Just ordered my Blackvue DR750S with the Power Magic Pro interface for Parking Mode operation. I HIGHLY recommend fuse taps and not wrapping a wire around the fuse. Install should take about 45 minutes to an hour tops and easy even for a novice. I am an EE but this truly is a simple install. HIGHLY recommend parking mode as more stuff happens in a parking lot than you may think and the kit is very inexpensive.

This is the one I ordered but you can get far cheaper units as well. I installed the DR590W 2CH in my wife's Acura SUV.

https://www.thedashcamstore.com/blackvue-dr750s-1ch-single-lens-1080p-60fps-gps-wifi-dashcam/

 

[jkratze1]

Nice...however I always feel that any electronic device stuck to the windshield may make you a victim of a smash and grab.

 

[securityguy]

Nice...however I always feel that any electronic device stuck to the windshield may make you a victim of a smash and grab.

Had these installed in my vehicles for years and never an issue. Not to say that it couldn't happen but not something I've ever worried about.

 

[ExcursionDiesel]

Had these installed in my vehicles for years and never an issue. Not to say that it couldn't happen but not something I've ever worried about.

On a clean hardwired install with the cam mounted as near the headliner as possible, it's not obvious there is a cam.

For Parking Mode I recommend a dual cam for rear recording as well. The 170° lenses are nice for higher coverage but the wider view results in lower resolution. I stuck with a dual 140° for that reason.

 

[Tjd]

I'll say it again with all the cameras already on these new trucks, I wonder why we can't just have a stock DVR added to the uconnect system. Would be amazing to have 4 channel 360 recordings.

 

[BTK]

Here's a small note if you just want to use the 12v cigarette lighter/power on the dash tray.

Just move fuse F54 (User Selectable Power) from position "B" to "A" and that will change the 12V cigarette port from Key on to always on.

Old trick from Jeep. Pretty much all Ram trucks will also have this User Selectable fuse for the 12V ports.

Pics attached.

 

[ExcursionDiesel]

Here's a small note if you just want to use the 12v cigarette lighter/power on the dash tray.

Just move fuse F54 (User Selectable Power) from position "B" to "A" and that will change the 12V cigarette port from Key on to always on.

Old trick from Jeep. Pretty much all Ram trucks will also have this User Selectable fuse for the 12V ports.

Pics attached.

Good to know. I wish the 12v port was in a more discreet location.

 

[securityguy]

It is SO easy to hardwire into the fuse box using fuse taps to keep all wiring discrete that I really don't recommend using a cigarette lighter plug for anything electronic. The A-pillar comes off easily and you can run wires right along the headliner...just do it right from the start and you'll be happy you did!

 

[BTK]

Agreed that the power port is meant for temporary devices; radar detectors, GPS units, and maybe temp dash cams.