DIY Tutorial for Hardwiring a Dashcam and Radar Detector

[MachEMaster]

Thank you all for great guidance.
Finally yesterday I had free time to install dashcam. To have parking mode I decided to connect camera to the fuse. The most difficult part was to run the wire through rubber boot on the rear. But with few attempts and forum help I did it successfully. Good advice to use lubricant. I didn’t took pictures of whole process because I followed @MachDoc instructions. But some steps I did differently. Ground wire I connected to the bolt which is already there. To avoid any issues with side airbag I didn’t run rear camera wire through the headliner but through the bottom. I found out this way more simple to be done. I started from the front camera and all excess wire I have hidden in C-pillar. I like Thinkware cameras because they have features like battery discharge control and off timer. With MME small battery this features are very convenient because I don't want to be parking mode turned on constantly when the car is parked in my garage.

Thanks for this! Gearing up to do the U1000 install myself.

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[.Eduardo]

Thank you all for great guidance.
Finally yesterday I had free time to install dashcam. To have parking mode I decided to connect camera to the fuse. The most difficult part was to run the wire through rubber boot on the rear. But with few attempts and forum help I did it successfully. Good advice to use lubricant. I didn’t took pictures of whole process because I followed @MachDoc instructions. But some steps I did differently. Ground wire I connected to the bolt which is already there. To avoid any issues with side airbag I didn’t run rear camera wire through the headliner but through the bottom. I found out this way more simple to be done. I started from the front camera and all excess wire I have hidden in C-pillar. I like Thinkware cameras because they have features like battery discharge control and off timer. With MME small battery this features are very convenient because I don't want to be parking mode turned on constantly when the car is parked in my garage.

Nicely done!
Just one suggestion (non-critical) for the rear camera.
The mach-e rear wiper blade is short. So if your rear window is dirty, only the area covered by the wiper will be somewhat clear. If the camera is "above" that clear area line of sight, your rear camera videos will be poor - recording dirt instead of whats going on behind you.

My suggestion is to place the rear camera lower, within the "wiper clean area".
Within the area cleaned by the rear window wiper that is.
This way if you want to make sure the rear camera has a clear view, just activate the rear wiper cleaning spray.

 

[dmitry]

Nicely done!
Just one suggestion (non-critical) for the rear camera.
The mach-e rear wiper blade is short. So if your rear window is dirty, only the area covered by the wiper will be somewhat clear. If the camera is "above" that clear area line of sight, your rear camera videos will be poor - recording dirt instead of whats going on behind you.

My suggestion is to place the rear camera lower, within the "wiper clean area".
Within the area cleaned by the rear window wiper that is.
This way if you want to make sure the rear camera has a clear view, just activate the rear wiper cleaning spray.

“This isn’t the way” ? For me it isn’t so simple as you described ?

1. First of all here’s my car and thanks for CA weather https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...on-how-the-mach-e-gt-dream-became-true.24194/
2. Actually under the roof spoiler the area is cleaner then rest of the window.
3. More important to see traffic in rear mirror instead of nicely placed rear camera.

 

[.Eduardo]

“This isn’t the way” ? For me it isn’t so simple as you described ?

1. First of all here’s my car and thanks for CA weather https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...on-how-the-mach-e-gt-dream-became-true.24194/
2. Actually under the roof spoiler the area is cleaner then rest of the window.
3. More important to see traffic in rear mirror instead of nicely placed rear camera.

Hasn’t been clean under the spoiler for me ever. It actually accumulates dirt and humidity here in VA. Lucky you!
My rear camera is not big enough to block my view. ??

 

[dmitry]

Hasn’t been clean under the spoiler for me ever. It actually accumulates dirt and humidity here in VA. Lucky you!
My rear camera is not big enough to block my view. ??

Agree, with time it’s accumulates dirt up there, but regular wash resolves the problem. By the way under the rain that area is free of water and clear. As a result no need for wipers and makes this place ideal for rear camera.

 

[.Eduardo]

Agree, with time it’s accumulates dirt up there, but regular wash resolves the problem. By the way under the rain that area is free of water and clear. As a result no need for wipers and makes this place ideal for rear camera.

Sadly I rarely wash our mach-e. It’s a daily and I’ve reached a point where I really don’t care if looks clean! lol
It is extremely frustrating here to keep a car clean with our commute and the amount of construction zones we drive by. So that idea doesn’t work for me unfortunately. Glad it’s going well there.
Very nice shots btw! Congratulations Sir!

 

[dmitry]

Sadly I rarely wash our mach-e. It’s a daily and I’ve reached a point where I really don’t care if looks clean! lol
It is extremely frustrating here to keep a car clean with our commute and the amount of construction zones we drive by. So that idea doesn’t work for me unfortunately. Glad it’s going well there.
Very nice shots btw! Congratulations Sir!

I understand you! My first car, winter time in my origin country, 15 years ago . That’s why I really love CA ?

 

[.Eduardo]

I understand you! My first car, winter time in my origin country, 15 years ago . That’s why I really love CA ?

LOL yes, That’s also another issue. This year no so much.

 

[.Eduardo]

LOL yes, That’s also another issue. This year no so much.

Check out my rear window

 

[RedOctobrrr]

The mach-e rear wiper blade is short. So if your rear window is dirty, only the area covered by the wiper will be somewhat clear. If the camera is "above" that clear area line of sight, your rear camera videos will be poor - recording dirt instead of whats going on behind you.

My suggestion is to place the rear camera lower, within the "wiper clean area".
Within the area cleaned by the rear window wiper that is.
This way if you want to make sure the rear camera has a clear view, just activate the rear wiper cleaning spray.

Replace the rear wiper with a 16" Bosch (search Amazon for "Bosch Rear Wiper A401H" - it's about $20ish). Your clean wipe area will improve drastically and you can move the camera up about 2"

 

[RedOctobrrr]

Sure, here you go

Did you try anything underneath to secure the box? I have an amp for a subwoofer with a flat bottom that allows it to slide a little, I tried both sides of Velcro and neither stick to that smooth almost yoga mat material back there. I don't want to drill into the flooring, at a loss for what will stick this down, not too confident double sided tape would work long term.

 

[MinervaDreaming]

Did you try anything underneath to secure the box? I have an amp for a subwoofer with a flat bottom that allows it to slide a little, I tried both sides of Velcro and neither stick to that smooth almost yoga mat material back there. I don't want to drill into the flooring, at a loss for what will stick this down, not too confident double sided tape would work long term.

Yes, it is secured with strong velcro. I'm not sure what the exact product was, though, sorry!

 

[SWO]

Installed a Thinkware F200 Pro Dual Channel with battery this afterknoon. Used the 15A accessory fuse as described in the OP.

Reinstalling that A-pillar trim is the hardest part of the job. Removing the black pieces and attaching them to the trim makes the job a lot easier.

 

[Woeo]

2. Actually under the roof spoiler the area is cleaner then rest of the window.

Have no faith this is true, having owned a MME in the real world.

 

[dmitry]

Have no faith this is true, having owned a MME in the real world.

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