Dashcam thoughts?

There's a lot to think about there. My last dash cam was a Rexing and it was perfectly fine but I never "needed" it.

 

For those with rear cams, where are you running the wiring? On my first gen I just did it while I had the whole interior out so it was easy

 

I had an SUV that I pushed a fiberglass rod between the headliner and the roof of the vehicle and pulled it through that way. On my last truck, I ran it around the headliner by the driver's door but that way you have to be careful of the airbags and ensure you run the cable behind and not in front of the airbags. And you have got to be very very careful because...

 

I've been researching the FitCamX for the Tacoma and am seeing they sell a wiring harness that you need to route down to the fuse box if you want the parking monitor to work. I was thinking maybe I could find power by the rear view mirror and wire into it to keep all the wiring clean and contained and not have to run wiring down to the fuse box. Has anyone else thought of that or done that or know that there is battery and accessory power wires up by the rear view mirror? I'd probably buy the FitCamX, install it and figure out later how I want to wire the parking monitor but was thinking maybe someone here had already figured it out.

 

If I remember correctly on my third gen I had the roof console out and pushed a fish tape to the back between moonroof and door pillars, then pulled the camera cable back to front. Presumably something similar can be done with the 4th gen

An alternate would be to run it down the A pillar, along the bottom sill, then back up under the rear door trim. Only caveat is disconnect the battery while you remove the A pillar trim so you can run the cable behind the airbag.

 

See the link I posted earlier - there's a thread here where someone used the existing OEM dashcam connector.

 

My 3rd gen had a Viofo A119 v3. I repurposed if to be my rear camera in the new truck. Just snaked a power cord on the floor to the front.

 

I have the VIOFO a229 pro 2-ch. I use the Dongar Pro adapter with the short USB A->C cable that came with she camera and a noname A->C adapter for parking mode. It’s a little fussy to get working, but it works for me. As for rear camera, I routed down the A-pillar zip tied to the wire harness back there, and around to the back under the door sills, to avoid possible airbag interference.

 

Down the A Pillar then under the door threshold where all of the other wires run. Then up on the back glass.

Looking for a "Smile! You are on camera" sticker that would run around the lens.

 

I have had the VIOFO A119 Mini 2 with the circular polarizing lens, a 256gb microSD card and the Dongar dashcam power adapter for a year now. It fits nicely behind the rear-view mirror, so from the driver side it doesn't obstruct any view at all.
Really pleased with the video quality it creates.

 

It would be great if I could use the cameras that are built into my truck, like a Tesla.

 

I had that one in my previous car. Was going to put that in the Taco but then I saw the FitCamX, which I also have in our CRV. I just liked how stealthy it is and unobtrusive. If it ever gives out, I'll maybe go back to the Viofo but for now I'm happy with the FitCamx for what it is.

 

I have a Garmin Mini 3 and Dongar Pro in my truck. Overall decent unit. Does occasionally glitch and you gotta cycle power to it. IIRC it was $250 all together, camera, SD card, and Dongar.

 

They all require some form of routine maint.

• Firmware
• Reformatting SD Card
• Clearing protected video / images
• Power Cycling
• Rechecking your settings from time to time

It's like anything else.

 

Does anyone have the link for the 2025 Taxoma FitCamX 4k Combo that includes the Parking Sensor wiring harness? Or just the wiring harness? TIA.

 

So no one makes a dash cam that just runs and overwrites on its own? With a quick save button? Preferably with 1080p @ 60 at bare minimum and decent audio?

 

Most of them do that that I've dealt with anyway. I just bought the FitCamX and that's the way it works

 

I was happy with the cheap Yi carcam but sometimes it would crash because of my remote start. If I remote started the truck, it would power on, then the cycle would end, the truck would shut off and it liked to run 60-90seconds after shut down. So if i restarted the truck right away, it would crash and take a little while to reboot. Not the end of the world unless you have an accident or issue immediately upon take off.

 

They all over write but mine and most also tend to "protect" pictures and video segments if you hit a bump in the road or swerve (g-Forces trigger protection). Each little protected video ties up space that then doesn't get re-written over because it's "protected." They do that in the event of an accident so the video can be used later and doesn't get auto re-written over. Its a great feature.

But it does require occasional (monthly?) reviewing your vid and pics and reformatting the drive to clear them out - or go one by one and hand select and unprotect them. Your call.

 

I'm thinking of doing this same setup. Did you do it yourself? How much of a pain in the butt do you think it would be for a complete dummy (me)?