Best way to hide dashcam cable?

I did the first option, you can pull out the A pillar cover a little and thread behind the airbag (bunched up white fabric), I suppose if you wanted play it safe you could do the second option.

Its pretty easy to pop off the cover on and off.

 

Nope, I don't think any of the sensors are there, I'd be more worried if there were hair trigger sensors there, but if you feel like it, better safe than sorry!

 

Indeed. Toyota’s publications say to disconnect the negative terminal from the auxiliary (12-volt) battery and then wait at least 90 seconds before working near any of the airbag or seat belt pretensioner components.

Disconnecting and reconnecting the battery (and reinitializing systems, if necessary) takes only moments, but the risk of personal injury or property damage from an inadvertent airbag deployment, especially if your hand or face is nearby when it happens, is serious indeed.

This precaution is one of many in Toyota’s Repair Manual, available by subscription techinfo.toyota.com, and also in another document published there, the SET-AI-2595-D accessory installation instructions for the HomeLink mirror, a document I highly recommend to anyone planning to install a dashcam.

That’s a very good question, though it’s impossible to answer for sure without Toyota’s proprietary design information. For this and other reasons, I can’t recommend modifying your car at all, except perhaps by installing Genuine Toyota Accessories.

That said, remember that in a collision, the garnish (the textured inside cover for the A pillar) has to open quickly as the airbag inflates, but it must also remain secure, so it won’t become a missile and strike an occupant. If there are extra wires in or near the garnish, they could keep the airbag from inflating effectively or direct the inflation forces in ways the design engineers didn’t anticipate.

For the HomeLink mirror accessory, Toyota’s distributor calls for routing the power and ground wires above the roof headlining and inside the left-hand (driver’s) A pillar. They say to remove the garnish, discard and replace the clip, and secure the new wires with several cable ties to the existing wire harness (but not to the sunroof drain tube, if present) that runs inside the A pillar. I wouldn’t do it any other way.

 

You’re welcome. You’ll want to disconnect only the negative (–) terminal of the battery, leaving the positive terminal alone. You’ll need a 10 mm socket, and when reconnecting the terminal, a torque wrench set to 5.4 N·m {55 kgf·cm, 48 in·lbf}.

For the details, I’d suggest reviewing these topics in the Repair Manual, especially if you’re not familiar with Prius service practices:

• General: Introduction: Repair Instruction: Precaution
• General: Introduction: Repair Instruction: Initialization
• Power Source/Network: 2ZR-FXE Battery/Charging: Auxiliary Battery: Removal
• Power Source/Network: 2ZR-FXE Battery/Charging: Auxiliary Battery: Installation
• Audio/Visual/Telematics: Park Assist/Monitoring: Intelligent Clearance Sonar System: Calibration
• Vehicle Interior: Door Lock: Power Door Lock Control System: Initialization
• Vehicle Interior: Pre-Collision: Pre-Collision System: Initialization
• Vehicle Interior: Supplemental Restraint Systems: Airbag System: Precaution

I don’t have time to summarize everything there, including all of Toyota’s recommended safety precautions, but I’ll share these two hints:

• [To preserve radio/navigation settings] after turning the power switch off, make sure to wait at least 120 seconds before disconnecting the cable from the negative (–) auxiliary battery terminal
• [After reconnecting] open and close the fuel lid before turning the power switch on (IG)

 

As for routing wires along the a-pilar, watch how the side curtain airbags deploy in the 2 crash test videos.

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