Just installed my new dash cam, I really wanted something that looked OEM and discreet. Its hard wired in the fuse box and used "Add a fuse" taps. Quality of the dash cam not as good as more expensive ones (and does not have a rear camera) but overall I'm happy with it and it will do the job.






My model is pretty much like this but without and adjustable lens

 

Any pics of your fuse tap setup and where you wired ground to? I'm working on a similar project myself and am currently having issues with finding a good way to ground.

 

I ran a 10ft USB cable from the dash cam to the center console where the storage compartment is at. There's a 12v outlet there. I use a dual usb outlet, one for my phone and one for the dash camera. No fuse tapping. clean and easy. When i want to pull footage off, i just plug that usb cable into a laptop and drag and drop. I don't want to fiddle with a tiny memory card, find a memory card adapter/card reader and connect it to my laptop. the cable is also tucked under the A pillar, under the plastic kick panel under the glove, shoved inside the center console and ran above the side in a tiny slot of the center console tray.

 

I pretty much did the same thing here but I used add a fuse adapters, also I used the bolt were the side dash panel comes off as the grounding point instead of the bolt near the fuse box.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...tallation.html

 

Ooo this sounds like a good idea! Would you be willing to provide pics? Just so that we can see how it looks and if it's discreet. I'd like to do this but all the cams I run into online are not very discreet and stick out too much. Looking for something low key with simple/discreet install. Thanks

 

If you want to do this, then buy a 12 volt to USB 5 volt adaptor, and an USB cable.






If you do want to power by USB cable, then also consider powering the dashcam by a 5V USB battery pack.
This will allow the dashcam to record for many hours while you park, however you have the hassle of constantly having to remove the battery pack, or swap it out to recharge in the home.

 

If you buy a higher end battery pack, most of them do pass through charging. If you get ones that charge via dual USB or USB-C PD, then it should charge fast enough to fill back up what the cam used.

 

At 12 volts, the current/amperage is well below 1 amp and actually less than 0.5 amps for a typical dashcam, therefore a 1 amp fuse is fine, while a 5 amp fuse is maximum; running a higher fuse can cause more damage is something goes wrong.





Use a multimeter with a DC current reading and touch the two points on the fuse to measure which fuses have switched current, and which have continuous current.
Switched current eg radio, there is only a current when the ignition is switched on.
Continuous current eg hazard warning flashers, where there is always a current.

Use switched current if you don't want to record while parking.
Use continuous current if you want to record while parking.









Normally, the red +ve wire supplies power from the red +ve terminal of the battery.
The current is returned via the black -ve wire to the black -ve terminal of the battery.
However, because the motor vehicle's body is already made of steel which is a good conductor of electricity, rather than having hundreds of meters of black -ve electrical cabling to return the current to the black -ve terminal of the battery, it is custom to simply run a short black -ve cable from the electrical device to a steel bolt on the motor vehicle's steel body, for the body to conduct back to the negative black terminal of the battery...

 

was it difficult to run the wire through the headliner and A pillar? I wasn't sure if there is any airbag equipment behind the A pillar?

 

I mostly use my fingernails to tuck the cables "just" under the trim of the A pillars.
If necessary, use a trim tool.





Tuck the cables "just" under the trims, and this way will avoid setting off air bags etc.







Above the B pillar:




Above the C pillar:




Down the C pillar: