61 Year Old New Guy

I bought a Dash Cam recently & began to route wiring. I first routed the power cable along the inside lip of the upper windshield trim on my convertible. This was pretty easy. I then tucked 1/4” black foam rubber to conceal and keep the cable from dangling down. I then tucked the cable down the A pillar under the trim at the door window. By the time I got down to the Glove Box it was just a matter of discreetly tucking the single wire between the passenger kick panel & dash. This was the easy part. The Dash Can cable has a plug for the cigarette liter but, I didn’t want to detract the look of the dash. My solution was to install a hidden port in or, under the dash to hide all wiring. Details on this in my next post.

Rdub6 said:

Nice. Looking forward to see how you do it.
I was just researching a similar thing for a backup camera in my daughters ‘02 F150. I’d like to have the socket go to switched power rather than the constant on that most 12v receptacles are. I’m assuming you’re doing that as well?

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Sounds like you want to tap onto the Voltage Regulator if you want to power up only when the ignition is on. Since my cable for the Dash Cam uses a Male plug for the liter, I tapped directly to a constant 12v source.

Rdub6 said:

Nice. Looking forward to see how you do it.
I was just researching a similar thing for a backup camera in my daughters ‘02 F150. I’d like to have the socket go to switched power rather than the constant on that most 12v receptacles are. I’m assuming you’re doing that as well?

Click to expand...

So, while I’m certain I posted part two of my Dash Cam install, I don’t see it in the thread, most likely operator error on my part. Here’s Part Two of two.

I ordered a 12v Lighter Socket from Amazon which came with (2) 6-foot, 14AWG leads and an integrated fuse holder with your choice of 20A or, 25A blade fuse. I’m using the 20A for now.

The dilemma came from how to route the wiring from under the dash through the Firewall and then to the Battery. This is the most direct way of sourcing power needed for the camera. I probably could have gone through the Voltage Regulator but, either way I would still have to get through the Firewall.

To make a long story short, I discovered after a couple days of scratching my head, I am able to phis wire under the right fender near the hood hinge (see photos). The wiring came through the fender near the “A” pillar. I attempted then to feed the wiring through the grommet where the Courtesy Lamp wiring is but, this proved to be rather difficult so, I drilled a new hole, installed a new grommet now was inside the Passenger footwell be-hide the Kick Panel which is very easy to remove.

On my car, the glove box has a small flap on the right side. I believe this might be for another Courtesy Lamp which is not on my car. I decided to route the wiring for the 12v Socket and the Dash Cam in the Glove Box to hide the connections and provide an easy access of I need to disconnect at any time.

This worked out great. I completed the install by using 3/8” Split Loom to route and protect the 14AWG through the engine compartment and fender. You’ll see where I mounted the Split Loom with 5/16”-18 Nylon Lock Nuts from Home Depot (P/N: 208-325).

I hope this is of some help to someone out there, how to feed wiring from the engine compartment to the interior, perhaps not for a Dash Cam but, for some other accessory.

Happy Motoring