Hard wire dash cam

Carl911 · April 16, 2017

I bought the hard wire kit for my dash cam a few months back. I initially wanted to get Lexus to fit as the idea of pulling trims worried me slightly.

however, the thought of paying £150 meant I plugged the cigarette lighter power setup for the time being.

however, this looks untidy and certainly not what one expects to see in ones RX, lol.

so I managed to fit it today and too be honest it was relatively easy.

your best friend in this job is a metal coat hanger.

now I will say I thought the fuse box was on the driver side as this seems to be indicated in the manual and is also the case in my GS450 but it is in fact on the passenger side foot well area.

not bothering to check that fact I fitted my wiring along the ceiling and down the drivers side a-pillar but aside from that the technique used would have been the same for the passenger side.

firstly remove the little plastic trim found next to the small window on your dash. Use a plastic pry tool and this pops out with ease. You need to pull the a-pillar trim away from its fixed position. It doesn't take much force and only allows you to pull it away about 20mm as it stops any further on a special retaining style clip. The trim is quite flexible and coupled with the space now created this is service.

with your door open you need to remove the trim at the side of your dash, this also takes minimal force with a pry tool to remove.

You should now have a few areas of access to not only feed wire but also see to some extent what you are doing.

using the metal coat hanger which needs to be unbent into a straight piece you need to feed this down the gap next to the small window on dash until you see the end come out in the footwell. This may take a little feeling about but it went down quite easy for me. Dont let the coat hanger fall all the way through so either bend it to stop it falling or get someone to hold it.

Now, tape the plug end that will eventually plug into your dashcam to the coat hanger end.

you can now pull the plug up to the top of the dash.

now you need to feed the wire plug up through the apillar trim. I found that this was best done by feeding the wire now at the top of your dash back down and out the side of your dash where you have removed trim. To do this, remove the coat hanger and feed by hand as access is easier here.

once out the side you need to retape the end back to coat hanger and push up vertically behind apillar trim. You need to take care as there is an airbag in here plus other wiring.

that said, with the trim now pulled slightly off you have enough space to feed up and you can see by looking from the outside of your car through the windscreen the gap behind the trim and hopefully the end of your cost hanger. Once you have fed the wire up enough into the apillar trim , you need to push it out the side slightly so that you can grab the end with your fingers. Once yo have the end, untape the coat hanger again and remove it. You should now be able to pull the wire up to the correct length to reach your dash cam.

You now can tuck the wire behind the roof trim and push the apillar trim back on.

replace the other two dash trim s back into place and everything should be as good as when you started.

you now have the power end of your wires on the floor.

this just needs feeding behind the floor carpet then connecting to the fuse for cigarette lighter and find a suitable bolt head to screw the earth behind, there are a few down there to use so no need to start drilling holes anywhere.

there is another trim on the passenger side that comes away by pushing four little push tabs, dead easy to remove and just gives you easier access.

as I say, I went down the driver apillar then tucked the wires along the carpet line from the drivers side to passenger but obviously thus won't be necessary if you go down passenger side.

anyway, the point to all this is that it's actually quite easy to do and no reason to be concerned about damaging anything if you take your time.

carl

steveledzep · April 16, 2017

Installed a dash-cam in my 2013 RX just a few weeks ago. Your interior looks the same as mine.......where is your "cigarette lighter socket" ?

Mine has an open shelf area underneath the cup holder/mouse area with a 12v socket . I decided to wire direct from the camera (mounted behind rear view mirror) across the top of the windscreen. Down the passenger A pillar and door frame, under the floor mat and into the socket. Only about 3" of cable is visible. I keep a towel on the shelf for wiping up spills or wiping hands etc. Looks very acceptable to me.

NemesisUK · April 17, 2017

I've been reading a far bit about dash-cams causing problems with DAB reception in some cars. I wonder if this is possibly due to lack of or poor shielding or the camera supply cables? Or perhaps the cameras themselves?

Anyone noticed if the camera manufacturers have provided special shielding or even acknowledged the potential issue?

Carl911 · April 17, 2017

8 hours ago, steveledzep said:

Installed a dash-cam in my 2013 RX just a few weeks ago. Your interior looks the same as mine.......where is your "cigarette lighter socket" ?

Mine has an open shelf area underneath the cup holder/mouse area with a 12v socket . I decided to wire direct from the camera (mounted behind rear view mirror) across the top of the windscreen. Down the passenger A pillar and door frame, under the floor mat and into the socket. Only about 3" of cable is visible. I keep a towel on the shelf for wiping up spills or wiping hands etc. Looks very acceptable to me.

They added an additional cigarette lighter socket to the later model, mine only has two in the centre console and one in the boot.

Carl911 · April 17, 2017

18 minutes ago, NemesisUK said:

I've been reading a far bit about dash-cams causing problems with DAB reception in some cars. I wonder if this is possibly due to lack of or poor shielding or the camera supply cables? Or perhaps the cameras themselves?

Anyone noticed if the camera manufacturers have provided special shielding or even acknowledged the potential issue?

I don't have dab so can't comment on that but no issues with normal radio. The hardwiring does come with a magnetic shielding block which is optional whether you fit or not.

PCM · April 17, 2017

I have one in the back too now...

C Mclean · April 17, 2017

You need a ferrite magnet that wraps round the camera cable to cancel out interference on DAB. Maplins do various sizes and strengths for a couple of pounds..

May 12, 2017

Hi guys,some pics of the mounting of the dash cams would be nice as i have a Nextbase 402G with hard wire kit to fit but i don't really want it hanging below the rear view mirror.

Would be nice to see what you guys did.

C Mclean · May 13, 2017

17 hours ago, Eame64 said:

Hi guys,some pics of the mounting of the dash cams would be nice as i have a Nextbase 402G with hard wire kit to fit but i don't really want it hanging below the rear view mirror.

Would be nice to see what you guys did.

I have the BlackVue front and rear, this is on the IS, hardly noticeable.

Yellowperilbikes · March 7, 2019

Cam takes very little power. Why cannot it get power from the interior lights binnacle right by cam?

Herbie · March 7, 2019

1 hour ago, Yellowperilbikes said:

Cam takes very little power. Why cannot it get power from the interior lights binnacle right by cam?

It is possible to do that in some cars. The problem is that the feed there is 12V so you have to have enough room to put the 'little black box of tricks' of the hardwire kit somewhere to step it down to 5V and some cars just haven't got the space to put it up there. Plus, depending on how fiddly it is to mess about up there it may well be easier to run the wire down to the fusebox anyway.

It's not difficult or a big job to get the wire down to the fusebox - took me about 20 minutes from start of job to taking it for a test drive to make sure the camera worked alright.

Yellowperilbikes · March 7, 2019

Forgot about that! Have a cigar lighter lead with dash cam kit. Could smack that up and see what they using, prob just a 5v reg, which is quite small.

Was audio engineer for many years, so like to try something different.

C Mclean · March 7, 2019

On 5/13/2017 at 2:18 PM, C Mclean said:

I have the BlackVue front and rear, this is on the IS, hardly noticeable.

Just noticed that you can see the rear camera in the rear view mirror. Top picture, l/h side of the mirror view.

Yellowperilbikes · March 10, 2019

Sorted. Nextbase 312 comes with cigar lighter long lead. Took that apart and removed the small 12 to 5v regulator module. Mounted cam up behind mirror , so is not distracting to driver. Cut cam plug off with 8 inches of wire and soldered to output. Used another 8 off the input feed.

Removed interior light pinnacle, 2 screws beneath the flip down section, and pull the other end down crisply to release the interference push in shafts, then comes a bit toward you to let two ears come free at windscreen end. Look at one off on eBay spared for sale.

Earth to one of 4 easy bolts in roof cavity. Live lead coupled to pink wire on multi connector. Was only one measured 12v switched. Plug pops through where there is good gap at mirror, flick cover off mirror makes it easier.

Takes about an hour to do. No damage to trim. Can put ferrite slug on your wiring if have Dab radio, but wires are so short, doubt would be a problem.

Everything works fine. Car not upset. No canbus freak out. Lead must feed up to 4 bulbs if all on, so way more juice than cam requires. Cannot see anything when fitted. My RX has all sockets in central console long run. There is cigar lighter, but who wants huge wobbly black lump sticking out. Why spend money on hardwired kit, as all is supplied with cam, and way bigger hassle ripping half trim off, and diving into fuse box fitting that.

Passerby · March 10, 2019

8 hours ago, Yellowperilbikes said:

Sorted. Nextbase 312 comes with cigar lighter long lead. Took that apart and removed the small 12 to 5v regulator module. Mounted cam up behind mirror , so is not distracting to driver. Cut cam plug off with 8 inches of wire and soldered to output. Used another 8 off the input feed.

Removed interior light pinnacle, 2 screws beneath the flip down section, and pull the other end down crisply to release the interference push in shafts, then comes a bit toward you to let two ears come free at windscreen end. Look at one off on eBay spared for sale.

Earth to one of 4 easy bolts in roof cavity. Live lead coupled to pink wire on multi connector. Was only one measured 12v switched. Plug pops through where there is good gap at mirror, flick cover off mirror makes it easier.

Takes about an hour to do. No damage to trim. Can put ferrite slug on your wiring if have Dab radio, but wires are so short, doubt would be a problem.

Everything works fine. Car not upset. No canbus freak out. Lead must feed up to 4 bulbs if all on, so way more juice than cam requires. Cannot see anything when fitted. My RX has all sockets in central console long run. There is cigar lighter, but who wants huge wobbly black lump sticking out. Why spend money on hardwired kit, as all is supplied with cam, and way bigger hassle ripping half trim off, and diving into fuse box fitting that.

Any pictures?

Yellowperilbikes · March 28, 2019

Sorted. Nextbase 312 comes with cigar lighter long lead. Took that apart and removed the small 12 to 5v regulator module. Mounted cam up behind mirror , so is not distracting to driver. Cut cam plug off with 8 inches of wire and soldered to output. Used another 8 off the input feed.

Removed interior light pinnacle, 2 screws beneath the flip down section, and pull the other end down crisply to release the interference push in shafts, then comes a bit toward you to let two ears come free at windscreen end. Look at one off on eBay spared for sale.

Earth to one of 4 easy bolts in roof cavity. Live lead coupled to pink wire on multi connector. Was only one measured 12v switched. Plug pops through where there is good gap at mirror, flick cover off mirror makes it easier.

Takes about an hour to do. No damage to trim. Can put ferrite slug on your wiring if have Dab radio, but wires are so short, doubt would be a problem.

Everything works fine. Car not upset. No canbus freak out. Lead must feed up to 4 bulbs if all on, so way more juice than cam requires. Cannot see anything when fitted. My RX has all sockets in central console long run. There is cigar lighter, but who wants huge wobbly black lump sticking out. Why spend money on hardwired kit, as all is supplied with cam, and way bigger hassle ripping half trim off, and diving into fuse box fitting that.