All of the Dash Cam discussions in one thread.....

Hey guys. I'm looking for your knowledge and opinions. And yes I have read through the thread but not confident in my ability to find something that can protect the tundy. I am looking into getting a dash cam for the tundy (2021 SR5). I was looking into the Rexing S1 Pro Enhanced Dash Cam 3-Channel Front, Rear, Cabin 1082p with wifi and GPS for about 250.00. I was wondering what your thoughts were of this dash cam and for the money is it my best options and if not what other options would you say would be better quality for about the same price range. TIA.

 

Check out any online reviews....price seems almost to good to be true. Check out vortex on you tube ...he reviews a lot of them and they are no bs reviews.

 

how did you connect it to the RVM?
Dongar is sold out currently.

 

I purchased and installed a Vantrue X4S Duo 4K 5G WiFi Dual Dash Cam. I researched thoroughly and found this camera to have all of the features I wanted. Including; front 4K and rear 1080p HD capability, capacitor instead of battery powering (better for the Florida heat), WiFi downloading capability via an app as well as SD card transfer, parking security functions. The packaging and documentation were all of high quality and reminiscent of Apple or Ring products packaging. Install was easy, I routed the rear camera USB C cable under the headliner along the top of dash, under my driver side grab handle mod (and the airbag there), under the side curtain airbags on the drivers side of the car around to the top center of the rear window. This was carefully done to make sure and be under the airbags so as not to interfere with their deployment if ever the need occurs. I fashioned a small thin aluminum tab that I hot glued to the metal above the rear window that allowed me to attach the rear facing camera to it with the 3M adhesive pad provided. This way it sits flush to the glass as if attached to it but does not affect the raising and lowering of the rear window.

$230 Vantrue X4S Duo 4K+1080P Front and Rear Dash Cam with Free APP, Dual 5G WiFi, 24Hrs Parking Mode, Super Night Vision, Optional GPS, Motion Detection, G-Sensor, Capacitor, Support 512GB Max

$250 Vantrue X4S Duo 4K Dual 5G WiFi Dash Cam, 4K+1080P Wireless Front and Rear Dash Camera with Free APP, 24/7 Parking Mode, Super Night Vision, Motion Detection, G-Sensor, Capacitor, Support 256GB Max
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09LLLF8PG?ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details

I also bought the Vantrue X4S GPS Receiver Module with USB C Port Adhesive Mount. The suction mount without GPS that came with the unit worked fine, and you can purchase the GPS Module with a suction mount as well, but I won't be swapping this dashcam to any of my other vehicles and the adhesive mount should be more robust for wheeling the trails.

$22 Vantrue N4, N2S, X4S, N1 Pro(2023), T3 Dash Cam GPS Receiver Module Type C USB Port Adhesive Mount for Windows and Mac

$22 Vantrue N4, N2S, X4S, T3 Dash Cam GPS Receiver Module Type C USB Port Adhesive Mount for Windows and Mac
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08D3G5GKJ?ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details

To make mounting cleaner I ordered the Dongar Technologies Dash Cam Power Adapter for Toyota that plugs into the back of the rearview mirror. It works perfectly and no cables to hide.

$33 Dongar Dashcam Power Adapter (12-pin for '15-'23 Toyota Tacoma. Also Compatible with Select Sienna, Honda, and More), Connects to Rearview Mirror, Built-in USB Power Source, Easy to Install

$33 Dongar Technologies Dash Cam Power Adapter 12-pin for 3rd Generation Toyota Tacoma
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DMW3DML?ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details

To connect to the Dongar Adapter to the dash cam I ordered a 6" USB A to USB C connector cable and the length was perfect for this application.

$10 CableCreation Short USB to USB C 0.5FT USB A to USB C 3A Fast Charging Cable 480Mbps for Power Bank Galaxy S23 S23+ S22 S21 S20/MacBook, Pixel, 15cm Black

$9 6" USB C Cable Short, CableCreation USB C to USB A Cable 3A USB to USB C Fast Charging Cable to USB-C, Type A to Type C 480Mbps Data for Power Bank iPad Galaxy S22 S21 Pixel Hero 0.15m Black
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B012V56D2A?ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details&th=1

For storage I got a SanDisk 256 GB High Endurance Video microSDXC Card for Dash Cam. I figured the "high endurance dashcam/video rated" features couldn't hurt in the heat of the windshield. Vantrue pushes you to purchase their branded SD card at twice the price of similar cards but research online and common sense dictates that any correctly rated V30 C10 card would work fine.

$26 SanDisk 256GB High Endurance Video microSDXC Card with Adapter for Dash Cam and Home Monitoring systems - C10, U3, V30, 4K UHD, Micro SD Card - SDSQQNR-256G-GN6IA

$34 SanDisk 256GB High Endurance Video microSDXC Card with Adapter for Dash Cam and Home Monitoring systems - C10, U3, V30, 4K UHD, Micro SD Card - SDSQQNR-256G-GN6IA
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07P4HBRMV?ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details

Not a great picture but you can at least see the compact size of the dashcam and its placement on the windshield, I could actually move it up another inch or so if I wanted to.

 

Any update on this dashcam? I had one similar in the Tacoma with the parking mode as well and liked it a lot.

Thanks!

 

Following…

 

Yes. I have two of them now, one in my Tundra and my wife has one in her Mercedes. Both units have worked flawlessly in the FLorida heat since I installed them last July. The picture quality is great and they perform as advertised. I am very happy with them and wouldn't hesitate to purchase them again.

 

Have you left it in parking mode for any length of time? Wondering how long it takes till it drains the battery to 11.6V (when it auto powers off).

 

The one in the Mercedes is hard wired to an always on fuse and my wife uses the parking mode feature all the time. I'm not sure how long it takes to drain the battery to the cutoff point but I know we haven't had any issue with it draining the battery down.

 

Just added an Azdome dash cam from Amazon installed with the dongar harness and everything working great. It's a great little camera for 40 bucks and the app is decent.

 

Question:

We're about to fly internationally for 2 weeks, and prior to that I'm having my ThinkWare Q800 Pro installed. I know that for parking mode I'll need it hardwired....but my question is whether or not it'll drain the battery over that long a time. Thoughts?

 

There should be a voltage value within the parking mode settings that you can select so that if the dash cam detects the battery voltage to be lower than that value it will automatically shutdown to prevent draining the battery.

 

Very nice. I'll look into that. Thanks!

 

Welcome

 

Excellent choice, I have the same one mounted on the other car, running great for the past 8 yrs. Do you have the Tundra installation video? how did you mount the rear cam?
Thanks in advance

 

I'm thinking about getting a Garmin 47. Does anyone know how long the included power cable is?

 

Youtube gave me the answer. Just ordered a Garmin 47.

 

Garmin users, help me out.

I just received my Garmin 47. Youtube videos and the Garmin manual aren't too helpful. I just wondering what the best way to export saved videos to a device (phone/computer) are? I keep seeing stuff about the Garmin Drive app, but it also says you must be connected to wifi. Should I just take out the camera and plug it into my computer? Remove the sd card from the camera and insert it into my computer?

Dashcam n00b here, any help would be appreciated.

 

Fastest is taking the sd card out and plugging it into the computer.

The app will connect to the WiFi in the Garmin camera and transfer the file wirelessly. It is slower than computer but will be helpful if you need the file right away.

 

Ah, I wasn't aware that the camera had WiFi. That was where I was confused. Thank you.

 

I got my Garmin Dash Cam 47 up and running. I really like it. I doubt I'll utilize all the features (parking mode, lane assist, etc.) The first thing I did was replace the included 16gb card with a 256gb SanDisk Extreme Plus. I also bought Garmin's "Constant Power Cable" that powers the cam via the OBD2 port. I think that gives it a cleaner look, and on road trips, I need my 12v plugs for other stuff.

The Garmin Drive app is a bit wonky. Hard to get a connection sometimes. I doubt I'll use it much.

 

As per my posts here, I bought a Garmin Dash Cam 47 and a SanDisk Extreme Plus 256gb card. Other than Garmin's app being crap, I've had no issues. So, based on my success, my brother bought the exact same cam and card setup. However, the camera is unable to format his card. The 16gb card that came with the Garmin works just fine, but not the SanDisk 256gb card. Is there something he needs to do or what? I'm pretty sure mine formatted right away, but it was a while ago, I may have had to do something extra, not sure.

 

Sometimes SD cards come with NTFS formatting. You might need to format it for FAT format in a PC first. The camera may just add a couple of files and call it formatting, but doesn't do an actual format of the card.

 

Sometimes devices have an SD Card Capacity limit. I have some small wireless 360 cameras I use for experiments at work and a couple of them won't work with SD cards larger than 32GB...

 

I've looked and couldn't find anything on the internet or here, but if I missed it, please don't roast me. I have a 2023 with OEM dashcam. I'd like to keep it as it works good -parking mode, wifi connection and it pairs really well with my iphone. Since I drive a lot and sometimes I have to park in parking garages, has anyone figured out how to add a rear facing camera?