Experience Hardwiring VIOFO A129 Dashcam

If all you want is a single front camera, without parking mode (that is, switched with the car), you can get one of these and avoid running wires around the pillars (and having to figure out the airbag route). Takes about 5 minutes.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BFRWC3X/?coliid=I38C4LL3GVYYR8

IMG_0165 by JustAnotherPoorDriver posted Dec 25, 2018 at 7:01 PM

Be great if automotive manufacturers could just preinstall a USB cable to the back and mirror area that runs behind the dash to facilitate this.

 

Is the 2 slot always on in your car? When I put the fuse in the 2 slot the camera would only come on when the car was running or acc turned on.

Also any metal body part can be used as a ground right? I couldn't get to what you showed so used the one below. The ground is connected to the screw next to the yellow handle

 

Why couldn't we simply tap onto the rear view camera for example? Not saying the front ones but at least the rear?

 

Are you proposing splitting the video signal from the factory rear view camera and streaming it to a recorder? I guess it'd be theoretically possible, but you'd have to figure out how to power it all the time, whether that powered signal will turn on your center video monitor, and run power to your video recorder as well. You'd have to cut into factory harnesses, run two power lines, potentially have other unintended consequences (this is a big one), or just buy a rear dashcam like this and run a single power line and stick something on the glass. The choice seems simple.

 

Nice detailed installation! I went totally the opposite direction.

1) Placed suction cup to hold dashcam on windshield.
2) Draped USB cable straight down the front of the dash to the 12v plug under the shifter.

The advantage of my install is I can quickly remove the unit completely to avoid any chance of theft. Zero chance of affecting airbag deployment.

 

I appreciate all of the helpful info in this thread. I'm seriously thinking about getting a Viofo A129 Pro Dual 4K for my Clarity, but I'm not convinced that the rear cam is worth the hassle of installing it, especially since we don't use front license plates in NC. How do any of you feel about the benefits of having the rear cam?

 

My dashcam records both front and back. Rear recording might come in handy if you got rear ended by someone. NC might not have front front plate but the camera should have high enough resolution to capture the driver's face and make/model/color of the car.

I have my rear cam double-sided taped to the top of the rear windshield. Running the wire from front to back took like 10 minutes. It was really easy to hide the wire inside the headliner.

 

Good point @megrehair. I guess there is the possibility of hit and run rear end collisions, and it could conceivably help in that case. The dual cam unit is only $50 more than the single. I wonder if it is required to install the second cam to run the front. I could add it in, or not, if it would work that way.

 

I did put my dashcam right below the dots where you are planning to put and that area didn't cover by the wipers

 

I agree - that area looks to be at risk of missing the wiper coverage if we aren't careful. I just ordered everything to install the Viofo unit, and have been contemplating where to put the front cam. My car is a bit dusty right now, which is helpful for seeing where the wiper line is, so I'm going to try to get it as high up, and as far right as I can, without having the lens fall outside of the clean area. I also need to be careful that I will be able to remove it, and get at the memory card, etc.

 

I've got my front installed, but still haven't installed the rear. Interesting in any tips you have on hiding the wire in the headliner

 

Oh, and

Oh, and an update to that post. Kevin now has a plug-and-play Honda adapter that goes between the mirror and it's plug and provides a USB power port

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08167R5M3/

 

Those 2 quick install fixtures for a single cam install are really clever. In the meantime @megreyhair's comment regarding the value of using the rear cam convinced me to go ahead with the dual cam, and I have all of the parts I think I need coming soon. I'm looking forward to some fun in my future.

 

The dual cam only requires a single power outlet too. The secondary camera is powered through the wire connected it to the primary camera. Kevin's adapter should therefore work for that if you don't require parking mode. If you do want parking mode then you need it to tap an electric line that doesn't shut off when the ignition is off and unfortunately that's not the mirror.

 

True. Actually, getting down to the fuse block doesn't look to be too difficult, using the add-a-circuit Taps, with the Viofro hardwire kit, so I can utilize parking mode. Running the wire to the rear cam, while avoiding any physical interference with the Side Curtain Air Bag should be a bit more of a challenge. We'll see how that goes.

I plan to pull the Negative connection to the 12v battery to avoid any risk of accidentally triggering a deployment of the airbag. That action will also give me an opportunity to do the experiment that @MrFixit has been trying to get someone to volunteer - to see if the power reset also temporarily resets the Battery Pack Capacity to 55Ah.

 

Please take picture how's your route the wires. I'm interested in adding the rear camera but scratching my head a lot about how one can run it through the headliner without removing it

 

I'll try to capture as much as I can in photos. I'm still not sure what to expect there - I just want to be sure not to interfere with the airbag. I have been pondering what lies ahead, especially the rear cam cable install, and tempted by that 2nd little SimpleUSB thing you posted, but it's currently not available anyway. By the way the first one you posted was a microUSB variety, which wouldn't fit the Viofo.

I think I saw that someone posted that he pulled off all of the weatherstripping on the top of the doors to gain access, but I couldn't tell from the post whether that was just temporary for the cable install, or permanent. I'm not prepared to remove it permanently, or to deface it. I have a few days to poke around and more seriously contemplate that part of the install, as the cam won't be delivered until next Tuesday. If it ends up looking like the rear cam would be more hassle than it is worth, and if I can run the Viofo dashboard cam solo, I may just chicken out, and settle for that.

I just looked at the headliner in the front seat area, and found that if I lifted the edge of the weatherstrip, I could flex the headliner, which is fairly flexible, back away from it a bit. I could then see the bottom edge of the airbag, and it seemed that there might be just enough room to work the cable through, just inside of the weatherstripping and the headliner, hopefully not distorting the headliner when it is put back in place. The cable could lie just under the airbag, which wouldn't interfere with the airbag deployment, especially if the cable can be secured in place. Perhaps if the headline can be pulled back far enough to get to any existing cabling above the airbag, so that it could be secured in the cable bundle, which would be preferable, but I don't want to do any more drastic fiddling with the headliner until I'm actually installing, and have the pillar removed.

I'm also concerned about the routing between the area at the back of the rear door to the window area, and how it can be done with making a mess of the headliner.

 

I was using the microUSB one with an adapter IIRC. In my last car I didn't need the mirror power, so sourced the plug, cut it up, and soldered my own adapter up. When I got the Clarity back on 2018, I couldn't find the plug, so bought Kevin's, and when the updated version came out (and I was sick of the pins falling out), so replaced it. I'm still using it, but may switch to one that supports parking mode eventually.

 

That Yellow Handle looks very important - perhaps an ejection thing, or to put the Clarity into Hyper Drive Mode? What is it really for?

 

The yellow handle is the ejection seat handle for "backseat drivers". Also acts as the manual charging door release.