2018 Taco TRD Offroad

Spend the evening installing a dash camera. Ran the power behind the headliner and down the driver's side A pillar behind the airbag.

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This is in response to being sideswiped. No witness stopped and gave contact info and despite my photos backed up by GPS data. Without a video to back me up it came down to her word against mine according to her insurance company. My insurance sides with me and they are trying to recover my deductible. Until and if they manage to do so I'm out. Cried once already. The camera is cheaper than my deductible.

The camera I went with is the Blackvue DR900S. This is a fleet camera with a lot of nice features. Multiple vehicle support by more then one person, remote software updates, live remote viewing, live GPS tracking with a subscription, automatic uploads of incidents, etc.. Not going to happen again.

Checking the dash view and what the vehicle is doing from my living room.
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There's also a desktop application. Note it does need a WI-FI connection. It's currently using the home's internet as the "garage" WI-FI. The garage WI-FI is preferred and will automatically connect when in range. I use my phone WI-FI hotspot when on the move.
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Awning mounted.

Had some gasket material so I put it under the spacers to keep the brackets from rubbing on the outside rail. I'd use 1" spacers next time around.

Also flipped the brackets to lower the awning. Suicide door clears. Don't think flipping them will be an issue. Awning mounts are pretty solid.

The rack is mounted directly to the internal frame of the ARE HD cap and the awning brackets are right next to the frame mounts.

Materials

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Added the Blackvue power management system. This adds a low voltage cutoff to prevent draining the battery.
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The on/off switch only enables/disables image/video capture while the vehicle is parked on this system so I added a kill switch for the entire system.
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Great Build. I enjoyed your detailed explanation of items purchased. Quick question regarding the Group 31 battery. Any concern regarding the excessive weight on the fender. Do you still feel this battery size is necessary. Would you do it again or possible drop down to a group 34.

Thanks

Justin
 
Thanks Justin.

The welds on the platform will probably go before the plus nuts sheer / pull out. I think I calculated it at a 45 mph impact into brick wall or similar unyielding surface to generate an impulse strong enough to break the plus nuts. Still. It's 80 lbs. Though the 34 isn't much better at 50 lbs. The Autozone 24F I looked up weighs in at 45lbs. On the other hand. I think the way I have it mounted compensates for the extra 30 lbs since Toyota trusts 2 J hooks into the same sheet metal to do the job with 45lbs. I've distributed the stress over 5 points as opposed to just 2.

In the end though I won't know if I was right until I actually break it and see what it took to do so. This is where I think evaluation your needs overrides my choices. I run my fridge and winch off the same battery. It also needs to start the engine. The 100aH capacity overrode the my concern over weight and if cost wasn't and issue I'd probably would have gone with lithium.
 
What's in the queue.
  • SOS Concepts rear bumper and swing out. Duel Jerry cans and fold down table should be on by the beginning of June.
  • Getting a quote for the install of a LRA gas tank. 32 gallons should get me a range of about 450 miles. Late July.
 
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Haggis said:
Nice. I’m still waiting for my aluminum slimline for the front to get delivered from SOS. Getting a bit antsy...
Click to expand...

There's a bunch of stuff wrapped and crated up there ready to go. I should have asked.
 
Doing the install solo I had to stack pelican cases to act as my helper. Reading the reviews I knew this was going to be a tight fit. So cleaned and greased the frame where the new bumper was going to contact and slide. Still it wasn't easy and required judicious use of a dead blow hammer. But now done.

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