Rear dashcam cable routing under headlining

[qazwsx]

Evening all,

 

I've just leased a VRS Estate (2019) and am trying to hook up a front & rear dash cam setup (Viofo A129). Front camera is in and working great (although I'm currently using the USB socket rather than hardwiring - future task).

I've read through all the dash cam related threads on here but can't seem to find any guidance on routing a rear cable to the front via the headlining.

 

I have so many questions.

I am planning to order a second rubber conduit for the boot lid as per below:

 

The part number - I believe - is 5E9971829A. I'm guessing my nearest main dealer will be able to order one for me? If not, any suggestions?

I have also read that removing the tailgate trim might destroy the plastic retaining clips - is this correct? And if so, what replacements should I be ordering?

 

Next, I understand the DAB antenna is likely to be in the off-side boot window, correct? In which case, I hope I"m right in thinking it's commonly advised to route the cable along the passenger side of the car (RHD). That being the case, can anyone give me a bit of a step-by-step guide on which parts of the headlining to loosen? It seems firmly secured by the grab-handles then tucked into door seals at the edges without much room for manoeuvre. Does it simply need lots of encouragement with trim tools? (Side-question: are there any alternative routes lower down in the car...? The end destination for the cable is the the rear-view mirror area.)

 

Really appreciate any help you good folks can offer.

 

 

[JohnnyType2]

that's my image and no you wont break the retaining clips as it requires some force though. dealer is the best place to buy the part @£7. I have antenna on both sides but you wont damage them by removing the trim with a decent trim tool. you can route is down the nearside but this requires removal of the large plastic trim around the rear seat and door which requires removal of the seat belt and it much more involved.

 

I worked the cable along the nearside headlining and along the front which is relatively easy to remove. The headlining will pop out from the trim and you can run the wiring near to the edge, a fish tape is handy too.

 

[qazwsx]

Ah brilliant - thanks so much.

 

Ok so I'll get the conduit ordered and have a crack at getting the tailgate trim off.

So did your cable route go like this? 

Tailgate > off side conduit > across top of boot hatch under headlining (?) > down passenger side roof > windscreen/rear-view

 

 

[FluffyEyeball]

You'd be hard pushed to break the clips on the trim, a lot of them are metal and the plastic ones are pretty solid. A trim removal tool would be very useful, less chance of damage, and make it much easier to remove as it's clipped on pretty tight.

 

Why a new rubber conduit? I found some WD40 sprayed inside helped a lot, or as said above something to pull it through would work. 

 

The headlining material will pull away from the edge and rubber seal easily, you must make sure that you route the cables above any airbags. There are some supporting brackets above the side airbags that I fed my cable through, and in-between them just tucked the cable behind the airbags. I'll try and get you a photo of what I mean later if I get time

[BATVANVRS]

I also used JohnnyType2 guide from his thread to install my Viofo A129  front & rear dash-cam with no issues at all, I did use very thin plastic rods & taped up each end when feeding via the headlining, just not to mark it, & also took off that seat belt bit by the door pillar then just route the rest of the cable to the front dash-cam, My A129 front cam is mounted on the passenger side to the left of the rear view mirror & the angle it shows is spot on.

[MarkyG82]

Whats the advantage of routing through the headlining versus the carpet?  I've been looking at doing my rear cam and figured the floor is easier to get to.

[Silverbirch]

On a Fabia Mk111 I routed the cable for a Viofo a129 along the near side head liner on a UK Right hand drive vehicle.  I have emailed a Skoda dealer but they did not respond to confirm the location of the receiver on this vehicle.

 

The rear camera interferes with DAB reception. Rear camera on DAB doesn't work, disconnect the rear camera and DAB works again. I am going to try some Ferite Cores around the cable and might consider moving the cable to the other side of the car if I can get confirmation of the position of the DAB receiver.

 

The A129 is not a bad dash cam for the money but has some issues, it is disappointing that it can interfere with DAB, this is a known issue with dash cam installations and manufacturers have had time to come up with a solution however I can live without DAB radio if I can not solve this problem.

 

 

[JohnnyType2]

3 hours ago, qazwsx said:

Ah brilliant - thanks so much.

 

Ok so I'll get the conduit ordered and have a crack at getting the tailgate trim off.

So did your cable route go like this? 

Tailgate > off side conduit > across top of boot hatch under headlining (?) > down passenger side roof > windscreen/rear-view

 

 

 

no, i already had removed the rear door trim around the seat belt to install sound deadening so i went along the passengers side sill, this wasn't ideal as there's a lot of power wires but i haven't had any interference yet.

 

taking it up and over the roof is easy you will need to remove the front a pillar to take the front camera down to the back of the fuse box.

[JohnnyType2]

17 minutes ago, MarkyG82 said:

Whats the advantage of routing through the headlining versus the carpet?  I've been looking at doing my rear cam and figured the floor is easier to get to.

 

its a much easier route and you have to remove the A pillar anyway to route from the front camera to behind the glove box so it makes sense.

 

the front pillar airbag as mentions looks like this.... and the cable MUST route behind it.

[Cakemonster]

Agree with all of the above, I released the B pillar trim at the top as well (it holds the head lining)  torx screw hidden here 

 

[JohnnyType2]

4 minutes ago, Cakemonster said:

Agree with all of the above, I released the B pillar trim at the top as well (it holds the head lining)  torx screw hidden here 

 

useful to know thanks as im planning a shark fin retro fit.... cheers

 

i was lazy and used a fish tape 

[qazwsx]

Thanks everyone - that's a really comprehensive guide.

 

The front camera is already routed down the full length of the A-Pillar, so I know all about the Airbag positioning (and the b@$tard slidey retaining clips which refused to go back in neatly...)

 

In response to the 'why another conduit' question - there doesn't seem space in the existing one for the mini-USB cable end to thread through...but I might give it another go.

 

Silverbirch is making me wonder about the DAB signal issue with Viofo cables - I do love my BBC 6Music and would be gutted if this knackers the signal. Perhaps it's worth investigating some sort of shielding prior to installation...?

[BATVANVRS]

I have no DAB issues whatsoever with my A129 front & rear camera, I routed the cable down the left hand side headlining from boot to dash (as your standing with the boot open, looking through) on a right hand drive car so passenger side headlining is where the cable is routed.

[JohnnyType2]

18 hours ago, qazwsx said:

Thanks everyone - that's a really comprehensive guide.

 

The front camera is already routed down the full length of the A-Pillar, so I know all about the Airbag positioning (and the b@$tard slidey retaining clips which refused to go back in neatly...)

 

In response to the 'why another conduit' question - there doesn't seem space in the existing one for the mini-USB cable end to thread through...but I might give it another go.

 

Silverbirch is making me wonder about the DAB signal issue with Viofo cables - I do love my BBC 6Music and would be gutted if this knackers the signal. Perhaps it's worth investigating some sort of shielding prior to installation...?

the other conduit is used for power lift tail wiring. cars without this option dont have it and its tight to fit everything through one conduit, for £7 its worth it 

 

you dont need any kind of shield to the existing camera wiring, i dont and im running 4 gauge 100amp power to my amplifiers on the same side. theres no interference at all, its just to be safe really.

Edited 5 June, 2019 by JohnnyType2

[qazwsx]

Ok cracking stuff.

 

I have a conduit on order at my local dealer so I'll probably have a go at this at the weekend.

 

Thanks all.

[qazwsx]

So

After a month of dithering, I've finally got round to mounting the rear camera.

 

Lower panel of the boot trim has come off just fine. But how on EARTH do I get the little circular clip off the upper section? It doesn't want to budge and I'm very reluctant to put too much welly into it. I'm using a plastic lever as the trim removal tool I have is metal and will definitely scratch the paintwork.

 

 

It feels like there's a fair bit of 'slack' in the trim itself, so I've toyed with feeding the cable through next to the glass without removing the panel, but given the route it needs to take this isn't possible. I can't get any of the metal clips to pop off whilst those circular plastic pins are in place.

 

ARGH.

[Cakemonster]

1 hour ago, qazwsx said:

So

After a month of dithering, I've finally got round to mounting the rear camera.

 

Lower panel of the boot trim has come off just fine. But how on EARTH do I get the little circular clip off the upper section? It doesn't want to budge and I'm very reluctant to put too much welly into it. I'm using a plastic lever as the trim removal tool I have is metal and will definitely scratch the paintwork.

 

 

It feels like there's a fair bit of 'slack' in the trim itself, so I've toyed with feeding the cable through next to the glass without removing the panel, but given the route it needs to take this isn't possible. I can't get any of the metal clips to pop off whilst those circular plastic pins are in place.

 

ARGH.

 

Use the tip of a sharp blade and try to pick the centre bit of the clip out until you can grab it with pliers, the rest of the clip will pop out then. It's a bit like a cavity wall fixing. (If that makes sense)

Alternatively, push them through (and lose the centre in the depths of the tailgate). I had to do this with one and replaced it with a plastic screen screw off the motorbike 

[qazwsx]

1 hour ago, Cakemonster said:

 

Use the tip of a sharp blade and try to pick the centre bit of the clip out until you can grab it with pliers, the rest of the clip will pop out then. It's a bit like a cavity wall fixing. (If that makes sense)

Alternatively, push them through (and lose the centre in the depths of the tailgate). I had to do this with one and replaced it with a plastic screen screw off the motorbike 

 

 

Brill. I managed to get one side off and that was enough to reach in and route the cable through. Thank you!

 

Next challenge. 

 

C pillar trim won't budge to release the headlining, and I see from the schematics that it's hooked in upwards and partially kept in place by the boot's side trim. 

 

In an ideal world, I'd run the cable completely underneath the headlining directly towards the passenger's sun visor thus avoiding the pillars and any airbags. However, this seems ambitious for someone without a fish tape or similar. Is it worth investing in one to try and pull the cable all the way to the front (bearing in mind it's a chunky L-Shaped mini-USB cable)? Or should I focus more on loosening the pillar trims?

 

Really appreciate the collective wisdom.

[qazwsx]

Update:

 

Success! At long last I've managed to route the cables just nicely.

 

Sourced a cheap fish-tape (£2.40 at Homebase in the clearance) and fed it from A-Pillar to D-Pillar in the headlining above the airbags, hooked on the USB connector and dragged the whole lot through. It needed a bit of poking from the rear nearside passenger door to keep the routing above the airbag, but I'm satisfied that it's doing all the right things in the right places.

 

The only thing needed to finish this setup off nicely is to plumb it into the fusebox rather than taking up the precious USB socket on the dash. I'm not fussed about using the A129's parking modes (which needs a 3-wire live/switched/earth combo), so I'm looking to piggyback a switched fuse to just keep it on/off with ignition. I'm guessing this would do the trick? Or can anyone convince me that I'd be a fool not to use the 3-wire setup?

[Cex123]

On 03/06/2019 at 19:46, qazwsx said:

Evening all,

 

I've just leased a VRS Estate (2019) and am trying to hook up a front & rear dash cam setup (Viofo A129). Front camera is in and working great (although I'm currently using the USB socket rather than hardwiring - future task).

I've read through all the dash cam related threads on here but can't seem to find any guidance on routing a rear cable to the front via the headlining.

 

I have so many questions.

I am planning to order a second rubber conduit for the boot lid as per below:

 

The part number - I believe - is 5E9971829A. I'm guessing my nearest main dealer will be able to order one for me? If not, any suggestions?

I have also read that removing the tailgate trim might destroy the plastic retaining clips - is this correct? And if so, what replacements should I be ordering?

 

Next, I understand the DAB antenna is likely to be in the off-side boot window, correct? In which case, I hope I"m right in thinking it's commonly advised to route the cable along the passenger side of the car (RHD). That being the case, can anyone give me a bit of a step-by-step guide on which parts of the headlining to loosen? It seems firmly secured by the grab-handles then tucked into door seals at the edges without much room for manoeuvre. Does it simply need lots of encouragement with trim tools? (Side-question: are there any alternative routes lower down in the car...? The end destination for the cable is the the rear-view mirror area.)

 

Really appreciate any help you good folks can offer.

 

 

Hello,

I routed my cam through the rubber bellows, but I can't get the white plastic bracket out to refit the grommet.

How do you take the white plastic bracket out of the tailgate without damaging the tabs?

 

Thank you for this useful post!

[simion_levi]

You need to stick a narrow bladed screwdriver/pick into the tab hole and pull it forward. Just doing one tab whilst wiggling the connector should free it from the tailgate body.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 2 September, 2020 by simion_levi

[Cex123]

Ok, I'll try that.

Thank you very much!

[Cex123]

On 02/09/2020 at 11:25, simion_levi said:

You need to stick a narrow bladed screwdriver/pick into the tab hole and pull it forward. Just doing one tab whilst wiggling the connector should free it from the tailgate body.

 

 

 

 

 

I finally was able to get the bracket out of the tailgate.

It was tricky as I had to use a very small flat screwdriver, otherwise I had no space to move the screwdriver in the right direction to release the tab.

Next time I'll remove the rubber bellows from the car body instead of the tailgate.

 

Thank you very much for your tip.