This weekend I decided to treat my truck to an upgrade and install a DVR. This is the truck I use for towing my travel trailer and my enclosed trailer with UTVs and I can't count the number of times I've had people hustle to get around me because they don't want to be stuck behind someone towing, only to quickly decide to turn or come to a stop. One of these times I won't be able to stop in time and I want to be able to have video evidence of the situation (and the choice to share the video in such an unfortunate event). Additionally, my son just turned 14 and has his instructional permit, so having video to review of his learning, etc. might be helpful as well.

I prefer clean installs so I went with a Vantrue N4 Pro S 3 channel in part based on the advertising I've been seeing recently and the features available. The hardware kit has a neat feature where the cutoff voltage is selectable to ensure it won't kill the battery in the event the parking monitor is really active, such as when parked at an airport or during a thunderstorm. It is possible to turn the parking monitor off, and to adjust the sensitivity, and that's easy enough to change from the phone application, but I don't often think far enough ahead to remember to do that. I suppose that would be one benefit of a less clean installation as it would make it easier to remember I have a DVR since I'd always see the wires.

Anyway, if you'd like to do a similar clean installation in your Ram or Durango (other Mopars are probably similar too) it's pretty simple. The hardware kit requires a ground, battery power, and a switched power source. I was able to tap into all three of these in the overhead console. The rear power sliding window switch was an easy source for the switched power and ground, and the always on power I pulled from the Homelink wiring. The overhead console is just snapped and hooked in place. Pull from the rear to unsnap (don't do this during extreme weather when the plastic is either brittle or soft), then unhook the console from the front to disconnect the wire connectors.


Unsnapped overhead console. Pull down from the rear, then unhook from the front.

[img alt="Accessory (added red wire on left) and ground (added black wire on right). The Acc+ wire supplied with the hardware kit is yellow but I used a slightly larger wire and spade to piggyback with the connector to avoid cutting the original wires. After wrapping the bundle tightly with self-fusing silicon tape, the connection is reliable.
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Accessory (added red wire on left) and ground (added black wire on right). The Acc+ wire supplied with the hardware kit is yellow but I used a slightly larger wire and spade to piggyback with the connector to avoid cutting the original wires. After wrapping the bundle tightly with self-fusing silicon tape, the connection is reliable.

Location of Constant 12V wire from Homelink module.

With all of the wires identified and connected to the hardware module, I selected the 12.0V level for the protection and stuck the box to the roof of my truck where I can access it later if I find that I need to use the higher voltage setting. I thought I had taken a photo of where the box is installed, but I guess I didn't. It and the excess wire is tucked up in the opening indicated in the second image below.


Low voltage switch on the hardware kit module.

Location where I mounted the hardware kit module and extra wiring, wrapped in felt tape to prevent rattles.

After then running the USB Type C cable above the headliner and toward the rearview mirror, I attached the camera window mount that includes the GPS module. This location provides easy access to the orange "emergency record" button that also has the TF card slot behind it and also gives the interior camera a good view of all passenger locations and out the rear window.

Magnetic tethered side power and emergency save button which moves aside to reveal TF slot, reset button, and power/save buttons

The only downside I've found so far to this location is when the sunvisor is down, it does block the cabin camera. If that's a concern for you, then you may want to change your location a bit. The included wire length of the hardware kit is quite long so you can reach probably just about anywhere on the windshield.


Where I mounted the Vantrue N4 Pro S DVR

I was very happy with how the installation turned out, but even happier with the performance of this camera and associated software/application. I've had DVRs in other vehicles over the years, but this is the first one that I've had with the interior camera. This could literally be a life-saver, or expert witness, for rideshare drivers. And while I hope I never need to rely on the footage for an insurance claim, if I ever do, I know I'll be able to quickly access the footage and that the footage will be clear and usable. I've been very impressed with the picture quality and especially impressed with how quickly I could access the camera and footage via the Android phone app. Also, with the included GPS data, that can be displayed or turned off, I can pretty easily defend my driving habits should they ever be challenged. There are a lot of available settings which can be accessed on the camera directly, but even though that screen is large, the convenience and speed to change them from the phone app is my preferred method. In going through the settings this evening I realized I didn't have the PlatePix enabled, so I'm anxious to give that a try. I've included a few screen captures from the Android and desktop apps. I've scaled these down to better fit the forum, and I've obfuscated the GPS coordinates, both of which have reduced the resolution and quality of these images, but I can say they do a good job at capturing details even in low light. The interior camera has infrared (IR) emitters which is outside the visible spectrum but help to illuminate the interior for night vision. The IR can be switched on or off via the settings. I have it switched on and it does a nice job of capturing details even with virtually no extra interior lighting.

I'll drop several screen captures below of the Android app and PC app. If you have an questions about the installation or this DVR feel free to ask in this thread and I'll do my best to answer them.


The Live Preview screen of the Android app for real-time viewing of the forward, interior, or both cameras.

Video folder with separate videos for the forward and interior cameras, sorted by video date.

Video file trip summary with quite a bit of interesting data


PC application data screen.

Screen capture from PC application video at night. This road does not have street lights so the illumination is coming only from the vehicle lights.

Sorry for the long post, but I felt the information would be useful if you're in the market for a DVR and want to also have a clean, hard-wired installation.

-Rod

 

Thanks so much for sharing this detailed install of the Vantrue N4 Pro S! We really appreciate the time you put into it 🙌

It's great to see the Vantrue N4 PS hardwired so cleanly—this is incredibly helpful for other 2014 Ram owners considering a similar setup.

And of course, if you run into any questions or need anything along the way, feel free to reach out—always happy to help! 😊

 

I took the truck out and gathered some daytime images and a plate screen capture to test out the Plate PIX. It seems to work pretty well.


License plate capture from PC application

A short clip of the video that this image was captured from can be found on YouTube here:
-Rod

 

Really appreciate you taking the time to add the screenshots and video — that’s super helpful for everyone here. The daytime clarity looks great, and it’s awesome to see license plates coming through clearly like that 👍