Front and rear van cameras.

21Katherine · Wednesday at 10:31 AM

Hello, I have just visited Halfords to have van security cameras fitted. They cannot do the rear one due to the vans costruction. Has anyone found a solution? Many thanks Katherine

CaliforniaCylus · Wednesday at 11:12 AM

Yes. Don't go to Halfords.

Advanced In Car Tech at Poole installed our Thinkware Dashcams. Very professional job.

acer · Wednesday at 12:53 PM

21Katherine said:
Hello, I have just visited Halfords to have van security cameras fitted. They cannot do the rear one due to the vans costruction. Has anyone found a solution? Many thanks Katherine

This is on my job list too, so thanks for raising it. Is Poole handy for you? I’d like a recommendation for near me. I wonder if you might struggle where you are.

Viktorgeorge · Wednesday at 1:00 PM

I wonder if synchronised front and rear cameras need to be hard wired together to communicate, or whether they just need power and then they communicate ‘over the air’ because there is of course power available front and rear (in the Ocean/Coast)? Does anyone have the answer?

Zathras · Wednesday at 2:01 PM

21Katherine said:
Hello, I have just visited Halfords to have van security cameras fitted. They cannot do the rear one due to the vans costruction. Has anyone found a solution? Many thanks Katherine

is it just a dashcam with a parking mode, or something more security focused?

I'd be interested in the products you or others have used for parked up security.

Perfectos · Wednesday at 2:57 PM

Zathras said:
is it just a dashcam with a parking mode, or something more security focused?

I'd be interested in the products you or others have used for parked up security.

Here is a thread to get you going

Blackvue Front and Rear dashcam

Has anybody fitted a dashcam with parking mode in an Ocean t6.1? The Blackvue Power Magic Pro device (which protects the starter battery voltage) requires both permanent and switched connections at the fuse box. I can test for permanent and switched but just wondered which fuses might be...

vwcaliforniaclub.com

dspuk · Wednesday at 2:59 PM

I did my own - it’s tough but not impossible. Still have the hand scars. I think I posted a guide, will have a look and edit this post. It’s definitely beyond the scope, expertise and cost of a Halfords install.

Here is where we chatted about it - https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/installed-2-garmin-dash-cams.48785/

Zathras · Wednesday at 3:31 PM

I've fitted dashcams with rear cameras before and plan to move my Nextbase 622W into the California when it arrives. I've got trim tools but will find any guides posted here helpful of course.

The thing is I've never liked the parking mode on the 622W and not sure other brands of dashcam are a whole lot better. Struggled to work with backup batteries to run it long enough or they only wake up to record on physical bump of the vehicle.

So iId be interested to know of anything more security focused than a dashcam with parking option.

Hawthorn37 · Wednesday at 5:08 PM

We had Blackvue fitted by an authorised dealer in Nottingham. I suggest you look locally to where you are and authorised fitters for the type of camera you want.

wildslammer22 · Wednesday at 6:38 PM

Zathras said:
I've fitted dashcams with rear cameras before and plan to move my Nextbase 622W into the California when it arrives. I've got trim tools but will find any guides posted here helpful of course.

The thing is I've never liked the parking mode on the 622W and not sure other brands of dashcam are a whole lot better. Struggled to work with backup batteries to run it long enough or they only wake up to record on physical bump of the vehicle.

So iId be interested to know of anything more security focused than a dashcam with parking option.

I have the Wolfbox tri camera set up but I have it powered from the leisure batteries so have option of parking mode and/or time lapse recording - 12/24/48 hours. I have also upgraded my batteries to Li so no power anxiety but I’d imagine the draw is low enough for it not to be an issue with standard AGM set up for a day or so.

dspuk · Wednesday at 6:48 PM

wildslammer22 said:
I have the Wolfbox tri camera set up but I have it powered from the leisure batteries so have option of parking mode and/or time lapse recording - 12/24/48 hours. I have also upgraded my batteries to Li so no power anxiety but I’d imagine the draw is low enough for it not to be an issue with standard AGM set up for a day or so.

Both mine are attached to the starter batt and I’m lucky if I get 10 hours before battery hits the threshold I have set.

TBH I stopped worrying about it as a parking camera.

acer · Wednesday at 7:27 PM

Clearly a lot to consider here and I remember now why I kicked it into the long grass the last time I considered it. At the same time, my current temporary arrangement that I have to remember to plug-in is just pants. I’m going to have find someone to do it though - the problem is the rear camera. Mrs Acer often looks at me and says “if only I knew a man”. Sadly, I find myself agreeing with her.

wildslammer22 · Wednesday at 8:33 PM

acer said:
Clearly a lot to consider here and I remember now why I kicked it into the long grass the last time I considered it. At the same time, my current temporary arrangement that I have to remember to plug-in is just pants. I’m going to have find someone to do it though - the problem is the rear camera. Mrs Acer often looks at me and says “if only I knew a man”. Sadly, I find myself agreeing with her.

I think the cable run above the kitchen and behind the drop down box over the bed/parcel shelf is fairly straightforward to mount a rear camera inside (it’s not covered by the tailgate blind when deployed). That said I paid Absolute5 to fit mine! The key is finding an auto electrician that knows California's or risk a such a bodge you may as well butcher it yourself!

dspuk · Wednesday at 9:45 PM

wildslammer22 said:
I think the cable run above the kitchen and behind the drop down box over the bed/parcel shelf is fairly straightforward to mount a rear camera inside (it’s not covered by the tailgate blind when deployed). That said I paid Absolute5 to fit mine! The key is finding an auto electrician that knows California's or risk a such a bodge you may as well butcher it yourself!

if I was to have my time again I’d go that way. Because I attached the front camera into the fusebox via the drivers A pillar it ended up “easier” to go down the nearside.

I could have routed offside as getting it behind the airplane locker was the biggest issue.

Rods are a good investment and patience. You could even take it down the floor behind the kitchen, as I have with my starter wire from the MPPT. You still have to mount the camera nicely on the rear door, which for me meant dismantling the facia to make it 100% neat and tidy, but if you are less worried about the wire, you could run it on the outside of the door and tape down.

An Autoelectircian is not really needed as all you need to do is attach the live into a live fuse and plenty of past guides on here how to do that - I used a piggy back fuse.

wildslammer22 · Wednesday at 10:00 PM

dspuk said:
if I was to have my time again I’d go that way. Because I attached the front camera into the fusebox via the drivers A pillar it ended up “easier” to go down the nearside.

I could have routed offside as getting it behind the airplane locker was the biggest issue.

Rods are a good investment and patience. You could even take it down the floor behind the kitchen, as I have with my starter wire from the MPPT. You still have to mount the camera nicely on the rear door, which for me meant dismantling the facia to make it 100% neat and tidy, but if you are less worried about the wire, you could run it on the outside of the door and tape down.

An Autoelectircian is not really needed as all you need to do is attach the live into a live fuse and plenty of past guides on here how to do that - I used a piggy back fuse.

I did look at some of the guides but as I was having a head unit upgrade I thought I’d save my knuckles and a lot of swearing by getting it done at the same time, especially as I have an additional front camera too (fitted above the front number plate). The Wolfbox is a good bit of kit, they even provide a trim tool for the DIYers

21Katherine · Thursday at 9:08 AM

Zathras said:
is it just a dashcam with a parking mode, or something more security focused?

I'd be interested in the products you or others have used for parked up security.

I would like a system that operates 24hrs around the vehicle.
Many thanks for the Poole suggestion. Will contact them.

CaliforniaCylus · Thursday at 9:44 AM

21Katherine said:
I would like a system that operates 24hrs around the vehicle.
Many thanks for the Poole suggestion. Will contact them.

The Thinkware they installed was the U3000.

There's a long term parking mode which only records locally to SD card using Radar to switch on when necessary.

Ideally I'd like it videoing 24x7 from the leisure batteries and linked to the Internet but I haven't figured that out yet.

A good starting point would be looking at powering it from the leisure batteries but how practical that is I don't know. Thinkware do supply their own battery power bank so that's another option maybe.

chockswahay · Thursday at 11:31 AM

acer said:
Mrs Acer often looks at me and says “if only I knew a man”. Sadly, I find myself agreeing with her.

You sure you two are talking about the same thing? (Sorry, couldn’t resist)

Zathras · Thursday at 11:31 PM

CaliforniaCylus said:
Ideally I'd like it videoing 24x7 from the leisure batteries and linked to the Internet but I haven't figured that out yet.

I’ve just ordered a Tapo C120 to experiment with. It is usb powered, small, magnetic base and records to SD but you can remote connect if it has wifi available.

I may or may not then follow up with a sim based mobile wifi, also from leisure battery.

By my back of napkin calculations I think we’re talking many days recording. Plus if I do end up going with solar on roof, it might be self sustaining always-on.

Duff. · 2026-10-05T09:56:26+0100

DIY - plugged to cigarette lighter

21Katherine · 2026-10-05T10:51:46+0100

Thank you all so much. I realise it is much more complicated than I thought. Have been quoted £500 by a company with leads showing. Will see if I can find anyone in Jersey with experience.

Perfectos · 2026-10-05T11:10:07+0100

21Katherine said:
Thank you all so much. I realise it is much more complicated than I thought. Have been quoted £500 by a company with leads showing. Will see if I can find anyone in Jersey with experience.

Contact Us - AUTO ELECTRIC (SALES & SERVICE) LTD

Contact AUTO ELECTRIC (SALES & SERVICE) LTD - In car entertainment system installations - St. Helier - Jersey -

www.auto-electric.co.uk

Mr B · 2026-10-05T12:41:17+0100

I bought this camera

G900 pro

and replaced my rear view mirror with it.

I needed an adapter (can't remember where I found it) to fix it to the factory mirror holder and an extension cable for the rear camera wire.

I ran the rear camera cable all the way down the nearside headlining, vents, through the cupboard out of the grommet, into the tailgate (there's small internal space from the top to bottom on the edge) and then across to the number plate light where I removed a small corner of the light and then sealed it after connecting the camera so pretty much all the cable run is hidden.

It involved removing the chair carrier from the tailgate and using rods to get the cable into the correct spaces but it wasn't as hard I thought it would be.

Wired the power to a switched live.

It's really good camera using the Sony Starvis sensor and I have a functional rear view mirror with the boot completely stacked full. Feel so much more protected on the roads.