Best Way to Attach Dash Camera
If you drive anywhere, you should have a dash camera. It really is as simple as that. There are innumerable reasons for it, but most revolve around the craziness of other drivers, the cost of repair these days, and the fact that you could get a “set it and forget it” camera for less than it costs to tint your taillights.
A big hurdle for many people is that they feel like it will take a lot of effort to install a dash camera without it cluttering your interior with cables. Do you really have to pull up your trim and headliner to hide the cable and permanently designate a 12v plug (cigarette lighter port) for your camera? What if you need to charge your phone?
Luckily, there’s an incredibly simple solution that enables everyone to have a secure, neat, and protective dash camera. The answer, of course, revolves around a USBa (regular USB port) adaptor for the rearview mirror power cord. Most cars these days have auto-dimming rear view mirrors, as well as mirrors that incorporate garage door openers or emergency 911 dialing. In order for those buttons to work, there of course needs to be a cable that communicates when the button is pressed. The answer lies within that cable.
For as little as $20, it’s easy to purchase a power adaptor for that cable that maintains the connection between your car’s computer and mirror, yet it also adds a USB-a port that hides behind your rearview mirror. This allows seamless connection to a dash camera or even radar detector without having to rip up your car’s panels or create a jungle of wires in your cab.
For a long time, I felt like getting a dash camera would be a) expensive and b) a hassle to install. To realize that this simple and inexpensive answer exists was a wonderful discovery.
All that one needs to do for this is buy a dash cam ($100-$300 on average), check their mirror cable and purchase an adaptor ($20-$30), and possibly purchase a short cable ($5), though most adaptors come with short cables included. From there, it’s plug and play (everything fit’s the car’s original cables) and takes about 10 minutes to install. That’s a small price to pay for peace of mind!
I will include a video of how I installed my power diverter below – and I can promise that your install will look strikingly similar! I purchased my diverter for my 2022 Tacoma from Trail Grid Pro, and the product is named “Dash Camera Power Adaptor.” If you, by some coincidence, drive a Tacoma with a power dimming mirror, you can find this adaptor here. If you drive anything else, you can likely find the adapter with a simple google search and your make and model, or you could peruse a website like Dongar to find your adapter.
The good news is that rearview mirrors have very similar features across different car makers, so there is lots of overlap in function and hardware. In fact, my wiring harness for my 2022 Toyota Tacoma fit perfectly into my girlfriend’s 2016 Subaru Forester mirror and powered her dash camera. The primary factor to keep in mind is how many pins your cable has (you can check this by unplugging your cable and counting the holes in the female adaptor or by looking up a replacement cable – it will state how many pins it has). Once you know the pin count, just look for a power adaptor with that number of pins and you should be golden!
Feel free to refer to the video for installation – it truly couldn’t be more simple!
