Rear dashcam wiring path suggestions? (2017 Prius)

Well, I tried to upload a photo and lost my entire post. I have a 4th generation, 2018 Prius 3. A 6 m cable is not sufficient to get back into the liftgate/hatch with a centered camera mounting in any location. That is presuming that the camera is being mounted up by the rear view mirror and lane departure-photo recognition camera cluster.

A bigger concern is how to get the wiring into the liftgate. It has been a difficult attempt to even lift the rubber covering for the two lines going down into the lift gate. They appear to have clips in there which may limit the ability to run any extra wire, especially a coaxial shielded one for the dash cam system. If it is possible to get through that connector, you will definitely have to run down the a pillar and along the track then up under the headliner only at the back of the car. The reason why is that there is some safety structure in the roof that will prevent fishing the wire straight back from the rear view mirror cluster. The attached photo is where the dome light that is featured over the backseat area is located.

 

I haven't tried a Prius yet, but the "usual way" for many late model ordinary cars is to partially drop the headliner and thread an electrician's fiberglass fishing rod from the back to the front, hook or tape the wire to the rod at the front and then draw it through to the rear.

I say "drop the headliner" but in reality it can be as little as loosening the overhead grab handles on one side only, and then a pop fastener or two to create the space needed to fish the rod through.

Generic example of tool

 

Last week I put the camera in both locations and used my cell phone app to look at the view. I used the grease pen to Mark the center point on both windows, the slanted one and then the small vertical one. Because I think that parking lot accidents are more likely, along with rear enders and stuff, I felt that the lower position was better for getting license plates and seeing the driver's face rather than seeing the beautiful skyline, meteors falling to Earth and big rigs rear-ending other cars in the background. I may lose out on seeing a bunch of other stuff in other lanes and other cars, but I feel confident in protecting my own interests with the lower mounting.

If you figure out a way to get through that rubber covered channel, please document it! It looks daunting and I have neuropathy which makes doing crap with my hands somewhat frustrating anyway. My preferred way is to run headliner to a pillar pass the fuse box and under the channel to the driver side doors front and back. I actually got all the way there when I figured out that 6 meters of cable wasn't going to make it. ☹️

 

Nice job. I just ran mine just inside the edging all the way back on the passenger side. I didn't want to stick my rear camera on the tinted window so mounted it on the lower-glass panel. I still need to secure the wire back there a little better on the edge of the glass.

 

Nice job - My compliments on your attention to detail!

Can I ask - how did you pull the overhead console? I have some plastic spudgers & sliced credit cards, but where are the tabs?

 

This is great. I've been thinking of installing the rear camera, but it seemed like it would be quite a pain to do.

Anyone come up with a great way to keep the suction cup to the windshield on very hot days? Mid summer my camera will be hanging by the wire.

 

On my 2018, I figured out that the wiring channels are just rubber covered snap-in bushings!

I figured this out after just deciding that I could always buy a new harness or whatever if I screwed things up. I just decided to yank the rubber off and figured out that, instead of using the rubber channel as a grommet to protect the wiring going through the body panel, they had a snap in piece of plastic. Big relief!

My wiring route was from the overhead center console to the left, down the A pillar down past the fuse box. I was careful to take the power and camera lines behind the airbag system. I used bright yellow electrical tape to mark those wires and to hold them up against the frame. My power supply (allowing the unit to be in continuous recording during a parking mode) tied into the fuse box and the camera wire, 8m long, ran along the baseboard on the driver's side. It went up to the cargo area molding next to the back seat and the pillar nearest the rear passenger door and cut slightly diagonally straight over to the location of where the wiring harness goes from the main body to the back hatch. I used a $13 Home Depot 25 ft long wire fishing kit. The 6m cable would not have made it.

On the 2018, there is no way to go straight from the front to back without doing major headliner dropping which is unacceptable to me. There are structural beams that block the path. I would not dare route the wires along the side curtain airbags. Not even a consideration.

One thing I had to do was create a little notch in the edge of the plastic where the wire emerges to where the camera is.

I didn't do It initially, but I do recommend using a cotton pad and 70% isopropyl alcohol to clean the area where the adhesives will go and, use both sides of the pad. After doing that I had no problems with closing the back hatch and the camera falling off.

Ultimately, I chose the lower window because it's field of view was larger and contained more road information, things like license plates were 3 feet closer as well.

Within a couple of weeks I used footage from the front and rear cameras to identify an officer who had wrongly put a parking ticket on the vehicle. The video actually showed this person not even looking at the parking permit area of the window. The ticket was rescinded nearly immediately. The camera system paid for itself in that one instance!

A few photos:

 

Update:

1) Installation update - Even after cleaning the plastic surface thoroughly prior to mounting, heat (presumably off-gassing) weakened the bond and the camera started falling off. I recleaned it a couple of times to no avail. I put two drops of super glue on a freshly cleaned surface. So far, so good.

2) One day, driving on the freeway, I noticed it had fallen again. I pulled into a rest stop and put it back... Within 20 miles someone rear-ended me in HD-quality living color. He tried to blame me on the side of the road and in a call to his insurance company. He says I cut in front of him with no chance to avoid the accident. Video shows him speeding past and falling behind me a couple of times. The third time, he sped up while drifting into me. It was a pit maneuver. The video captures me grunting trying to regain control of the car. Pro tip: If you have cross-traffic sensors, GO TO A TOYOTA DEALERSHIP BODY SHOP. Trust me.

Yay dashcams!

 

Holy cow!

I really need to figure out a way to route the rear-camera on mine

 

Is yours the 4th Generation?

If so, I thought of a way of using Android photo markup to show you the path I took... I'm getting the Prius back from the body shop today, in fact I just learned that moments ago.

Using my photos of the rear hatch channel, it won't be too difficult of a job. If you are real careful and don't want to break tabs, give yourself a couple of hours.

 

Hey, that would be helpful!

 

In addition to the photos I've previously posted, I hope this works out in order...