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Dashcam Installation

Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2017 1:01 pm
by Thamaturge
Many thanks everyone for your useful dash cam posts. I picked up my new Macan on Saturday (I could have waited until March but I really could not see the point in waiting for 17 plate given that I'm comfortable driving an old car).

Cutting a very long story short I fitted a two channel Thinkware F770 the day after I picked up my car from the dealer, which took about three hours to fit. The Thinkware F770 seems to be the best value dash cam at present based on the numerous reviews and comparisons that I've researched to date. While it is easy to set up the running wires through the car is not easy. That stated I have managed to conceal all but about 100mm of the wires leading to the front dash cam and about 50mm leading to the rear dash cam.

The rear dash cam cable threads through the rear tailgate via the righthand side rubber conduit into the headlining and then along the edge of the driver's side roof and comes out at the top righthand corner of the windscreen. This task requires threading the cable around the driver's side B pillar and again around the top of the A driver's side A pillar - I did this by threading a wire from the windscreen under the headlining and then pulling through the wire for the rear camera and the power cable for the front camera. The power wire follows the same route shown at the start of the thread.

For information:

(a) the headlining seems to be held in place around the edges of the roof by the rubber weather strips around the door, which can be eased back in the car to allow access to the headlining.

(b) do not underestimate the challenge pulling, etc. the dash cam wire through the rubber conduit connecting etc tail gate to the roof panel.

(c) The top plastic cowel around the inside of the tailgate does not have to be removed fully - you can just pull away the top bit which will then drop down under gravity to allow you to feed the wires through the tailgate door etc. (for a £50k plus car the cowel is pretty cheap and nasty and does not fit very well even before you touch it - my only criticism of the Macan thus far).

(d) you'll need a about 0.5m length of fibre glass fishing, or tent, pole to help feed and direct your dash cam wires through the headlining. Plus, it is also worth buying a set of car upholstery shim tools for a couple of quite off eBay) to help ease panels, rubber conduits, etc.

(e) I temporarily hardwired the dash cam into the car using the UK driver's side fusebox using the following fuse ports in Column B:12 - for the accessory cable; 5 - battery cable. Once fitted the both dash cams work really well both the when the car ignition is of and on. I need to do a bit more research just to make sure that there are appropriate fuse ports

(f) I positioned the rear cam near the top of the tailgate just inside the top arc of the read windscreen wiper. I positioned the front camera on the drivers side of the windscreen immediately to the right console that supports the rear view mirror such that the top of the mirror just misses the bottom of the camera. This places the camera out of the normal driving angle of vision and allows me to operate the camera manually y more easily should I want to do so compared with trying to hide the dash cam behind the rear view mirror.

(g) the rear camera is very hard to see (even with plain glass) from the outside as it is under the rear spoiler. The front camera can be seen if one knows what to look.

Sorry about:

(h) not taking any photos of my work but I did not want a record of any expensive screw-ups, which is a pity given that it all worked out rather well.

(i) the length of the note because I wanted to fill in bits of detail missing from other posts and from YouTube!





Dashcam Installation

Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2017 1:58 pm
by Paul
useful detail to add to the previous posts!

Dashcam Installation

Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2017 3:30 pm
by Nuclear Nick
Thanks for posting your experience Thamaturge, that's helpful stuff.

I've installed a rear cam on another car but haven't got round to the Macan yet.

Did you attempt to thread the cable rear to front over the headlining? Do you have a pano roof that maybe prevented this? Or is the route blocked in other ways?

Does the rear cam obstruct your mirror view back into the distance at all?

You say you need to research the fuse ports you used. How did you choose them and what will you do to check they are OK? Presumably you chose the driver's side fuse board because you were mounting the camera to the right of the mirror console.

Dashcam Installation

Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2017 3:37 pm
by Col Lamb
Thamaturge View Drop Down stated
(f) I positioned the rear cam near the top of the tailgate just
inside the top arc of the read windscreen wiper. .......
.
.
How does this look in the rear view mirror?

Initially I put my rear dashcam, which is a full size unit and not just a small camera only device in the same position as you and it was very distracting seeing it in the mirror at precisely the point where a distant vehicle is seem.


Col Lamb2017-02-06 15:38:08

Dashcam Installation

Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2017 3:53 pm
by Bazza06
My rear dashcam has no impact on my visibility, in fact, I barely notice it is there.

Very detailed report on the installation process but, for me, I'd rather pay the £130 install charge as I would never risk pulling stuff and wiring bits I have no knowledge of LOL

Dashcam Installation

Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2017 4:07 pm
by Nuclear Nick
That's a very reasonable installation charge Bazza. Most are a good bit more than that, £250 plus.

Dashcam Installation

Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2017 5:07 pm
by Thamaturge
Hi

Lots of queries so I will attempt to answer each one in this note. First, I did the work myself because I wanted to be sure that this installation was done as best as possible and with no potential problems hidden from sight. Besides, its nice to have a bit of a challenge from time to time. My responses to Nick's queries are set ou in a question and answer format below.

(1) Did you attempt to thread the cable rear to front over the headlining? Do you have a pano roof that maybe prevented this? Or is the route blocked in other ways?

Response: No, I threaded the cable from the rear headlining toward the driver's side rear passenger door once there I threaded the wire in the headlining about 50mm away from the door and inside the headlining. Yes, my car has a Pano so I did not try to traverse the car in a single try.

(2) Does the rear cam obstruct your mirror view back into the distance at all?

Response: No not really. I have posted a picture below to show the impact. The camera is the black rectangular thing just above the red bicycle tyre in the rear view mirror.

(3) You say you need to research the fuse ports you used. How did you choose them and what will you do to check they are OK? Presumably you chose the driver's side fuse board because you were mounting the camera to the right of the mirror console.

Response: I researched the dash cam only. I had to work out which fuse ports to use from the owner's manual because my multimeter does not have testing prods small enough to access the car's fuse ports and then test to see which ones operated independent of the ignition switch. I plan to get get another smaller multimeter next weekend and before I confirm the fuse ports to be used.

I have added a few more pictures below to show what the installations looks like.





Dashcam Installation

Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2017 5:08 pm
by Thamaturge
Hi

I did embed pictures in my post but they are not present currently so I will see if I can work out how to embed pictures in these posts.

Dashcam Installation

Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2017 5:31 pm
by Thamaturge
Missing pictures

Dashcam Installation

Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2017 5:38 pm
by Col Lamb
Thanks for posting the image of the cam in the rear view mirror.

It looks the same as where I initially put mine but did not like it due to being able to see it in the mirror.

I now have it lower down the screen well off centre but still within the swept area and it is not seen in the RVM.