DIY Tutorial for Hardwiring a Dashcam and Radar Detector

[ZuleMME]

So has anyone had issues with the hardwired always on mode? I’m mid-install on a Vantrue N4 system and ran out of daylight to finish. Still have to add the ground wire extention up to that hole you all used for grouding and figure out how to fish my rear cam wire through the grommet for the hatch. But I’m nervous about running this with parking mode. My hardwire kit does have a a dropout at 12v. But thats down to 25% of a 12v battery…

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[Kabish]

I personally would not trust hooking up to the 12 volt. Its more expensive but I would use one of the portable banks for the parking mode. I just world not trust the camera not to drain the battery enough to cause issues with the car. If the car does not like the voltage it seems like it can cause so many issues.

 

[MachDoc]

So has anyone had issues with the hardwired always on mode? I’m mid-install on a Vantrue N4 system and ran out of daylight to finish. Still have to add the ground wire extention up to that hole you all used for grouding and figure out how to fish my rear cam wire through the grommet for the hatch. But I’m nervous about running this with parking mode. My hardwire kit does have a a dropout at 12v. But thats down to 25% of a 12v battery…

I have had mine installed for 5 months without any issues. If I leave the car for a few days and drive something else, I will occasionally get a brief warning:

"There is an electrical drain in Mustang, possibly from an after-market device."​

​

I had similar warnings from the BMW I drove before this car. Neither ever gave me an issue starting or driving the car.

 

[dsheib]

I have had mine installed for 5 months without any issues. If I leave the car for a few days and drive something else, I will occasionally get a brief warning:

"There is an electrical drain in Mustang, possibly from an after-market device."​

​

I had similar warnings from the BMW I drove before this car. Neither ever gave me an issue starting or driving the car.

I get the same message with a Blackvue DR-750X Plus but no issues otherwise.

 

[kennelh]

I did figure this out, I kept staring at it and then went "why not just remove these clips first" and then felt like an idiot as it snapped in immediately. Thank you for stating this early to hopefully save someone a headache!

Before I try this, I wanted to ask if there's any trick to getting the A-pillar cover off. Does it just pull away, or do you need to pull/twist/wrangle anything? Is it held on with one or two clips?

 

[MachDoc]

Before I try this, I wanted to ask if there's any trick to getting the A-pillar cover off. Does it just pull away, or do you need to pull/twist/wrangle anything? Is it held on with one or two clips?

Gentle pulling or prying with a PLASTIC pry tool. Two clips if I remember correctly. TAKE YOUR TIME putting the cover back on!!!

 

[DevSecOps]

First of all let me thank the following
@MachDoc - For the initial post and all the great information
@ckelley87 - For the "edit" regarding the clips on the A-Pillar
@MachTee - For the weed-eater string trick and telling us to use lube ?‍
And to everyone else who contributed! Thank you all!

Reading this thread before hand was a HUGE help. Here's some things I would expand upon that helped me

• In regards to the B-Pillar that some people struggled with, just wrap it into the top of the plastic below the headliner, no need to get fancy
• In regards to the boot at the rear, the weed-eater string was amazing with some lube, but I would recommend that you start at the top (unless your hands are tiny) and then massage the rubber where you see it hitting the sides as you push it through. It will get it through the ribbed section easier this way. (Don't read this tip out loud around your children ?).
• In regards to the A-Pillar, take it all the way off as ckelley87 talks about in his edit. Yes you can zip tie the wires without taking it off, but trust me, it's easier if you just remove it.
• As for the taps, I tapped 1-2 (unused 3-pin) for the accessory power (switched) and 5 (unused 2-pin) for the battery (always on).

Additionally, I added a power magic pro to the install and just taped in inside the side panel, which you can see below. This prevents accidental battery drain as the device monitors the little battery for a drop below 12.5v and kills the dashcam if it causes that drop so that you can start your car.

Putting the A-Pillar back together was a pain. Here's something to think about:

• The vent doesn't come off the A-Pillar trim, it slides out of the bottom of the trim going to the body of the car. Don't try to remove it from the trim when you are removing the trim.
• When you put it back together, for me at least, it was hitting at the bottom of where the boot of the vent would go back to the receiver. Just use a finger and push up from the side and you'll get past that.
• Be careful for the small trim piece on the side, it has to go in front of the A-Pillar trim and snap into it. See the picture below.
• There's only 2 clips on the A-Pillar
• MAKE SURE you follow the instructions from ckelley87 about the clips otherwise... just do it!

One minor criticism ... where the ground is attached, it's not a screw, it's a bolt. Get a small bolt, lock washer and nut and apply some loctite to make sure it doesn't rattle apart.

Lastly, if you can't get a 3 pin micro tap, use a 2 pin tap. The middle pin is the supply and the sides are the load so if both are unused you can safely use a 2 pin tap on the top or bottom.

@MachDoc - Recommendation - If you could edit your post and put links at the bottom to all the helpful replies from people, like the ones I mentioned, that would be amazing. It would help people get right to the important stuff. I'll include them here as well:

https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...a-dashcam-and-radar-detector.5542/post-157999
https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...a-dashcam-and-radar-detector.5542/post-183511
https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...a-dashcam-and-radar-detector.5542/post-196379

 

[GW Shark]

Looks like you both went with the Viofo A129? I assuming with GPS mount, and it looks like mounted behind the rearview mirror, directly below where the rearview mirror mounts to the windshield.

Are you able to pick up a GPS signal? I installed the Viofo A139 in the same area yesterday, and it looks like I'm not able to reliably pick up GPS. Wondering if its a hardware issue or if its the coating on the windshield?

Hi - I'm looking at the A139 as my top choice and would love to know how you are liking it? I'm also considering a BBMC Powercell 8 external battery for sentry mode to keep the Mustang 12v battery out of the loop when the car is off. Any comments on that are welcome too, as I am new to the dashcam business. In addition to forums/internet reviews I'm getting information from BlackBoxMyCar.com. Thanks!

 

[Lord Polymath]

Hi - I'm looking at the A139 as my top choice and would love to know how you are liking it? I'm also considering a BBMC Powercell 8 external battery for sentry mode to keep the Mustang 12v battery out of the loop when the car is off. Any comments on that are welcome too, as I am new to the dashcam business. In addition to forums/internet reviews I'm getting information from BlackBoxMyCar.com. Thanks!

Not the OP but I'm in the same boat. I'm considering tapping into a accessory fuse for power while the vehicle is on, and then using a dash cam battery with Lithium Iron Phosphate chemistry for parking mode. Have you decided how you'll power/charge the Powercell battery? Where you will locate it? I don't have a MME yet so I'm not even sure where the 12v cigarette lighter plug is...

 

[Wk217]

Hi - I'm looking at the A139 as my top choice and would love to know how you are liking it? I'm also considering a BBMC Powercell 8 external battery for sentry mode to keep the Mustang 12v battery out of the loop when the car is off. Any comments on that are welcome too, as I am new to the dashcam business. In addition to forums/internet reviews I'm getting information from BlackBoxMyCar.com. Thanks!

I still haven't gotten around to using the fuse taps to install the dashcam to my liking (Still tapped off the mirror)... So right now, the cameras come on and start recording 20s after I start the car... No parking mode yet.

As for the quality of the cameras, I think they work fine, better image quality than the A129 that I have in my other cars. I have the in cabin camera mounted at the very front of the panoramic roof, so that it only sees the top of my head but all of the rear seats. It doesn't do too much in terms of looking out the side windows though (may need to mount that more forward and lower in order to see that).

 

[GW Shark]

Not the OP but I'm in the same boat. I'm considering tapping into a accessory fuse for power while the vehicle is on, and then using a dash cam battery with Lithium Iron Phosphate chemistry for parking mode. Have you decided how you'll power/charge the Powercell battery? Where you will locate it? I don't have a MME yet so I'm not even sure where the 12v cigarette lighter plug is...

I'm just learning myself on this subject. Here is my understanding of the installation process. The external battery both stores and distributes power, as needed. The battery is hardwired to the MME via an accessory fuse ( (box located under the glove compartment - tie into an appropriate Micro 2 fuse). It will transfer power to the dashcam when the vehicle is on. When the MME is turned off, the dashcam will go into it's version of sentry mode (that's a main reason to go to this expense), power will be cut to the battery pack which will power the dashcam until it is drained or the car is restarted.

Another advantage noted is it takes any dashcam battery drain out of the equation, which is good for we who have smaller 12 volt batteries. You don't need to hardwire; all the battery packs I've seen have a 12 volt plug-in as well - but it takes twice as long to recharge your expended pack using a plug-in. Which goes to your other question - where to put it. I'm thinking under the passenger's seat using velcro to keep from sliding. The size is not too bad. About 6"x8" X.5". I went to www.blackboxmycar.com and read, asked multiple questions and feel like I have some basic knowledge of the process. Gonna keep studying the options and see if there a Black Friday sales in the offing. Hope that answers your questions and should anyone spot any mistakes, please correct them! Thanks

 

[Lord Polymath]

I'm just learning myself on this subject. Here is my understanding of the installation process. The external battery both stores and distributes power, as needed. The battery is hardwired to the MME via an accessory fuse ( (box located under the glove compartment - tie into an appropriate Micro 2 fuse). It will transfer power to the dashcam when the vehicle is on. When the MME is turned off, the dashcam will go into it's version of sentry mode (that's a main reason to go to this expense), power will be cut to the battery pack which will power the dashcam until it is drained or the car is restarted.

Another advantage noted is it takes any dashcam battery drain out of the equation, which is good for we who have smaller 12 volt batteries. You don't need to hardwire; all the battery packs I've seen have a 12 volt plug-in as well - but it takes twice as long to recharge your expended pack using a plug-in. Which goes to your other question - where to put it. I'm thinking under the passenger's seat using velcro to keep from sliding. The size is not too bad. About 6"x8" X.5". I went to www.blackboxmycar.com and read, asked multiple questions and feel like I have some basic knowledge of the process. Gonna keep studying the options and see if there a Black Friday sales in the offing. Hope that answers your questions and should anyone spot any mistakes, please correct them! Thanks

Excellent info, thanks. I was shocked at how expensive the dedicated dash cam batteries are. Something like the BlackBoxMyCar Powercell 8 or Cellink Neo are about $350, which is $100 more than the camera I'm thinking about (Viofo A129 Pro Duo).

 

[Lord Polymath]

Ended up going with a Viofo Plus Duo, it's the 2k 60fps front cam and 1080P 30fps rear. I will use the car for mostly city driving, very short trips. (I've had my current Mustang 1.5 years and have 4,500 miles on it). So I probably won't need parking mode for my use-case, and decided not to use it.
Still contemplating whether or not to hardwire it...It might depend on how hard it is to run a wire from the center console where the 12v cigarette lighter plug is. If I do hardwire to the fuse box, I wonder if I can use the 3 wire hardwire kit and just not use the Acc wire...

 

[GW Shark]

Ended up going with a Viofo Plus Duo, it's the 2k 60fps front cam and 1080P 30fps rear. I will use the car for mostly city driving, very short trips. (I've had my current Mustang 1.5 years and have 4,500 miles on it). So I probably won't need parking mode for my use-case, and decided not to use it.
Still contemplating whether or not to hardwire it...It might depend on how hard it is to run a wire from the center console where the 12v cigarette lighter plug is. If I do hardwire to the fuse box, I wonder if I can use the 3 wire hardwire kit and just not use the Acc wire...

Please let us know of your installation and use experience. There are some folks here much better versed in car wiring details than I - so I'm sure they can advise you. I am still weighing options but leaning toward the Viofo 139/external battery. I think BBMC had some pretty good Black Friday sales, so we'll see what they and others are putting on special this year. I may purchase now, but won't install until I get my recalled windshield re-mounted.

 

[Lord Polymath]

Please let us know of your installation and use experience. There are some folks here much better versed in car wiring details than I - so I'm sure they can advise you. I am still weighing options but leaning toward the Viofo 139/external battery. I think BBMC had some pretty good Black Friday sales, so we'll see what they and others are putting on special this year. I may purchase now, but won't install until I get my recalled windshield re-mounted.

Yeah I'll try and update this thread. I'll be installing the front facing camera in my current car just to see how it works and then do a nice hidden wiring job on the MME when I get it.
As far as wiring and parking mode, I'm going to use the 3 wire kit and wire it normally but turn off Parking Mode in the camera settings. That way I won't worry about the 12 volt battery, but I can turn it on if needed.

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