I have never had a dash cam but want to get one as I tow a travel trailer and many cagers like to jump in front of me leaving little room to stop. What dash cams do you have and like? Will any of these work with a RAM mount? I see many use a ball mount and wonder if they work with RAM mounts? Is it better to mount high on the windshield than on the dash?

Also, will hardwiring to power kill the truck battery quickly? My truck my sit for 2 weeks at a time.

 

I have a Kenwood that I got at Best Buy and had them install it.

It is suction cup mounted high on the windshield behind the rear view mirror so that I can't see it and it doesn't distract me when I am driving. The screen is very bright! It has a cell phone app that allows watching the videos. I haven't bothered setting that up yet but I will. It is wired to ignition hot and activates every time the truck is started.

I think the camera can "see" more from high up and there is less clutter on the dash. It also has an adhesive mount I can switch to if the suction cup begins to fail. I did want to put the tint on the windows before moving to the adhesive mount. That thing will NEVER let go.

 

I have a blackvue, cant see it from the drivers side. It's easy to hard wire if you have the console above the mirror, 3" of wire, and two posi-taps, it will cycle on / off with the truck (power to the mirror). If you are installing one in the front window, buy one that has two channels so you can mount a second camera in the rear window that will capture what's behind you and what's in your blind spots.

 

I have a Vantrue N4 3 channel with a GPS mount and OBD plug. It records out the windshield, inside the cab and another camera out the back window. The OBD power source will let the camera go into a “sleep mode” when the truck is off but if the truck is bumped or the alarm trips it will turn on and start recording.

 

I also have a blackvue 2 channel and it is great. Very small, mounts up high where it doesn’t get in my line of sight. I did need to use 3M VHB to mount it up in the windshield matrix area, and it’s been there very securely for a couple years. I hardwired it and used their power magic battery. It will usually run for about a day when parked before shutting itself down.

I also have a haloview rd10 for my trailer. It has a rear view mirror monitor that has a front camera and the “backup” camera on the trailer also records what’s going on so I am covered whether I’m towing or not. I leave the monitor installed all the time…when it’s off it serves as a regular rearview mirror.

 

has 1080P and produces video nice and clean like my Garmin NuviCam does. Mounts high on the windshield in front of the mirror if there is room. Yes, if you leave the truck parked for more than a week, it can drain the batteries to where the truck wont start, BTDT this past weekend. If you connect it to the dash 12v outlet the BSM will shut the outlet off so not have to worry about the battery, but if you hard wire it, you may want to unplug it if the truck will sit for longer than a week.

I tried those smaller cheaper dash cams, and you get what you pay for, cheap not that easy to use dash cams with so-so video. I bought my Garmin NuviCam back in 2015 and along with lifetime maps, the camera takes some really good video.

 

I have a Viofo A129 Duo in one on kids car, a A129 Duo 4k in another, and a A139 in mine. While the 139 isn’t 4k, it sure is small and what I needed. Have been very happy with it.

 

I've recommended camera mirrors around here a few times but they don't seem that popular. I'm a tech guy though and think they're brilliant. Most of them mount to the existing OEM mirror with a few clips but there are a few that replace the entire mirror assembly.

I currently have the Vantop H612T. You do have to run one wire for the rear camera, one for GPS, and one for power, but I suppose you'd have to do that for any other dash cam too. The mirror acts as a DVR recording front and back, but it also acts as a rear view mirror by displaying the rear camera while you drive. You get significantly more visibility to the rear of the truck than you would normally get with the OEM mirror.

If anyone is interested, I'll take some pictures tomorrow of the mirror itself, the rear camera, and what it looks like on the display.

 

I use Garmin 57's in my truck, Jeep, and RV. They've worked well for a couple years.

If you want power up by the rear view mirror to power a dash cam, or anything off a USB port, look at the Dongar adapter. It made my recent install so much easier. No more running power from the upfitter switches. Plug and play power, install took 5 minutes.

Dash Cam Power Adapter (16-pin, Select Ford) – Dongar Technologies LLC

 

Same here. I hard wired mine to a always hot switch so I can leave it on in parking lots and turn it off at the house.

Bob

 

I have the Garmin 67W
It mounts a small metal disk to the winshield with double stick tape. The camera attaches to the disk with magnet So you can easily take it off and put it up.
I ran all the wires behind the headliner and down the door jamb to the passenger footwell fuse panel and landed it there.

I dive my truck a lot, So I've never had a dead battery problem. Probably the longest it has sat with out starting is 4-5 days. So I can't speak for letting it sit for two weeks

Easy to use, downloads files to your phone when you want to see .
Here is a recent deer strike at night

 

Yes..interested... and.your photos would be appreciated!

 

Here you go. Pic descriptions -

1. Rear view that you use when driving down the road. You can see the bed rails, so you know exactly where your rear end is in relation to vehicles in your blind spots.
2. Split front/rear, not sure why but apparently people use it.
3. Front only. Not really useful for me.
4. Underside to show the attachment clips.
5. Front camera. The front camera somewhat blocks you from mounting the camera mirror exactly centered on the OEM mirror. It's not something you'll notice because you can't even see the OEM mirror, but figured I'd mention it.
6. Wires get pushed up into the headliner and routed to where they go.
7. Rear camera placement. Some people mount this inside the cab but I wanted a 100% unobstructed view of the rear without the chance of getting window glare, tint making the image too dark, etc. I used some super short screws and some sealant to ensure it was water tight since it's mounted to the LED stop light fixture.

The camera mirror supports 4k front / 1k rear, or 2k front / 2k rear. I currently have it in 2k / 2k since I value the rear image more than the front. I've read that it doesn't make that big of a difference anyhow so it's probably negligible.

The camera also has a feature to sense movement/shocks/vibrations while the vehicle is parked. So if someone runs into your truck, the camera powers on and starts recording. It actually works pretty well but you're not going to get the leading up video, only video from after the crash occurred.

There are other common features, like push button to save/lock videos (to guarantee they don't get overwritten), but I think these are the most common I considered when looking for a DVR/cam.

 

Thanks everyone. Ended up with a Rove R2-4K. Initial look at the footage is good. Bought extra mounts so I can use it in all 3 of my vehicles. Hopefully I never need the footage but will have it if I need it.

 

That looks like a nice, easy solution, thanks for sharing!