Anyone Hardwire a Radar Detector yet?

[t4rjohn]

Taking it up a notch.... V1 hidden in overhead console?

I'd like to mount my Valentine1 inside the roof console of my 2011-LE. I don't mind trashing the inside of the sunglass holder if there's enough additional room in there to mount it.

Has anyone considered this? If it's been looked at and not enough room inside the console I don't want to waste time removing the console to check it out. (I'm clumsy, and often break some plastic snap clips or locks every time I remove panels.) If someone can verify that it looks like I can cut out enough room in there to mount the V1, I'll go for it. I can mount the remote display/control most anywhere and have a very discrete installation.

I had a V1 mounted inside the plastic fairing pocket of my sport-tourer motorcycle and it worked great behind all that plastic and bits of metal, so I'm sure it will work fine, other than the useless LIDAR function.

Any suggestions?
Thanks,
John

 

[CraigRoberts]

John,

You would ruin the rear V1 detection.

I've only "used" that feature once, but it is nice to have..

 

[Randyman...]

Plus, I believe those little black dots that surround the rear-view mirror plus the metal above the windshield would likely attenuate your radar sensitivity if mounted way up there in the sunglass holder...

I'm digging mine on the dash - the extra rubber "bumper" I glued to the bottom (rests on the dash) means the radar doesn't bounce around AT ALL! I can't stand radars that bonce around when driving.

I'm pondering the "Installed/Stealth" Escort X8500 CI model to keep my dash 100% clutter-free - simply omitting the Windshield-mounted Garmin GPS for the in-dash 7" Alpine GPS/DVD really cleaned up the dash to begin with IMO. Losing the Radar on the dash would probably make more sense if justified from the "Cops won't see it" angle IMO

 

[tacobill]

I put my V1 up at the top of the windshield, but it is "dark/lights out" and not very visible because I have the concealed display mounted in front of my gauge cluster on the steering wheel housing. At night no one behind me sees any red lights from the main unit.

 

[t4rjohn]

Thank you all. I used the V1 for about 7 years really burried deeply in the fairing pocket of the motorcycle. That's way down inside the plastic and wiring and up against the bottom side of the fuel tank. I never saw any noticeable loss of sensitivity, and it often alerted before riding partners' other brand detectors alerted. The front/rear sensor/display worked just fine, and there was just a little confusion on the "side-ways" display, mostly because there was a 7 gallon steel tank right up against the side of the V1. Obviously, I lose the lidar "you just got a ticket" alert.

My real question is about the physical space inside that overhead console. Guess I'll have to pull it down and look inside when it gets warmer outside.

In addition to not having it lit up like a Christmas tree when having road-side discussions about my pretty 4runner, I don't want to worry about having it ripped off. With the remote control and display capability of the V1, this just seems like a very clean way to do it if it'll fit.

Thanks,
John

 

[Bookmonke]

I had this setup in my former Tacoma, had a guy make me a mount and then I made a offset arm for the detector, then used mounted the remote mute switch and box on left side of dash by the ac vent and dash, I was able to route the wires between the panels.

 

[t4rjohn]

That's an interesting method. I don't remember how much room is available to the side without interfering with the sun shade, but if the center console doesn't work out, I'll look more into something like that mount.

Thanks,
John

 

[CraigRoberts]

I just installed the blend mount. It looks pretty good. Sorry about the poor quality phone photo.

 

[Bookmonke]

You will find a fine line between using the sunglass holder and the sun visor, I opted for the holder the sun visor will not come down all the way. I wanted to mount under the mirror but since I drive places that don't allow detectors, I went above and behind non metallic tint.

 

[barryhiram]

I just installed the blend mount. It looks pretty good. Sorry about the poor quality phone photo.

Got the same thing for my Escort, nice quality.

 

[Lost27]

FWIW:

2012 TE w/ auto dimming mirror w/o the compass built in.

I ended up using an 8" Mirror Tap into the Black plug on the back of the mirror itself. Red Mirror Tap wire to the Blue wire in the plug, Black Mirror Tap wire to the White/Black striped wire in the mirror plug.

I zip-tied the Mirror Tap wire as tightly as I could close to the plug on the back of the mirror and then again about 2" further up the mirror's power wire. This was because I found that the Mirror Tap prongs were just a little looser than I thought they would be when plugged in.

The mirror was adjusted as high up as I could get it; almost covering the black dots on the windshield. This limited how much visibility the V1 would block when mounted under the mirror via Blend Mount.

 

[Mason]

I just recently acquired a V1 a couple days ago and decided to hardwired it to the cable (under the plastic cover) that runs into the auto-dimming rear-view mirror.

Instead of buying an invisicord, I ended up making one since I had free time and wanted to mess around with it. I'm also very impatient when it comes to waiting for purchases in the mail. It only took about 30 minutes or so to make and was pretty straight forward. If there is some interest I will do a little write up with some tips when I have time.

Basically the items you need are: soldering iron, solder, telephone cord, heat shrink, crimp connectors/prongs.

I have it mounted to the left of the rear view mirror on suction cups and the cord running inside the headliner.

I think these were the DIY guides that I used to make an invisicord.
DIY Invisicord/Stealth Cord & Radar Hardwire - Nissan Armada Forum: Armada & Infiniti QX56 Forums
DIY: Make your own Invisicord/hardwire radar to mirror - Pontiac G8 Forum: G8 Forums - G8Board.com

 

[rooneyy]

Sorry to reply to an old thread but I just wanted to give some info. I lined up the following to my auto dimming mirror for my 06 Limited.

From the phone cord: Red wire connects to mirror's Yellow wire.
From the phone cord: Green wire connections to mirror's White wire.

Done!

 

[GhostRider8]

I mounted and hardwired my 9500ix a few weeks ago, and finally got around to posting some pics. I got lucky and got the blendmount and hardwire kit for free, from a car that we got from auction at the dealership, and they let me have it. Everything was pretty simple but I wanted the remote to look as clean as possible, so i took it apart and dremeled it down to make it fit in one of the blanks. I thought it came out pretty nice, just thought I'd share it with ya'll.

Blindmounts are awesome, pricey but awesome! Thanks for the info I just got my first 4Runner have a mount from previous vehicle I'm hoping it fits

 

[KP Texan]

I decided to keep my Radar lower on the dash - as cops generally aim towards your bumper/license plate for an accurate "read" (License Plates and Chrome Bumpers = Fantastic reflectors! ). Mounting a radar detector "way up there" on the rear-view mirror in a high 4x4 vehicle can negate Laser detection (and can lower K/Ka sensitivity a little).

I also believe the radar is well out of the way WRT driver visibility. It covers part of my hood view - and doesn't affect ANY of the road/traffic visibility where it's currentrly located - yet it is easily visible and grabs my attention when "alerting". I also avoided the interference/attenuation from the dark-area of the windshield that surrounds the rear-view mirror in my '13 T4R (not sure if older 5th Gen's have those little "dots" around the rear-view mirror - but those will attenuate Radar and BLOCK Laser detection!).

I initially hard-wired my Escort 8500 x50 by passing the wire through my T4R SR5's unused auto-headlight sensor at the center of the dash (drilled a hole in it), but I just swapped to a slicker install where the radar wire comes in from the defroster vents (the wire is less visible - runs a shorter distance until it disappears into the dash).

Then, I just received the Escort "Hardwire Smart Cord". I gutted the small plastic pod it came in and installed the "Mute" button right below the 4WD-Selector knob for easy-access (physically reaching up to the Radar on the dash to hit the "Mute" button is awkward). I didn't need to see the LED's on the remote-mute button (Radar is in plain view), so I only allotted for the physical Mute button itself (LED's are still on the PCB, I just didn't drill any holes for them to shine through). My eyes are on the windshield/dash when driving anyways - so the Power and "Alert" LED's on the remote-pod in the console wouldn't be of much use anyways.

I used a similar "Mini/ATM" Fuse Tap to get into my fuse-box (obviously means removing the stock plastic fuse-box cover). I used one of those "ATM Add-a-Circuit" fuse taps for the reverse trigger for my Alpine INA-W910 as well (our T4R's reverse fuse only sends +12V when shifted into reverse! - Makes for a perfect reverse-camera +12V trigger!).

Pics:

Escort 8500 x50 (Blue) - Driver's View:

Escort 8500 x50 (Blue) - Passenger Side w/Wire into Defroster Vent:

Escort "Smart Cord" - Gutted & "Mute" button mounted by 4WD Selector:

The hole I drilled in the console was pretty friggin' ugly - so I cut-up the Escort's "Smart Cord" label, and used the "Mute" button sticker to cover up the piss-poor hole I drilled A little ghetto - but MUCH better than revealing the piss-poor hole I drilled...

Works very well IMNSHO. I used a small piece of rubber I trimmed and glued to the bottom of the Radar to support the Radar on the dash. The rear of the radar is supported by the windshield (suction cup mount), and the front rests on the dash (via the rubber "bumper"). This results in a completely stable mount - the Radar doesn't bounce/jump AT ALL!!! I can't stand when my Radar is bouncing around on the windshield mount!!!! :lasercannon:

Merry X-Mas Y'all! :cowboy:

I know this post is incredibly old, but how did you run the wire through the vent? Did you have to drill a hole for it to come back out of the vent underneath? I want to install my radar detector closer to the dash like yours with a fuse tap from the fuse box.

 

[Randyman...]

Yep - Drilled a small hole (two side-by-side to create an oval) in the defroster vent to get it there (just big enough for the bare wire as fed top-down; I did not feed the RJ12 connector from the bottom-up).
I ain't scared! Still works like a champ...

 

[Naylor99]

I thought I'd share a few pics on my mirror tap install. Mine is a 2018 Limited, so the mirror is powered for auto dimming, but has no hidden connector aside from the one in the mirror itself.



I used this mirror tap from Amazon, but as others have noted, you can make this yourself;

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00RA38XEK/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Step 1 - Remove the two small covers that hide the wire (coming down the windshield) to give the wire a little room. They just pop off with a gentle pull.
Step 2 - Pull the mirror connector
Step 2 - insert pins. In my case, red into the first slot, black into the second.



As someone else noted, these are a little loose, so once you get a good connection, tie wrap the new wires to the existing wires.



Get everything positioned correctly before you tighten up your mount. Test once more to make sure your connection are good. Trim the tie wraps once you are happy with the wire routing and position of your mirror and the V1. Here is my finished install, using a Blendmount and my V1. The V1 sits just below the mirror.

 

[PittRunner]

Escort 9500IX Passport install

I recently bought a 2019 4 Runner TRD off road. I would like to install my Escort 9500 IX under the mirror. I have read all the posts I can,but have some concerns.The wire tap into auto dim mirror,or hard wire ? I'am no electrician,but have no problem hard wiring with a fuse tap. I am not as confident tapping into mirror,not good with multi meter,I would have to take someones word on which is power/ground?don't want to fry something.so if I go the safe route and hard wire, I don't know how to remove A pillar trim,don't want Air Bag deploying.Any help please,thank you.