Aftermarket Dash Cams recommendations?

[Malkozaine]

I know the Rivian's have the Gear Guard system. I also know while it's not bad....it's also not perfect. I'm kinda a paranoid person, especially when it would come to protecting a almost $100k vehicle. So I was wondering what type of 3rd party dash Cams people use. What's the best way to get almost complete coverage of the R1. Also since I know some of the 12v ports where removed, what's the best way to power them and also power them while parked as a form of gear guard. Again I get the R1's have their own cameras, I just like having redundancy and figured I wasn't the only one like that.

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[COdogman]

From my experience there is no way to have coverage all around that would actually capture license plates or good enough footage to accomplish what you need. There are some good front/ back facing cams like Blackvue, but even those leave plenty of blind spots. Then there is the install of any system with multiple cameras. Would not be easy.

The Rivian system isn’t perfect but it still has better coverage than any aftermarket camera(s) you might find.

 

[kozak79]

I have a dash cam, got a long usb cable and plug it into the 12v under the dash. Ran the wires behind all the trim.

 

[Rickmc]

I installed a thinkware u1000d to get 4k front camera and 2k rear camera which supplements the gear guard cameras but with sound and higher resolution along with much higher point of view.

https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/...-video-samples-added.14887/page-6#post-333567

 

[Robotpedlr]

Blackvue cameras are great.. but all the newer (early 2023+) Rivians suffer from deleted 12v plugs under the dash. The best way to get power is probably from the OBD port and running a wire up the A pillar to the camera.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

From my experience there is no way to have coverage all around that would actually capture license plates or good enough footage to accomplish what you need. There are some good front/ back facing cams like Blackvue, but even those leave plenty of blind spots. Then there is the install of any system with multiple cameras. Would not be easy.

The Rivian system isn’t perfect but it still has better coverage than any aftermarket camera(s) you might find.

But resolution and the fisheye make footage less useful. You can see when incidents happened but not see faces or plates well enough for identification. Also, currently GG only detect people.

 

[Whataboykie!]

I'm with you on this. I have a Rove 4K dashcam that I power from the cigarette lighter, and my cable does run up along my main screen. I did not, nor have the desire to run wires all along the body and windshield.
I realize that this doesn't look the best, but it works for me.
At the back window, I ran a USB C wire from the plug behind the drivers seat, up to the grab handle and behind the back seat headrest, to another Rove 4K dashcam that just sits on the shelf where the rear window meets the seats. I have it taped to the back window with some clear tape.
This does leave a visible cable hanging behind the driver's seat. I hardly ever have four people in my truck, so, when driving I don't see it at all. If I ever have four people in my truck, I could always just remove the USB C cable until I'm alone again.
It doesn't look the best, but is functional for me and I'm ok with that.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Blackvue cameras are great.. but all the newer (early 2023+) Rivians suffer from deleted 12v plugs under the dash. The best way to get power is probably from the OBD port and running a wire up the A pillar to the camera.

Plenty of reviews online pointing to overheating and price being problematic for Blackvue. The flagship Viofo model appears to be on top of the market at the moment. Downside is it’s among the more power hungry. Wouldn’t surprise me if that changes in 6 months. Crowded market with lots of competition.

 

[COdogman]

But resolution and the fisheye make footage less useful. You can see when incidents happened but not see faces or plates well enough for identification. Also, currently GG only detect people.

Oh I agree with that. My comment was more about the other options on the market. They might get you a nice clear shot forward or back, but no decent solutions for the sides. So IMHO it's just trading problems by adding more hardware.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Oh I agree with that. My comment was more about the other options on the market. They might get you a nice clear shot forward or back, but no decent solutions for the sides. So IMHO it's just trading problems by adding more hardware.

Yeah I haven’t yet gone through the trouble of installing one because I know even with good footage LE typically will not pursue. In that sense, kind of a waste of $. Helps with insurance claim, but GG footage is sufficient for that… IF Gary was not slacking.

 

[Malkozaine]

I installed a thinkware u1000d to get 4k front camera and 2k rear camera which supplements the gear guard cameras but with sound and higher resolution along with much higher point of view.

https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/...-video-samples-added.14887/page-6#post-333567

How do you like the Thinkware? I have seen their name pop up a few times on recommend lists.

 

[Malkozaine]

Blackvue cameras are great.. but all the newer (early 2023+) Rivians suffer from deleted 12v plugs under the dash. The best way to get power is probably from the OBD port and running a wire up the A pillar to the camera.

Yeah, I was thinking the OBD route might be the way I go. Found one with a switch that can keep it powered 24/7 or turns off when the car turns off......assuming the Rivian "shuts off" the accessories power when "off".

 

[Rickmc]

How do you like the Thinkware? I have seen their name pop up a few times on recommend lists.

I like it, I haven't needed to pull the card and use it's footage other than to test.

It does get pretty hot to the touch in the summer.

I have it connected to the Rivians hot spot but that shuts off when you leave the car so you won't get push alerts to your phone. It tells you when you get back and it comes out of parking mode that there were X motion events and Y incidents etc so you atleast know when you need to check the footage (but gear guard also shows you so you know if you really need to view it). It has an audible (GPS connected and Connected to the internet) when it boots up to let you know all is functioning. If you want to live view the camera while away, there is a quick workaround of unlocking the Rivian and then locking it again from the app. This will turn on the hotspot for a minute or so and during that time you can remotely view front and rear cameras. I have done this when R1T is at the service center.

The only real gripe is that if you want to use the app to view alerts or footage, you have to click it's wifi button and then connect to it via your phone by going into your phone's wifi and then connect to the thinkware ssid. Then you can download, view etc One workaround I thought about doing would be to name my rivian hot spot the same as my iPhone hot spot so then I could just turn Rivian hotspot off and the thinkware would automatically connect to my iPhone hotspot which would then do the same, allow me to view the footage and download to my phone.

It's worth it to have voice recording (including if pulled over), 4k front and 2k rear in addition to the gear guard. Gear guard is nice as it has 5 cameras including the sides and the bumpers where the Thinkware has a much higher point of view from the tops of the glass so they supplement each other great.

 

[Kochusan]

Yeah, I was thinking the OBD route might be the way I go. Found one with a switch that can keep it powered 24/7 or turns off when the car turns off......assuming the Rivian "shuts off" the accessories power when "off".

My post from Reddit:

I'm in the exact same situation right now. I have a Viofo dashcam with much better resolution than the stock one. The only problem is getting power to the unit.

I'm trying out this [Scosche OBDII to USB power adapter](http://Scosche Universal 5.ft USB Hard Wire Kit with 18W USB-A QC 3.0 Port and OBDII Connector OBD2QC3-SP https://a.co/d/8yTgdef) from Amazon.

It is supposed to turn on with the ignition and off when the truck is powered down. It does work well in terms of delivering power but has issues with automatically turning on and off.

For example, it takes about a minute or two for the unit to turn on after driving. Then, it stays powered on for some variable time if the truck is sleeping at home before shutting off automatically. Any other time away from home, with Gear Guard on, the camera stays powered up 50% of the time. There seems no rhyme or reason to it.

I'm also trying the mirror tap trick but getting the plastic cover off without breaking the plastic or cracking the windshield is proving extremely difficult. Also thinking of tapping into one of the fuse blocks to the rear seat USB plugs (which are supposed to be switched) but I've heard the fuses are non-standard and I'm uncertain which accessories are switched.

What has proven very frustrating is trying to get the truck to turn the accessories off and on to test the fuses - any one know how to best do this?

Any suggestions for getting the rear view mirror cover off?

 

[Malkozaine]

I'm using a combination of the Rivian Gear Guard system and the Mercylion OEM-looking dashcam in my R1T. This combination provides me with comprehensive coverage and peace of mind. The Gear Guard system monitors the vehicle's interior and exterior, while the Mercylion records everything that happens around the vehicle. I highly recommend this setup to anyone who wants to protect their Rivian R1T.

What model of Mercylion are you using?

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