The side curtain airbag is in a roll that extends from just above the dash all the way to the rear quarter light. Just make sure all of the cables are tucked behind it, and none of them cross over it on the inside of the cabin. Here's a pic I took when installing ours:

 

The side curtain airbag is in a roll that extends from just above the dash all the way to the rear quarter light. Just make sure all of the cables are tucked behind it, and none of them cross over it on the inside of the cabin. Here's a pic I took when installing ours:

View attachment 287868

Yes, I saw your pic about this a few days ago. Like you said, I'm doing a lot of homework/due diligence here.

AstroKats did exactly what you want to do and I believe he just tucked tight to the trim and as taught as possible.

The airbag rolls down from the top when inflated and should roll over the wire. If the wire is loose and/or not tight to where the trim piece sits, it could cause the airbag to get caught on it and may not inflate properly or violently pull the wire from the liner with unpredictable results to occupant or rescuers.

I ran my mirror camera wire below the front curtain airbag. I have a post about it https://www.subaruxvforum.com/forum...orum/subaru-xv-diy-how-tos-tsb/168612-fuse-tap-any-device-dash-cam-install.html. Check out post #3, 5 and 6.

I'm more supportive of running a rear wire via the floor cable channels than the liner. It's a little more work but it avoids all airbags.

1. The door sill trim pops off quite easily as does the lower B pillar trim. They have like 3-5 clips.
2. If I remember correctly, someone once said that the drivers side cable channel is quite packed (I used the passenger side for my audio install and there was lots of room) but I suspect a camera cable will still fit.
3. If it doesn't fit, you can lift the carpet just a little. Watch out for staples. They like to eat fingers and I got bitten several times getting wire to/from my amp under the pass seat.
4. If using the cable channel, you'll have to pull through the pillar area with a fish. I recommend a pickerel. Wire lube may go a long way but I got my 12(?) gauge sub wire through with a little effort.
5. Continuing past the back door, you need to remove the rear seat by releasing the 2 clips and lifting up and out.

From here you have a choice, either:

A: Floor pan to hatch

6. Slip the cable under the seat back and pull along the floor pan under the carpet.
7. Pop the hatch trim (no idea how many clips, 3 parts (bottom/side/top) I think) and the hatch door trim. There should be 1/2 screws holding the trim to the hatch door, under a little access door(s).
8. Route wire to the rear hatch trim and pack the wire under/behind where the door trim goes.
9. Lower the roof trim a little to access the grommet and pull through the grommet, with fish, from the exposed hatch cavity. WIRE LUBE!!!!!
10. Route around glass and to where you mount/ed the camera.
11. Close it all up.

B: Rear seat to roof (no airbags in cargo area)

6. Pop the hatch trim (as per A.7)
7. Tuck along cargo-rear seat trim to the roof liner and continue along liner trim until you reach the removed hatch trim
8. Follow A.9, 10 and 11.

Yes, I also saw your above thread on that and which is why I know that fishing the wire through the A pillar should not be through the top part because it will cross over the airbag.

I'm currently reading your instructions and trying to internalize everything, lol.

EDIT: I'm done internalizing and have a couple of questions now:

Why do you need to remove the "rear seat" in the process?

I'm kind of confused with A6 to A8 or B6 to B7. Can you still explain those to me like I'm in grade school?

What's the difference between the hatch trim and hatch door tim. Based on Centurivus' guide above, he only popped one trim panel in the hatch and called it "rear window upper trim panel" and is this one:

What is the cargo-rear seat trim? I don't have a rear seat in the cargo area.

Yup! Because that's what Doca told me to do...

Edit: with a USB rear cam you can't go via the floor as the route is too long. USB is max 16ft. Been there done that... :icon_rolleyes:

You actually can go via the floor route as long the USB cable is long enough (not using a splitter, I know you did that before and failed ). See post here: https://www.subaruxvforum.com/forum...y-how-tos-tsb/155553-diy-rear-dashcam-installation-post2006654.html#post2006654

The USB cable that comes with the A129 Duo is 6 meters (19.7ft). So it really depends on what your dashcam is.

Life is so much easier when people just listen to me, LOL

Seriously though, I'd never seen an install pic of your roof cable run.

Was it hard to access above the airbag? Specifically I mean, how did you drop the liner all the way and was it a pain in the ***?

My routing isn't hard but there is a lot of steps. If its really that easy.... Don't read all the garbage I posted and listen to kitty.

I read that using longer industrial zip ties can be used as a fish tape. I don't have a fish tape but do you think I can get away with using zip ties if I follow your floor route instructions above?

LOL, Kody isn't saying anything right now. He's fast asleep in his box on my desk (see pic below).

I've done this three times now (the cam I moved from our old car, the Blacksys that I returned, and the Blackvue that we have now). I've even done both the roof and floor routes (that's when I discovered that the floor route is too long for USB). So I guess that's four times... :icon_rolleyes:

The A pillar is the trickiest part. I used a lot of zip ties to keep all of the cables behind and out of the way of the airbag. The run to the rear is easy enough. If you pull off the door seals on the front and rear doors (which also hold the headliner in place) it's easy to tuck the cable behind the airbag roll. And as you pointed out, keep it taught so it doesn't work its way out and rattle or get in front of the airbag.

View attachment 287870

I'm kinda surprised. I thought the A-pillar part is easier to do because you just need to make sure that the cable goes around the airbag and just zip tie what you can to do existing cables there. I'm used to cable management in building gaming PC's (watercooling and all) so I guess that won't be too hard enough for me

When you're tucking them inside the headliner, will you be able to see the airbag inside and confirm that you really did tuck the cable behind it while in the process?

 

AstroKats did exactly what you want to do and I believe he just tucked tight to the trim and as taught as possible.

The airbag rolls down from the top when inflated and should roll over the wire. If the wire is loose and/or not tight to where the trim piece sits, it could cause the airbag to get caught on it and may not inflate properly or violently pull the wire from the liner with unpredictable results to occupant or rescuers.

I ran my mirror camera wire below the front curtain airbag. I have a post about it https://www.subaruxvforum.com/forum...orum/subaru-xv-diy-how-tos-tsb/168612-fuse-tap-any-device-dash-cam-install.html. Check out post #3, 5 and 6.

I'm more supportive of running a rear wire via the floor cable channels than the liner. It's a little more work but it avoids all airbags.

1. The door sill trim pops off quite easily as does the lower B pillar trim. They have like 3-5 clips.
2. If I remember correctly, someone once said that the drivers side cable channel is quite packed (I used the passenger side for my audio install and there was lots of room) but I suspect a camera cable will still fit.
3. If it doesn't fit, you can lift the carpet just a little. Watch out for staples. They like to eat fingers and I got bitten several times getting wire to/from my amp under the pass seat.
4. If using the cable channel, you'll have to pull through the pillar area with a fish. I recommend a pickerel. Wire lube may go a long way but I got my 12(?) gauge sub wire through with a little effort.
5. Continuing past the back door, you need to remove the rear seat by releasing the 2 clips and lifting up and out.

From here you have a choice, either:

A: Floor pan to hatch

6. Slip the cable under the seat back and pull along the floor pan under the carpet.
7. Pop the hatch trim (no idea how many clips, 3 parts (bottom/side/top) I think) and the hatch door trim. There should be 1/2 screws holding the trim to the hatch door, under a little access door(s).
8. Route wire to the rear hatch trim and pack the wire under/behind where the door trim goes.
9. Lower the roof trim a little to access the grommet and pull through the grommet, with fish, from the exposed hatch cavity. WIRE LUBE!!!!!
10. Route around glass and to where you mount/ed the camera.
11. Close it all up.

B: Rear seat to roof (no airbags in cargo area)

6. Pop the hatch trim (as per A.7)
7. Tuck along cargo-rear seat trim to the roof liner and continue along liner trim until you reach the removed hatch trim
8. Follow A.9, 10 and 11.

 

AstroKats did exactly what you want to do and I believe he just tucked tight to the trim and as taught as possible.

Yup! Because that's what Doca told me to do...

Edit: with a USB rear cam you can't go via the floor as the route is too long. USB is max 16ft. Been there done that... :icon_rolleyes:

 

The Blacksys (that I returned) had a USB cable to the rear cam. According to the USB specs, the maximum practical length is 9-16ft (depending on the transmission speed). If they sent you a 19ft cable then that's pushing the envelope. And I'm not sure you can do it neatly, through the hatch conduit, under the floor, etc. with all of the cable hidden, even with 19ft.

If you pull off the door seals you can see the airbag roll behind the headliner.

 

Right. But it's not like sent by mistake. Their cable is really 6 meters: https://www.viofo.com/accessories/9...sories/93-74-viofo-rear-cable-for-a129-duo-dash-camera.html#/32-cable_length-6m

So I guess the length is over the maximum rating of USB specs but can be compensated through the camera's internal circuitry. More length is just more resistance (increased loss) but can always be compensated.

I see. And if you really want to be anal about it (using zip ties along the headliner), you would need to remove the whole headliner, correct?

 

In reply to:
EDIT: I'm done internalizing and have a couple of questions now:

Q: Why do you need to remove the "rear seat" in the process?

A: If you run via floor, it’s an easy way to get the wires into the cargo area instead of squeezing them between the sear and the trim. Also, there’s no way they’ll be exposed or pinch.

Q: I'm kind of confused with A6 to A8 or B6 to B7. Can you still explain those to me like I'm in grade school?

A: A6 is if you go under the back seat. Lift the carpet and continue the run towards the hatch.

A7 is basically saying to remove all applicable trim around the hatch area. I do apologize as I was at work did it from memory. Here’s a better representation of three trim pieces and 2 of the roof liner clips (arrows pointing to the others).

I believe aforementioned "rear window upper trim panel" is from a complete roof liner tuck top and that piece is trim on the hatch door. I don’t know how he did it if he only took off the one piece.

A8; in summary, there’s the door trim (the bottom piece is often referred to as a “sill” and there’s the trim on the hatch door itself, sometimes referred to as a “door card” My bad, I interchanged terminology.


If your mounting the camera on the inside of the hatch behind the window, you’ll either have to have a floppy loose wire to accommodate opening the hatch, otherwise, you have to get the wire inside the hatch. To do that you need to remove the trim on the door itself and get the wire through the grommet. AK said it’s very tight inside the grommet but a wire will go through. I don’t remember if theses screws behind all three of the hatch door cutouts or not but there’ll be at least one in the middle.

Grommet

Hatch “door card”

That should pretty well cover the A/B questions. If I can clean any of that up, let me know. Next post...

 

In reply to:
EDIT: I'm done internalizing and have a couple of questions now:

Q: Why do you need to remove the "rear seat" in the process?

A: If you run via floor, it’s an easy way to get the wires into the cargo area instead of squeezing them between the sear and the trim. Also, there’s no way they’ll be exposed or pinch.

Q: I'm kind of confused with A6 to A8 or B6 to B7. Can you still explain those to me like I'm in grade school?

A: A6 is if you go under the back seat. Lift the carpet and continue the run towards the hatch.

A7 is basically saying to remove all applicable trim around the hatch area. I do apologize as I was at work did it from memory. Here’s a better representation of three trim pieces and 2 of the roof liner clips (arrows pointing to the others).

View attachment 287886

I believe aforementioned "rear window upper trim panel" is from a complete roof liner tuck top and that piece is trim on the hatch door. I don’t know how he did it if he only took off the one piece.

View attachment 287888

A8; in summary, there’s the door trim (the bottom piece is often referred to as a “sill” and there’s the trim on the hatch door itself, sometimes referred to as a “door card” My bad, I interchanged terminology.


If your mounting the camera on the inside of the hatch behind the window, you’ll either have to have a floppy loose wire to accommodate opening the hatch, otherwise, you have to get the wire inside the hatch. To do that you need to remove the trim on the door itself and get the wire through the grommet. AK said it’s very tight inside the grommet but a wire will go through. I don’t remember if theses screws behind all three of the hatch door cutouts or not but there’ll be at least one in the middle.

Grommet
View attachment 287890

Hatch “door card”
View attachment 287892

That should pretty well cover the A/B questions. If I can clean any of that up, let me know. Next post...

Thanks.

Since I'll be routing through the passenger side, is it the same process in removing the rear seat? Just two clips that hold it in place?

So with the rear seat removed, where will the cable be exactly routing through? Is it just "dangling" in the floor or will it still be in the cable channel in the rear door sill (A4) while doing this?

For A6, same question: will the cable just be dangling in the floor pan if I go under the carpet?

For A8, so route wire through the removed hatch trims (bottom, side, and top in the picture above) from bottom to top until it goes inside the roof liner, correct? What did you mean by "pack the wire under/behind where the door trim goes"?

So the only reason why you need to remove the all the trims around the door hatch is so that you'd have access to the panel in the pic below and fish the cable through the grommet, correct?

Because you said that you can't remove this part alone, correct? Judging by this picture though, I think he was able to remove that panel alone:

 

Q: What is the cargo-rear seat trim? I don't have a rear seat in the cargo area.

A: I knew what I meant but yeah, sorry. It the trim next to the back seat, that connects the back seat area t the cargo area.

Q: I read that using longer industrial zip ties can be used as a fish tape. I don't have a fish tape but do you think I can get away with using zip ties if I follow your floor route instructions above?

A: You should be OK. The only place I used a fish was to get the sub wires through the B pillar. However, you might have trouble getting through the grommet. Wire lube should help a lot. You could use the toe to get a shoe lace through. Tie the lace around the cable, after the connector, and tape it in place so that the connector wont bend. The extra length and flexibility of the lace should help. Here’s a concept pic with junk from my crap room; I keep a ball chain in my car tools for stuff like that.

The knot is about 1” below the connector and the tape goes 2” below, and over the connector and pulling wire.

If AK says you can lower the liner by removing the door seals the I suspect you can see quite a lot inside. The only places I can see the liner being anchored is inside the upper console (Eyesight area), center roof light and the 4 clips in the back. Otherwise it seems to be held in place by the door seals.

 

Q: What is the cargo-rear seat trim? I don't have a rear seat in the cargo area.

A: I knew what I meant but yeah, sorry. It the trim next to the back seat, that connects the back seat area t the cargo area.

View attachment 287894

Q: I read that using longer industrial zip ties can be used as a fish tape. I don't have a fish tape but do you think I can get away with using zip ties if I follow your floor route instructions above?

A: You should be OK. The only place I used a fish was to get the sub wires through the B pillar. However, you might have trouble getting through the grommet. Wire lube should help a lot. You could use the toe to get a shoe lace through. Tie the lace around the cable, after the connector, and tape it in place so that the connector wont bend. The extra length and flexibility of the lace should help. Here’s a concept pic with junk from my crap room; I keep a ball chain in my car tools for stuff like that.

View attachment 287896 View attachment 287898

The knot is about 1” below the connector and the tape goes 2” below, and over the connector and pulling wire.

If AK says you can lower the liner by removing the door seals the I suspect you can see quite a lot inside. The only places I can see the liner being anchored is inside the upper console (Eyesight area), center roof light and the 4 clips in the back. Otherwise it seems to be held in place by the door seals.

So with route B, I won't need to pop of those hatch trims because I'll be tucking the wire in between the weather stripping and the trims, correct? Would you say this is the easier route between the two?

 

:smileyvault-popcorn:

 

I did the headliner route. If I disappear from here suddenly, you'll know I ****ed up the airbags and got t-boned.

 

Didn't want to "like" this but you made me laugh. I hope your executor has instructions to notify us here (and the password)...

 

Sorry, this one will be shorter; we’re getting for a night out.

Yup. No change to the back seat.

Remove the rear seat then lift out the cargo area carpeted floor. It’s easy, its like accessing the spare Tyre.

Passing the B pillar, take the cable out of channel at the back seat. Tuck it wherever necessary, if necessary. Run it where the seat goes in to cargo area, under the rear seat back.

Once in the cargo area, you can tape it to the bottom of the carpet if you like but the weight of the carpeted floor and the replaced rear seat will prevent it from sliding. You’ll figure it out pretty quickly once you get in there.

Yup, basically route the wire from the cargo area floor through the trim and up towards the grommet. By packing the wire I just mean to get it under the trim. Whether that means tucking it by removing the trim.

You/he might be correct on the hatch door trim but that picture looks like the trim on the side of the window has also been removed. Start with the one and if you need to pop the second, you’ll figure it out when your in there.

Route B begins when you’ve run the wire past the B pillar and come up at the seat. Just get it behind the trim and up the the roof where you can tuck it in all the way back the the hatch trim. Then you remove the that single trim on top of the window and continue.

If your mounting the camera to that top trim piece, you won’t need to remove the entire door card.

If your mounting your camera to the bottom of the window, you’ll tuck/place the wire under the remaining window trim but you’ll have to remove the full door card to make a secure mount and make a little hole for the cable to go through.

Fysa: I remember someone saying those grommets were hard to take off but not as bad to get back on.

As to which is better? Coin toss?

Just be conscious of your cable length and how many inches your traveling up/down/left/right between start and end. The XV cabin must be about 10’ but a lot of movement can add distance. Also, think about extra wire cooling as you go. If you do go the floor route, you can coil under the cargo carpet, if you like, or you can loop underneath trim.

—-

Honestly though, after reading AK’s procedure, if I was doing it this weekend, I’d remove the door seals and secure it behind the airbag curtain. You’ll only have to remove the two seals and let the liner drop a bit. Zip to existing anchors and call it a day. AK, does this sound right to you?

After then, it’ll just be the trim on over the window and grommet to worry about.


Select your route, take it slow and careful and you’ll get there.

 

Sorry, this one will be shorter; we’re getting for a night out.

LOL, Doca is apologizing for writing a manual - Mrs. Doca must be at the door, ready to go, glowering at him...

If I had to do it over I would go via the headliner again. It's not that hard to avoid the airbag and it takes a LOT of cable to go the floor route, properly and concealed.

 

Install went smoothly using the floor route I still have enough slack on the rear USB cable.

One stupid mistake I made was sticking the rear camera off center a little bit. Since I'm being anal about this, how do I remove it from the windshield without damaging my tint? I know there's a proper way but I've never done this. Any tips?

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

 

Also, for the hardwire kit, my original plan was to go from the driver side fuse box, up the driver side A-pillar and tuck in the front headliner until it reaches the front camera on the right side of the rearview mirror. But since, there are already cables there for the auto-dimming mirror, auto high beam camera, and auto wiper sensor, the cable went crossing those existing cables and it did not look good. What I had the installer do, instead, was to go from the driver side fuse box, and route the cable through bottom of the center console to the passenger side. And then similar to the rear USB cable route, fish from bottom to the A-pillar and eventually to the front headliner area of the front cam.

 

Great install Kevin. Sorry I haven't been on the forums much as of late. Work and (other) life have been catching up to me, and I haven't had as much time to scour the forums as I once did. Seems Astro and Doca have given you a lot of help, and I'm glad you were able to get this set up. I say that if the camera is pointed right, being off-centre a little bit is no issue.

Cheers,

C

 

Has anyone had to take off the interior panels for the side walls in the trunk/rear cargo area to run cables through anything for that area?

I found the top dimple mark to drill in the mushroom hooks to hold the rear seat back cargo net but unlike the US model, my Aussie model, has no D rings just above the floor on the side walls nor a dimple marking a safe drilling spot in the lower part of the side walls. Instead it's a solid piece of trim and doesn't have that little USA access panel for investigating either.

For now I've hung the cargo net on the existing OEM hooks up near the back window hatch and it's driving me nuts. I go into the boot for my work kit several times a day and have to unhook it every time. I really want to install the net at the seat back end of the trunk/boot and reluctant to drill the lower side walls without knowing what cables, wiring harnesses, etc I may inadvertently drill into. TIA 🐨

 

Has anyone had to take off the interior panels for the side walls in the trunk/rear cargo area to run cables through anything for that area?

Sure have. You have to remove this first
The rest comes out easily.