[MISVTfocus]

Hardwiring radar How-to NOW PIX

PIX on my picture trail site, link at bottom...

Alright step one is to remove the upper panel where the sunroof and the overhead lights are

Step two, unhook the black connectors that go into the overhead lamps the one with two wires running to it is the ground and the negitive, the one with one wire running to it is the postive.

Step three, take your cigarette lighter adapter plug and cut it to the length long enough that you can sneak it in through the celing panel just above the mirror and still have room to work with, I cut mine about a foot long.

There should be a positive and a negitive wire running from your adapter, mine where red and white (red positive).

Step four, get a wire with a place for a fuse on it, use a 5volt fuse, or more depending on your usage, my cobra radar is 2volt. Attach this wire to the positive off the cigarette adapter. And run it into the positive side of the light connection.

Step five, run the white (or the negitive may be a different color) into the ground or the negitive of the light bar, all these wires should be going into the top of the connectors just like the original wires are going to the light.

Step six, test the radar out, if it will not turn on check your connections. Make sure you tape the connections.

Step seven, put everything back the way it was, connect the light bar back togehter and boom enjoy....


works excellent on my car, I have a Cobra series Radar detector *fix*, it was 60 dollars at circiut city not the wiring...the actual detector cost me 60 dollars I know I was confusing people sorry. I got the additional parts like the fuse and a lil extra wire at radio shack cost me roughly 3-4 dollars and about 30mins of my time maybe less. I have photos of the whole install I just need to know how to host and post.... hope this helps, its not too confusing if you know a little bit about electronics.

[thumb]

EDIT, Now I have pictures up if you'd like to view them this is my gallery http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=999&gid=5928828&uid=2934807&members=1

 

[MISVTfocus]

bump for the new pictures....

 

[MISVTfocus]

120 views and no comments? I'm just curious to what you guys think also...

 

[talonk4]

oh man, i so want to do this. i'm bookmarking this, maybe aaron and i will do this when we have our installation celebration after christmas. i've been looking for a way to hardwire this stupid thing in so i can actually use my cigarette lighter for my cellphone charger instead of running blind while i'm charging. thanks man!

 

[RedSVT 03]

Or, you can purchase the radar detector hardwire kit from Best Buy, for about $12.00, and hardwire it into your fuse box, run the wires up the A pillar, and it comes out at the visor, plug your detector in, and you are done. It comes on and goes off with the ignition. It is pretty hidden, no external wires, and installs in about 20 minutes.

 

[talonk4]

wow, thanks red. another viable option!

 

[RedSVT 03]

Viable? LOL, how is the other one even an option, at $60+ when you can do it for $12 in less time?

There is no wire splicing, no cutting, no soldering. This is pretty much plug n play. You get the hardwire kit, there is an inline fuse already there in the wiring. You piggyback one to a hot fuse, i.e. radio, cigarette lighter, and the other gets grounded. There is a perfect spot right near the fuse box. You run the wires up the A pillar, and it comes out right at the visor. This should be a fairly easy task, even for the mechanically declined (myself included). This took me a total of about half an hour, because I made sure that everything worked before I put the A pillar back on, and I wanted everything perfectly lined up, the extra wire secured, etc.

The kit even comes with adapters for other brands of radar detectors, 4 different size plugs in all, so pretty much every radar detector will work.

 

[brawls43]

Red, do you have any pics of this install of yours? What kind of radar are you running?

Sorry to jack the thread...its still sort of on topic.

 

[RedSVT 03]

Red, do you have any pics of this install of yours? What kind of radar are you running?

Sorry to jack the thread...its still sort of on topic.

No pics of the install. I didn't bother taking any. As for the radar detector, ehhh, I am not running anything right now. One time, I put the drivers seat forward, and it knocked the detector off the visor, sending it smashing down to the ground. It works, but when it beeps, lol, it sounds muffled, like water got in there. It was a Bel I believe, not sure of the model number. Anything is better than nothing, and I cannot see spending what they want on a Valentine One. I will be replacing it soon, not sure with what.

I can do yours for you if you want, or show you how if and when we get together again if you are interested in it. Seriously, it is a simple mod. Heck, I did it. []

BTW did you get your PM?

 

[MISVTfocus]

Viable? LOL, how is the other one even an option, at $60+ when you can do it for $12 in less time?

huh? the radar cost me 60 dollars, the fused wire was 2!

 

[RedSVT 03]

Re: Hardwiring radar How-to NOW PIX

works excellent on my car, I have a Cobra, it was 60 dollars at circiut city, I got the additional parts like the fuse and a lil extra wire at radio shack.

Hmmm. The way you worded it, seems like you have a Mustang Cobra, and the wiring stuff you bought was $60 at circuit city. Surely you can see how someone might misread this.

Looks like both ways work, although I would have to say the way I did it, is a little easier.

 

[MISVTfocus]

oh my bad, but I thought the pix were pretty self explanitory that I have a focus. By cobra I mean the radar detector...

 

[talonk4]

it's ok MISVT. i was thrown at the wording too, but i figured it out. plus, if you spent $60 at circuit city on WIRING alone, i have a bridge to sell ya....

 

[MISVTfocus]

haha alright I fixed it so people wont be confused anymore.

 

[MISVTfocus]

haha let me know how well that works for you

 

[talonk4]

hey guys, i bought the best buy kit for wiring this up (as i use my radar detector in the lower left side of my window so it doesn't block vision). question is, is that which fuse should i send it through in the box? any suggestions? thanks.

 

[MISVTfocus]

man if you look back you'll see that position isnt any good because if you have a 360 degree detector you are blocking the rear sight of the radar.

 

[talonk4]

i agree that it doesn't block the rear, but if you're six four and have the rear view mirror as a HUGE blindspot to begin with, you don't want to limit the visibility any more. i've had a few close calls where someone has merged onto the highway and i didn't see them until close to last second, so i figured that it's cheaper for a ticket than it is for limiting my vision even more. any takers on the fuse i should use to wire this up so it comes on with the car? electrical/ignition maybe?

 

[MISVTfocus]

Actually I didnt notice this until a few days ago, if you just leave the radar on eventually the electrical in the lights shuts down, and along with that the radar, and once you hit the unlock button it turns back on.

 

[03Z_ex_Three]

Yea well I did that but I did it a better way. My radar detector is operated by a toggle switch. I have mine sitting on my driver side in the bottom corner of my window. Its out of the way of my driving view and works just as well. I ran the wire down between the dash and column and ran another wire coming from the battery. Put them together behing my HU and grounded it to the ground for the HU. Looks a lot better, trust me.