Mustang Evolution Forum banner

Who here uses a dashcam for everyday driving?

5K views 38 replies 12 participants last post by  Vinny 
#1 ·
Just bought myself an Oldshark dash cam for the 'stang. i drive in a crappy area for work where 99% of the residents don't know how to drive and drive around in beat up cars with dents/dings all over it, so i figured it's finally time to invest in a dash cam to help in case something ever happens.

just ordered it today and did my wiring up from the windshield all down through to the center console 12v port. was a pain, but i was able to tuck it away in some crevices.

the thing dropped off the windshield suction cup mount as i'm driving, so right away i'm pretty pissed that i have to spend yet another 10 bucks for the rearview mirror mounting bracket, but i'd much rather it be secured to the mirror stem than a lousy suction cup.

so who here uses one? do you keep them in there 247? i want to, so it can detect if i'm hit while parked, but Ford's stupid idea was to leave both power ports running 247 if something is plugged in...so the camera can't auto power down when you drop ignition. dumb.
 
#3 ·
oh damn. that's expensive lol mine only cost 40 bucks haha. do you leave it in constantly or take it out when you leave? I don't wanna keep taking it in and out
 
#4 ·
There are specialty dashcams made just for 24/7 use. They are the capacitive models that will turn on in case the car is hit when it's off etc. There's some pretty nice ones out there for good prices! Many of the cheaper ones don't hold up well at all in the heat. I'm not super familiar with the brand but how is the clarity on it? Will it pick up plates clearly in dim light? That's pretty important when it comes to even having one, and proving your case incase something does happen.

On a side note, I will say I've heard mounting the dashcams to mirrors/dashes can cause a lot of vibration issues with the video. The soft silicon suction cup allows less vibration to be transferred over to the camera whereas hard mounting will reverb all of the cars natural vibrations.

I really need to get one myself...but it's 100+ that can be spent on extra ponies haha.
 
#8 ·
yeah, I'm talking from people backing into you, which happens incredibly often in the town i work in bc that specific town, nobody knows or cares how to drive. but i also use a heat shield thing during the summer bc it gets so hot so I doubt I'd even use it for that.

good thought in the rattling video from mirror though. I'll have to see if that's the case. the suction cup sucks though. it fell during my first ride. I don't want to deal with that crap.

I just wish ford's didn't have always on 12v ports. it's so annoying.
 
#9 ·
You could always hardwire the dashcam so that it turns on and off with the ignition. Or if you want it to be running while you're parked as well, some of the good dashcams have a cutoff feature after the car's battery decreases to a certain voltage, so it could at least last a little while before shutting off. Another option if you want to spend more money is investing in a dedicated battery pack that will allow the dashcam to run without relying on the car's battery.
 
#12 ·
yeah i'd love to do that, but i have no desire to mess wtih the wiring with my ****ty soldering skills. meh.
 
#11 ·
I got the Black Vue system with a forward and rear camera that can be set for a parking mode or driving mode. The rear camera is an IR version. It records to a micro SD card and you can down load all the video files to PC, tablet, or smart phone in case something happens. I picked it up do to some of the ankle bitters in the neighborhood wanting to play baseball in the street.
 
#14 ·
how does it work? the power source is a mini USB cable. where would it plug into inside the car?
 
#16 ·
i have that already, but problem is the 12v adapters never power off... but he's saying there's a part i can somehow hardwire into the fuse box to get it to turn on/off with the ignition?
 
#19 ·
There's a couple of good size wire harnesses on the passengers side underneath the dash just zip tie to one of the harnesses. Loosen the A pillar interior trim piece, run the USB cable up the A pillar and along the edge or tucked into the headliner over to where the camera will be mounted. You can use the wiring on the rear-view mirror to use small black zip ties to hide the cable coming down to the camera. With my forward camera I can't even see it since the rear-view mirror is covering it up when driving.
 
#20 ·
i actually just bought a 12v adapter that has a killswitch right on it. rather than hardwire, i think i'll just do this method. just have to pop it off everytime i get out of the car, which isn't too bad i guess.
 
#22 ·
guys, i actually decided against the killswitch, and i want a hard wire.

is there a bolt to metal somewhere in that kick panel fuse box that can properly ground the wiring?! everyones saying there's a bunch of bolts to plastic, but i need a good spot to ground the wire to. any ideas?!
 
#24 ·
If you look on the passengers side floorboard up high there should be a support bracket that's mounted to a metal stud that's part of the car body. The nut holding the support is a silver 10mm nut. All I did was use the right size ring connector on the ground wire placed it on the stud and run another 10mm nut onto the stud. Any access wire route it up and zip tie it to some existing wiring harness.
 
#23 ·
i have the garmin dashcam 35 and love it. it has the red light camera alert, too close to vehicle alert while driving, and does the same as others where saves video if hit. since is a garmin, it also records gps location and speed.

it records to the sd micro as well which is nice as can pop it out and do what want with the videos. even has the gps and speed and times on the video.

it does do 1080p and havent noticed any wobble or vibration.

here's a nice pic from the video during a fun stroll down the highway.

Sent from my SM-G920P using Mustang Evolution mobile app
 

Attachments

#25 ·
thanks doc! is this inside the fuse area? idk how much wire I'll have to be able to run if it's not.
 
#28 ·
oh nice! thanks! I hope my ground has that much slack since it's like attached to the hot and i don't feel like soldering
 
#29 ·
You could always use a butt connector to add a little length, or separate the wires some more by pulling the apart some. If I want a really clean looking connection then I break out the soldering iron and shrink wrap. I had a couple of wires fail on my F-150 to turn off the overdrive and that's the way I fixed them since the space where the repair was, was very limited with the steering column shroud back in place.
 
#30 ·
I use one in both of my cars (one is summer only the other winter) everyday, it was like 50 bucks off ebay and it has rear view and front, the front is 1080p and the rear is 720p it is very nice in my oppinion for being a cheap off brand and I feel the same way you do about idiot drivers or being hit in a parking lot or something. I unplug mine when I am at home or work so it does not drain the battery. I think it is an awesome investment and could be used as undeniable proof of guilt in the case of an accident and could be used to get a license plate number during a hit and run. But then again it could go both ways if your at fault it could be used against you. I will link it if anyone is interested.
 
#31 ·
i get my hardwired kit today, so that'll be a fun install...trying to get into that passengers side kick panel fuse box will kill me.
 
#32 ·
good GOD. what shouldve been a 30 minute install took about 5 HOURS because of their stupid design.

but in the end it works, and i have it hooked up for accessory and ignition only. woo.
 
#34 ·
yep multi meter but my fat *** can only get 1 arm under that area, so trying to test was impossible. didn't have a little tester which would've been easier, but the entire time I wasn't getting power to the in line fuse.. meaning power just wasn't leaving the car to the cam. took me forever to trouble shoot, I'm sitting there multi metering everything for hours... then I realized that nowhere did they say that even though there's an in line fuse, you still need TWO fuses in the piggyback thing to power it. I had one in there, I figured, 2 is more than enough with an inline fuse right!? nope. even though i used an unused extra slot in the box, you need two fuses on that piggyback thing along with the inline. so 3 fuses total for it to power. so stupid. nowhere did they explain this at all.
 
#36 ·
yeah, i was putting a fuse in the one slot, then in the other, and then no fuse, and checking with the multimeter. didn't once think to do TWO damn fuses. lol
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top