Viofo 329S installation and fuse type

[StayRunnin]

I picked up my ‘25 TRD Pro a month ago and did a lot of research on dash cams. It was one of the first accessories I wanted to purchase since I’m on the road a lot and often park it outside.
Ultimately, I chose the VIOFO A329S with the 3 channel set up and the HK6 hardwire kit. The cameras look great and worked flawlessly for about 2 weeks. Then, it wasn’t booting up anymore. I reached out to VIOFO and they sent me a new hardwire kit. After checking fuses and connections, measuring Voltage/Amps etc it appears the regulator piece may have failed. I actually received the replacement today but have not had time to replace it. In the meantime, it works with the car adapter (unfortunately this means there’s no parking mode which was the selling point for me). I will update once I have it installed.
I don’t know if I can recommend the hardwire kit, as the other battery powered option mentioned above might be more convenient. If you chose this route I spent a lot of time checking fuses. The best options I found were:
RED (constant power) - HAZ (fuse for hazards)
YELLOW (ACC) - P/Outlet No. 1
Ground - Screw/Bolt
Unfortunately, the mini low profile fuses still protrude out too far so that you certainly won’t be able to put the fuse box panel back on, but you also won’t be able to completely snap the kick panel back in place. I can only snap 1/4 back on to hold it there. No issues with it falling off or anything yet but there’s going to be a little vibration under there.
Running the wires to the rear and dash weren’t too difficult. It’s a tight fit over the airbags in the door to the front dash, but doable with some finesse and patience.
Again, really nice camera images and everything. But disappointed in the ongoing issue with power from the hardwire kit.

Wanted to see if you had figured this out. I’m looking at the Viofo dash cams but want to make sure parking mode is possible and what the installation entails

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[skeegs79]

Hey guys- sorry for the delay. We literally just got it set up the right way this past weekend. I had it plugged in to the fuse box under the passenger side kick panel for the time being - waiting on warmer weather so we could get under the hood (since I am in NY and it's been very cold and the only person I know who gets this stuff is my step dad and there's no space to do it inside).

We managed to go through the firewall on the passenger side pretty easily, using the grommet in the top corner under the hood. Instead of using the wires provided, we tied in two smaller wires so we could keep the grommet in place (cutting a small slit to the center of the grommet) AND avoid cutting the fuse box cover. Theres a little notch they fit in nicely and (it's tight) but the cover clips in without cutting the wires.
Then we went in to the fuse box on the passenger side (not drivers side). We found that the left bank of fuses is all constantly powered and theres another bank of fuses that we could use for ACC power. Frankly, there's a lot of ways to screw up some pretty critical systems in there so I would be very VERY careful. We chose two spots that were blank on the fuse panel cover AND we did not use the fuse tapes provided by VIOFO. Those fuse taps did not fit in to the ACC power bank. The ones we ordered came from a company called Optifuse. I am going to include some pictures.

All in all, the VIOFO A329S has been working flawlessly. Parking mode works great. Wiring is super discreet now. And the camera quality is superb. My biggest wish now is that I could somehow view the camera from my phone whenever I want to. But, there's no cloud base and it needs to be connected to Wifi to access settings/storage which (to me) is a negative.

Again, sorry for the delay! Hope this helps. I am not an expert on any of this stuff but happy to clarify anything if you guys have questions! Hope it helps!

P.S: Don't attach the ground to the bundle of ground wires that are already attached to a ground. Not sure but this may have caused an issue for us at one point. The picture attached shows where we put the ground.
P.P.S: I don't have a final picture of the set up. There's about 2 inches of snow on my car this morning but I'll snap another picture when I get a chance. I included a picture where we tried to use the fuse taps from VIOFO (which worked we just had to break a plastic piece to bend the wire and solder it back...yeah too much work)

 

[Nodak]

But, there's no cloud base and it needs to be connected to Wifi to access settings/storage which (to me) is a negative.

um you could use the screen on the dashcam to access settings. i have yet to connect my phone to any of my current or previous viofo dashcams.

just faster to use the screen than going thru my phone.

 

[skeegs79]

um you could use the screen on the dashcam to access settings. i have yet to connect my phone to any of my current or previous viofo dashcams.

just faster to use the screen than going thru my phone.

Sorry - to clarify I mean there's no way to pull video from the camera remotely unless you are physically with it. Like a Ring camera. I think it'd be cool to pull it up and see what the camera sees from my phone while it's parked and I'm at work or sitting on the beach or something Honestly, I'm not even sure that's a capability of other dash cams.

 

[skeegs79]

Here's that finished picture I mentioned in my last post

 

[Nodak]

Sorry - to clarify I mean there's no way to pull video from the camera remotely unless you are physically with it. Like a Ring camera. I think it'd be cool to pull it up and see what the camera sees from my phone while it's parked and I'm at work or sitting on the beach or something Honestly, I'm not even sure that's a capability of other dash cams.

there are some dashcams with LTE but that cost is another $100 not including adding it to your cell plan.

the camera resolution is too high to sit and pull video directly from the camera over wifi. they are too big and too many (i break mine into 5 min chunks).

i just pull the sd card and download them onto the computer to view the video's than trying to pull via wifi over the phone.

the only time that is usefull is it you pull it for a report directly at the scene of an accident to give/show law enforcement, otherwise, too much hassle any other time.

 

[Nodak]

i know of vantrue has a LTE module you can add for $150 for the following models :

4G LTE module compatible with S1 Pro | N2X | E360 | E360 Ace | S1 Pro Max | N4S | E1 Pro | N5S | N4PS

LTE Category 4 Speed: Up to 150Mbps(Download) / 50Mbps (Upload)


that speed is pretty slow vs a good wifi


blackvue has cloud cams but they get spendy quick since you are roped into a propriety system. you have to pay for the LTE module and for the monthly sub (unless you go the free sub plan)

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