First let me say, I know nothing about power circuits.

Been thinking of buying a dash camera, but dislike the ideal of a wire hanging down to cigarette lighter.

Crossed my mind yesterday, since I rarely even look at the overhead display, can I splice into that power circuit? This power only works when Key On.... as cigarette light circuit on my 2001 is Always ON.

Anyone got suggestions for a dash cam ??? Thinking this will be my Christmas present...

 

You can also just do a dash cam hardwire kit with a add a fuse to a ignition hot circuit. I actually just finished a install yesterday. I finally went to a nicer resolution front and rear camera setup. I have been upgrading the dash cams in all my vehicles as of late because my dash cams were old rexing 16gb 1080p and you couldn't see much. The picture quality of the new one is pretty amazing and you can download straight to your phone and do additional zooming or panning.


I can actually see clear image's and can slow down video and read license plates now.

 

Bill, I used one of the customer access wires when I installed my dashcam. It was one with accessory on 12v power instead of a pass-through or 12v constant. I also used a "Directed Electronics Inc 528T 12v Accessory Pulse Timer" because my particular dashcam did NOT agree with the GP cycle and would sometimes not come on after going from on to start to on, would sometimes cycle power constantly or do weird things. The time delay relay allowed me to apply power to the dashcam 60 seconds after applying power to the GP's.

You can hardwire most of the dash cameras that are available now. The wire can be easily hidden in the dash, along the pillar and under the headliner.

You could use the overhead display circuit, that is a good idea. When I installed an auto-dimming mirror in the 2016 Escape, I could not use the overhead console circuit because of the way it was wired, but that does not mean that the PSD overhead display couldn't be used.

As for dashcameras, there are so many options out there sir and they range in price from a couple of $20 bills to several hundred dollars. Look for something that can hold at least a 128GB MicroSD card and keep your goal for the device in mind. Will this be something that is used for if there is an incident or will you be pulling the footage down to review after taking a drive in the north GA mountains?

- 30 frames per second (FPS) is good, but 60 is better.
- 1080p is good, but 2.7K and 4K is better
- Do you want front and rear view or just front?

I would say sit down and start looking around, take some notes on what you like and don't like and then make a list of your top 3 choices. Then, if you feel you want some more advice, come back to us and we can help you finalize your choice. Your application, budget and intended use may be different than someone else.

 

Those MicroSD cards that ford390gashog linked to are on sale right now. I picked one up last week for 50% off. A 256GB card was listed at $24.99 instead of the regular price of $49.99.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

These are the same as other MicroSD card with identical specifications, the only difference is they are manufactured for sale by Amazon only. I have a couple others of these in my inventory and they have worked very well for years.

 

Thanks guys. Just getting into this. Wife kept asking " what you want for Christmas ? " Thought I'd go small this year rather than ask for a new turbo !

 

Bill, if you get tangled up in your choices until you cannot see straight, you are more than welcome to give me a call and I can talk you down from the ledge.

 

Yea... just glanced at some of the like Top 10 Dash Cams.... can get confusing fast !! Maybe I'll have time to really get into this today

 

Bill, there is good information to be had here:
https://dashcamtalk.com/

Be warned though, don't wander into the forums or you will the get the dashcam equivalent of PMS. The ideal setup is to have a battery-supported power supply fed by a key-on circuit so the dashcam stays powered for parking mode while the truck is stopped. How parking mode is triggered varies by brand and model so do your research. I have a Blackvue DR650GW-2CH and a Street Guardian SG9663DC.

 

Bill, another FTE'r sent me a message asking for help with a wiring diagram for their overhead console in their 2001 truck. Did you find the diagram yet in the FSM? If not, I will be looking for it in the next day or so. Sunday is our family rest day!

If you have not found it yet, let me know here and I will post it once I find it.

Have a nice rest of your weekend Bill!

 

@MoBill122 , I have attached the diagram you need. If you want key-on power, the RD/YE wire is the one you need to tap.

Tagging @Y2KW57 for Tech Folder content. (Done)

 

Thanks for the assist Leonard. I will forward your post to the other FTE'r.