Thinking about installing a rear dash cam due to my experience being rear-ended on the highway to Portland last year. Wondering if there's anyone on the forum care to share their experience? What's the best way to route the wires along the new electric-powered hatch?
Rear dash cam anyone?
- Thread starter eniahal
- Start date
- :
- 2022 2.5GT
You need a good quality lead and 12V plug or trust me, you will get problems with radio reception. Pull the trim off the top of the back door. It goes with a real bang but pull it evenly and it will come off - wear rubber gloves as the edges are quite sharp. Pull the rubber gaiter off the umbilical chord and it will reveal the white plastic frame underneath. You need to be very careful with these as they are brittle. Carefully ease the tangs out of the bodywork on both the body and the door. Squirt some soapy water solution into the gaiter and thread a grabbing tool or you could use a blunt screwdriver or similar. Grab or tape the end of the tool to the lead and as you pull it back, push the wire with it (a spare pair of hands might be useful!). Feed it through with enough slack to reach the top of the screen then feed the rubber over the plastic and snap the plastic inserts back to make a good seal on the door and the body.
I used a Viafo A119 camera. The supplied lead and plug wont cause you any issues with radio interference. I pulled the door seal partially back and threaded it under to emerge near the boot (trunk) plug to pick up the switched supply. Its a bit crude but at a future date, I will put this behind the trim and emerge near to the plug. On the 2016 model, I came out of one of the light apertures but they dont exist on the 2017.
At the screen end, I made a small cut to accommodate the wire and mounted the camera near the top of the screen but inside the sweep of the wiper. This camera comes with 2 screen mounts, one flat and one tapered. Use the tapered mount if you want to fit the optional polarising filter (highly recommended) as it tilts the camera back enough to fit it.
The camera can be set with a periodic alarm to remind you to format the card as they hang when they need de-fragging. All dash cam mini SD card do this so anyone with a dash cam, do it every month or so or you might find it isnt recording. Ive used Sandisk cards in several cameras in the past but they simply will not work. Sometimes you can opt for the suppliers card or if you buy one off Amazon or Ebay you need these markings.....
There is a subtle red light to show its recording and after the first few minutes you wont notice the camera in the window. Notice the small gap at the top which allows the camera to be lifted off its mount.
As an aside, I used a DDPai camera in the front. I picked up 12V at the floor level fuse box and and ran the wire up the back of the dash and over the curtain air bag - same as this pic from my red car;
.
This is the current installation....
I used a Viafo A119 camera. The supplied lead and plug wont cause you any issues with radio interference. I pulled the door seal partially back and threaded it under to emerge near the boot (trunk) plug to pick up the switched supply. Its a bit crude but at a future date, I will put this behind the trim and emerge near to the plug. On the 2016 model, I came out of one of the light apertures but they dont exist on the 2017.
At the screen end, I made a small cut to accommodate the wire and mounted the camera near the top of the screen but inside the sweep of the wiper. This camera comes with 2 screen mounts, one flat and one tapered. Use the tapered mount if you want to fit the optional polarising filter (highly recommended) as it tilts the camera back enough to fit it.
The camera can be set with a periodic alarm to remind you to format the card as they hang when they need de-fragging. All dash cam mini SD card do this so anyone with a dash cam, do it every month or so or you might find it isnt recording. Ive used Sandisk cards in several cameras in the past but they simply will not work. Sometimes you can opt for the suppliers card or if you buy one off Amazon or Ebay you need these markings.....
There is a subtle red light to show its recording and after the first few minutes you wont notice the camera in the window. Notice the small gap at the top which allows the camera to be lifted off its mount.
As an aside, I used a DDPai camera in the front. I picked up 12V at the floor level fuse box and and ran the wire up the back of the dash and over the curtain air bag - same as this pic from my red car;
This is the current installation....
- :
- CX 5
Great detail in this response! Thank you! I am looking into this myself.
Already installed a front facing one at the moment so was thinking about something more stand-alone,but totally make sense...should have thought of it before I bought the front ones [emoji14]
Turborascal
Contributor
- :
- 2019 Mazda CX-5 Signature; 2019 Mazda MX-5 30 AE, RF, #150/3000
Unfortunately I didn't take pictures during installation, but I have the Blackvue 750s two-camera system installed in my CX-5; the same system I installed in all of my vehicles.
The installation is unobtrusive, easily removed for transfer to another car at some point in the future, and provides outstanding video,
I use a PowerMagic Pro and fuse taps (hot only when the car is running as well as hot when the car is off).
I set my PowerMagic Pro to cut camera power after 12 hours or if the battery voltage drops to 12.5 volts so that I don't come out to a flat battery.
Power runs from the PowerMagic Pro to the windshield pillar where it is tucked behind the rubber trim (no need to remove A-pillar trim) and then tucked into the windshield header trim.
The front camera is mounted below the sensor pod and behind the rearview mirror.
It is completely hidden behind the rearview mirror for me.
Next; the power and video lead from the front camera is tucked behind the passenger-side windshield header trim until reaching the A-pillar where it tucks behind and then transitions to the rubber trim above the door.
The wire then tucks behind the trim between the doors, behind the rubber trim above the right-rear door, and into the joint between the headliner and rearmost window trim.
Follow Anchorman's instructions to remove the upper hatch trim and fish the wire through the rubber gaiter to reach the rear camera without having an exposed wire.
I didn't need to notch the trim in my CX-5:
Note that my windows are tinted to the maximum allowed darkness and I record excellent video; even at night.
My usual dashcam source is https://www.thedashcamstore.com/
They offer competitive pricing and outstanding customer service.
For first-timers, a helpful installation video is here: https://www.thedashcamstore.com/blackvue-dashcam-installation/
Work methodically and everything will come together nicely.
Best of luck with YOUR installation.
The installation is unobtrusive, easily removed for transfer to another car at some point in the future, and provides outstanding video,
I use a PowerMagic Pro and fuse taps (hot only when the car is running as well as hot when the car is off).
I set my PowerMagic Pro to cut camera power after 12 hours or if the battery voltage drops to 12.5 volts so that I don't come out to a flat battery.
Power runs from the PowerMagic Pro to the windshield pillar where it is tucked behind the rubber trim (no need to remove A-pillar trim) and then tucked into the windshield header trim.
The front camera is mounted below the sensor pod and behind the rearview mirror.
It is completely hidden behind the rearview mirror for me.
Next; the power and video lead from the front camera is tucked behind the passenger-side windshield header trim until reaching the A-pillar where it tucks behind and then transitions to the rubber trim above the door.
The wire then tucks behind the trim between the doors, behind the rubber trim above the right-rear door, and into the joint between the headliner and rearmost window trim.
Follow Anchorman's instructions to remove the upper hatch trim and fish the wire through the rubber gaiter to reach the rear camera without having an exposed wire.
I didn't need to notch the trim in my CX-5:
Note that my windows are tinted to the maximum allowed darkness and I record excellent video; even at night.
My usual dashcam source is https://www.thedashcamstore.com/
They offer competitive pricing and outstanding customer service.
For first-timers, a helpful installation video is here: https://www.thedashcamstore.com/blackvue-dashcam-installation/
Work methodically and everything will come together nicely.
Best of luck with YOUR installation.
- :
- 2022 2.5GT
Its much the same as sitting in the back seat looking out - you tend not to notice unless there is something to compare with and the images are very good. In complete darkness you can just see a red glow from the tail lights but it would show an insurance company what had happened if a car behind caused and accident or how it contributed to one.
- :
- 2022 2.5GT
Keep in mind that if you run up the door seal, the only way to the front of the head cloth is to cross the airbag. This is very dangerous if the airbag deploys as it could impede the airbag or it could result in somebody getting garrotted by the lead when it is ejected by the airbag. You MUST remove the A pillar trim if you want to remove the risk.
Turborascal
Contributor
- :
- 2019 Mazda CX-5 Signature; 2019 Mazda MX-5 30 AE, RF, #150/3000
Thanks for the caution.
I thought that the cross-over at the top of the windshield would be above the airbag.
I'll remove the A-pillar trim and check.
