jtech1

I have searched through the dash cam threads... have a couple questions I could not find any posts on...

1) Does anyone make a dual cam all in one unit? ie. I know there are dual cam versions where you have to mount the second cam at the back window... I would be perfectly happy with one unit to mount on windshield that had both forward and rear facing cams in that one unit.

2) If I want to run a power wire across passenger windshield line, down pillar and info fuse box, is there any video or tutorial on how to do that? Isn't there side curtain airbags in that pillar piece? I don't want to mess anything up with that.

Would appreciate any input or pointers to other threads/videos/posts.

Thanks!

scott2683

I used a 12v to 5v step down, and wired mine to the power supply on the rear view mirror. You could run it to the fuse box, but just remember 12 volts will fry it over time.

Eyecu

Lots of different dash cams with dual lenses in a single unit. Can't say how well they work.dual lens dash cams
Just a quick link on eBay to some.

Hwy98 Survivor

This Blackvue DR650GW-2CH model has what you mentioned. I saw a review on Youtube and was impressed, so I looked it up and saved it to my Amazon wish list, just to have it as a reference so I wouldn't forget. Be advised - its likely cheaper from the manufacturer or a dashcam dealer doing business on the web, and you might get the support you're looking for.



I had a simple dash cam in my last car, and liked to leave it powered at all times, in case I needed to go back and see something that may have happened in front of my house, for example. For that reason, dashcams like the one mentioned above allow up to 64GB - this is an important feature IMO in order to save more video, and not have it write-over itself every few hours. My was a Bullseye brand (no longer seems to be in business), and the power it used was negligible.

Good luck, I think you're on the right track looking for a two-camera system.

jtech1

I do like that one a lot. I was looking at it previously... except, the second camera has to have a wire run to it and mounted in the back. I would prefer it be all in one unit.

How difficult is it to run wires around the ceiling trim and down the passenger pillar to the fuse box? Has anyone ever seen any videos of this being done?

eptesicus

Is this specific to your dash cam? I have a Blackvue DR650GW-2CH, and it runs at 12v with no need to make it 5v. Most will be 12v.

I would advise against an all in one unit. It could be very difficult for a camera to pick up vehicles behind you from your front windshield, especially since outside of the window may be washed out if it focuses on the interior. Having two separate cameras will give you the ability to discreetly mount both, and will give you good visibility from both as well.

Like I said above, I have a Blackvue DR650GW-2CH dash cam, which came with a Power Magic Pro (we'll call this the PiMP), but is usually sold separately. The PiMP gives us the ability to utilize the parking mode of the camera, to record motion or seismic triggers, without draining the battery. Once your battery gets below 12 or 11.8v (you get to set this in the PiMP), it will turn off the camera so that you aren't stuck with a dead battery. If you do so decide however, you can set the PiMP to not cut power, and let it run off of the battery until it will run no more. In order for the PiMP to work properly, it needs an always-on power source, and an accessory (powered only when the vehicle is on) power source. We'll get to the install and the fuses I used in a bit.

Regarding the front camera install to the fuse box - This took a lot longer than I had anticipated (doesn't it always?), just because I hadn't done much research on installing it beforehand. I tested the camera first, using the 12v cigarette lighter, and then mounted the camera after being **** doing the alignment. In the picture at the bottom of this post, you can see it mounted. I wanted it tucked up and behind the rear-view mirror as much as possible (I can't see the front camera while sitting in the driver's seat, which is what I wanted). I then started to run the cable to the passenger-side fuse box. I ran the power cable in the headliner (tucked from the top of the windshield), tucked it into the top of the plastic A-pillar cover, and then ran it down the A-pillar inside the door gasket. From the A-pillar, in the door gasket, I got stuck trying to find a good place to run the cable to the fuse box. I took out the glove box to get a closer look (don't do this, it was a pain in the tuckus and a waste of time). What I ended up doing, was pulling up the plastic door sill (where other wiring is ran), so that I could get around the passenger kick panel without having to remove (don't even try) or drill through it (don't do that either). This is what I should have done from the start. From here, you can tuck it under the kick panel and into the fuse box. Easy-peasy. After I ran the power cable, I ran the rear camera's lone power/video cable.

The rear dash cam is a piece of cake to install (don't let the length of the following paragraph fool you). Especially since the power and video is all in the one cable, so there's no need to have to try to run 2 separate cables. Because there's so much slack in the cable, I ended up mounting the rear camera first and then running the cable from the rear camera to the front camera, hiding the slack in the A-pillar. I connected the cable to the rear camera, gave it a little bit of slack so that there was some play to unplug and plug it back in if need-be, then I tucked the cable into the headliner, above the rear window. I ran the cable along the passenger side of the rear window, and tucked it into the plastic cover on the B-pillar (super cab here, so the B-pillar for me is the rear-most pillar). From here, I tucked the cable into the door gasket, which goes in front of the door latch that's on the ceiling, so that wasn't of any hindrance. I continued to run the cable into the door gasket, but when I reached the A-pillar, I went ahead and took off the plastic and grab handle that goes over the A-pillar curtain airbag. The bolts that attach this plastic piece to the pillar are behind the two caps that are on the grab handle (these might be 10 mm, but I forget). Once this plastic piece is off, you will see that there is plenty of space to hide what we have left of the cable. From here, I went ahead and plugged the other end of the cable into the front camera, worked the wire into the headliner like the power cable, then I took the slack and put it into the A-pillar (behind the airbag), and reattached the cover. This may sound like it was tricky, but it really took me no time at all, and would do it again without hesitation.

With all of the cables ran, it's time to install the PiMP. The camera comes with the 12v cigarette power cable, and the PiMP comes with the female cigarette 12v connection, so that part was easy. The PiMP also has 3 additional wires, red for the accessory power, yellow for the always-on power, and a black wire for the ground. I used fuse #36 (360 camera module, heated steering wheel module, rear-view mirror, and rear heated seats) for the red, fuse #3 (driver door lock motor) for the yellow, and attached the ground to a screw that I saw behind the fuse panel. The fuses in these trucks are the new Micro2 fuses, so you won't find an add-a-circuit for these in an auto parts store yet. If you want to use these, you'll need to order them. I, instead, just wrapped the wire around each fuse, and reinstalled the fuse. To make sure that it all worked, I didn't mount the PiMP anywhere, but plan on tucking it into the fuse box.

I hope this helps you out. If I'm up to it in the morning, I'll try to take pictures for you of how I ran the wiring, but I attached some below that I took for another thread for the time being.

eptesicus

The DR650GW-2CH has a built in microphone that works very well too. Having the camera mounted discreetly behind the rear-view mirror gives me the ability to record a conversation with a police officer in the event that I'm pulled over. Also, if you are recording audio, you can speak out or yell out a license plate number of someone doing something that you can have on the record for later, just in case the video camera can't pick it up. You can disable the audio recording if you'd like, and is pretty easy to enable/disable it on these cameras. I live in a state where only 1 party being recorded has to be made aware that they're being recorded (which would be me), so I don't have to notify anyone in or around my vehicle that audio is being recorded. This might be something to think about, depending on what state you're in.

eptesicus

If I recall correctly, the latest firmware revisions allow for 128GB MicroSD cards to be used.

Also be sure to check out this link when deciding on a MicroSD card for when you decide to get a Blackvue.

jtech1

eptesicus,

Thank you for the very detailed post! I appreciate you taking the time to do that. It is extremely helpful. If you are able to post a pic or two of where you ran the wires, that would be great.

The only other things I will have to work around (should have my truck in a few weeks), is the adaptive cruise stuff behind the mirror and the sliding rear window... with crew cab.

scott2683

[QUOTE=eptesicus;4501089]Is this specific to your dash cam? I have a Blackvue DR650GW-2CH, and it runs at 12v with no need to make it 5v. Most will be 12v.

I'm sure not all of them are 5v, however all of the dash cams I looked at were.