Some people have been asking about dashcams recently on here and thought I'd do a write up of the install I did earlier on in the year. I'm going to try and keep it brief, but also do a step-by-step guide of what I did. FYI I hate seeing wires - so I've done it so none are visible!
So I went for a Blackvue DR430-2ch. I hate the screen on most dashcams, wanted two cameras, and didn't want to spend a fortune. I also wanted the ability to record whilst parked, and have GPS on them. This does require an addition GPS module for this model but still turns out they were a good buy!
Here's the total of what I spent (Cheapest when I bought them):
Cameras: £209.95
GPS: £28.99
Power Magic Pro: £26.11
Add-a-fuse x 2: £3 each
Trim/ panel/ pry tool kit: £5.99 (turned out to be priceless!)
Total: £277.05
Anyway, here's some pictures of the end result of the front and back:
(The only place you can see a wire is where it plugs into the rear camera)
Now for how I did it:
I started with the back camera. Get the camera in the position you want it, making use the wire comes out on the passenger side. I then managed to pry the plastic trim away just enough I could feed the wire down, all the way to flexi tube that takes all the other wires to the boot lid. This tube can be loosened from each end, and can allow the wire to be fed through. Just make sure you put it back perfectly when you've finished - don't want water getting in‼
From here, the back panel can be prised out a little, allowing you to grab the cable from the tube. The wire can then be fed along the top of this panel all the way to the door. See picture below:
(For some reason in this picture is looks like the panel wasn't put back very well - I've just checked and its absolutely fine and looks better in real life!)
From here, the wire can be brought all the way down the side of the door. This is easy to do and fits just down the back of the rubber strip between the car and the door. Do this all the way down to the join in the plastic.
From here it's a little harder. Pry one of the plastic panels up (can't remember if it's the right or left one any longer). Just enough to get access to underneath. You'll notice all the other wires running front to back of the car. Do the same with the join in the plastic at the front door. Pics for where the joins are:
This will allow you to see the same wires as at the back door. From here the cable can be fed all the way through underneath the pillar between the front and back doors. This gets the cable into the front of the car. From here, I brought the cable all the way up round the door, again in the black rubber. This goes all the way round to the top of the A pillar where theres a join.
Next is the power cable, the power cable has to go all the way from the front camera, to the panel visible when you open the passenger door. (This is expanded upon in the next bit!
To do this, the wire is fed up the rubber trim, from this panel to the top of the A pillar. Now comes the careful bit! Carefully feed both cable across the join between the A pillar and the roof trim. The cables can then simply be tucked in along the tip of the windscreen for the rest of the distance to the dashcam.
That's pretty much how the wiring was completed from both power and the cable between the cameras. I also hit the GPS wire up at the top of the windscreen. The last bit to do was to power the dashcams from the fuse box. Ill put this in a comment to this post to stop it growing too long!
So I went for a Blackvue DR430-2ch. I hate the screen on most dashcams, wanted two cameras, and didn't want to spend a fortune. I also wanted the ability to record whilst parked, and have GPS on them. This does require an addition GPS module for this model but still turns out they were a good buy!
Here's the total of what I spent (Cheapest when I bought them):
Cameras: £209.95
GPS: £28.99
Power Magic Pro: £26.11
Add-a-fuse x 2: £3 each
Trim/ panel/ pry tool kit: £5.99 (turned out to be priceless!)
Total: £277.05
Anyway, here's some pictures of the end result of the front and back:
(The only place you can see a wire is where it plugs into the rear camera)
Now for how I did it:
I started with the back camera. Get the camera in the position you want it, making use the wire comes out on the passenger side. I then managed to pry the plastic trim away just enough I could feed the wire down, all the way to flexi tube that takes all the other wires to the boot lid. This tube can be loosened from each end, and can allow the wire to be fed through. Just make sure you put it back perfectly when you've finished - don't want water getting in‼
From here, the back panel can be prised out a little, allowing you to grab the cable from the tube. The wire can then be fed along the top of this panel all the way to the door. See picture below:
(For some reason in this picture is looks like the panel wasn't put back very well - I've just checked and its absolutely fine and looks better in real life!)
From here, the wire can be brought all the way down the side of the door. This is easy to do and fits just down the back of the rubber strip between the car and the door. Do this all the way down to the join in the plastic.
From here it's a little harder. Pry one of the plastic panels up (can't remember if it's the right or left one any longer). Just enough to get access to underneath. You'll notice all the other wires running front to back of the car. Do the same with the join in the plastic at the front door. Pics for where the joins are:
This will allow you to see the same wires as at the back door. From here the cable can be fed all the way through underneath the pillar between the front and back doors. This gets the cable into the front of the car. From here, I brought the cable all the way up round the door, again in the black rubber. This goes all the way round to the top of the A pillar where theres a join.
Next is the power cable, the power cable has to go all the way from the front camera, to the panel visible when you open the passenger door. (This is expanded upon in the next bit!
To do this, the wire is fed up the rubber trim, from this panel to the top of the A pillar. Now comes the careful bit! Carefully feed both cable across the join between the A pillar and the roof trim. The cables can then simply be tucked in along the tip of the windscreen for the rest of the distance to the dashcam.
That's pretty much how the wiring was completed from both power and the cable between the cameras. I also hit the GPS wire up at the top of the windscreen. The last bit to do was to power the dashcams from the fuse box. Ill put this in a comment to this post to stop it growing too long!