Ok, I got stuck hardwiring my passport x50. (btw, I have the smartwire kit)

I got to the point where everything "looks" it's hardwired except the power's not tapped yet.

So where can you get this "Add-A-Circuit"?

I went to radioshack and schucks and they both don't have it.

So after googling, I found these websites..

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...number=071-585

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/VELVA...QQcmdZViewItem

Ebay one sells for $5 while the other one sells for $12+shipping

are they the same one?

I much prefer buying local if I can grab one..

 

You can get it at Autozone, but as I said in my earlier post it was hella easy to cut the wire and feed it into the mirror's power harness. It's free and much easier.

 

me too, although i should've been more careful. now, whenever my tranny is in reverse, power to the detector shuts off until i'm in another gear. no big deal, but rather annoying to hear my cobra turn on and run it's checks again and again

 

That's because you stuck the wire in the wrong holes. The dimming mirror is intended to turn off when you put the car in reverse.

I'm glad I saved this for future reference: Three wires enter the rear view mirror. The white wire is ground, the brown wire is active when the car turned on, and the green wire is active when the car is on but not when the car is in reverse, so the power leads from the detector should meet up with the white (-) and brown (+) wires.

 

^ thanks, that should be an easy fix

 

Thanks for this thread, guys. I wired my RX65 into the back of the mirror and it works perfectly. Sure you lost the remove mute button and all that, but it's a helluva lot simpler and less-destructive than other methods.

 

i also wire mine to the back of the mirror

 

I like the look of this installation.
Is this a kit? Where did you get it?

 

I like this look as well. I just did a web search and I think this may be the kit from: http://www.countryjoycrafts.com/350Z/escortmount.htm

This site makes custom mounts for Zs and Mini Coopers, but the mounts work for many other cars as well- I noticed the TSX is supported with a 3/4 inch mount.
I measured my TL mirror and I think it will work as well.

 

i will seriously pay someone to come out and hook up a radar and mount this to my TSX in madison wi

thats a fuckin baller mount luder.

 

thanks man. you can be a "baller" too for just 39.95 plus shipping . thats where i bought my mount from, good find lacosta. its the 3/4" one. its very easy, but if you want to pay for my flight out there i will gladly do it for free

if you have any questions, just pm me. NO CHARGE

 

can the valentine V1 be hardwired through the mirror as well?? Sorry if it's a dumb question but I'm no electrical genius lol

 

damn bro, you need to wash your car

 

can someone provide step-by-step instructions on hardwiring the detector to the rear view mirror?

Basically all I got out of it was you cut the power cord for the detector, strip the wire a little, strip the green and white wires from the rear view mirror, basically connect all those wires together, and cover up with electrical tape?

 

I just stuffed the wires from radar detector's power cord directly into the back of the mirror's wire harness and secured it in place with electrical tape. It's hella ghetto but it works, was realy fast and is completely not destructive.

 

^^so what I mentioned in my post is all you really have to do??

 

Yes, but I don't personaly feel comfortable with striping the mirror's wires. First it causes damage to a perfectly healthy stock part, second if you're not carefull shaving the pastic shielding you might sever the copper conductor wire and that's a headache nobody needs.

 

if you dont feel comfortable, get an invisicord:

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40377

 

Can you post pictures of your radar setup tapping into rear view mirror wires?
I plan on doing this also. Thanks.

 

there are pictures in the link i provided.

 

^^tsx 2 nv did a DIY...very helpful and it took me less than 2 minutes to do the install

 

got my v1 for xmas and hardwired to bottom of rear view using invisicord and the mount mentioned in the thread by tsx2nv

pix later...

 

sorry to resurrect this as i recently acquired an escort x50 8500 and couldn't believe how SHITTY the suction cups are! so much so that it could be a show stopper for me as what's the use of having a great detector when you can't mount it properly?! grrrrrrr! i have to resort to 'base mounting' so that i'm using the suctions to actually hold the radar from moving laterally only and use the dashboard to keep gravity from dismounting the suctions whenever i go over bumps!

just had to vent on this as i couldn't believe that nobody ranted about the suction cups from all the reviews i looked at online. not a single one!

 

Go to a craft store and get a couple of those montser suction cups old ladies use to hang trinkets on their windows.

 

Sorry to burst your bubble everyone, but the ideal place for any radar detector is as low as possible on the front windshield, and centered. Better chances of picking up a signal, as radar guns are not aimed at the top of your car. It is a nice clean install, but why would you lower your chances by any margin.

 

Radar beams are very wide, so aside from barely mattering where it is, I like that top center I can tap into the mirror and it's very out of the way. If I don't need the radar detector then I completely forget I even have one most of the time, and I definately couldnt say that when it was low centered with a wire hanging out over and down the dashboard.

 

Agree 100%. Radar beam works like a flashlight; beam expands with distance. This is also why a detector can see the beam long before your car is close enough for the radar gun to get a "fix". You can see someone approaching you with a flashlight quite a distance away before they can see you. If you're close enough to a radar gun for the detector placement on a windshield to make a difference, it's WAY too late.

 

Actually, give radar beams width (as mentioned above) the best loaction is high enough so that you get a wide fielsd of view and your rear antenna (if you have one) has a field of view too. Thus, for the radar portion, a high mount is good...

...however lasar doesn't spread nearly as much. Since cops in states with front license plate laws aim at that location, you may give up a bit of laser warning. On the other hand, there is the fact that if you don't run a front plate, they'll waste time tracking the beam up over your vehicle looking for a good hit (which might allow you time to slow).

Remember, traffic lasar is an infrared beam and they need a good reflector...plate (makes you laugh at those BMW's with the mirrored front "BMW" plate in place of a front license plate, doesn't it), headlights, etc.

 

Doesn't laser reveal your speed instantly anyway?

 

Not quite true. Actually, for radar reception, higher is better - increases your chances of getting stray signals as you're cresting a hill, for example. You definitely won't miss anything by going lower - radar basically floods the entire area, the LEO does not aim for you low and center. For LASER, though, then you're reasoning will hold true - lower is better, because the LEO aims for either your license plate or headlights, and the laser is very, very narrow.

Mount high versus low: you have to weigh which pros and cons you want. I mount mine high, as I consider radar reception of paramount importance. Also, I think you'll increase your chances of picking up any stray laser light that might bounce off or through the cars in front of you. I dismiss the laser benefit of mounting low to alert me to when I'm being painted by a laser, since the only thing that warns me of is that it's too late.

 

To weigh in on the 'controversial issue' of high or low is better discussion... I can only contribute this... since my last post (ranting about the suck-hole suction and thus forced to mount at the base), today, while driving back home (about 45mins Interstate driving) and barely any cars early Sunday morning, my Escort x50 8500 was able to pick up the stationary unmanned Ka band placed in the work zone at 2.7miles away! Mind you the terrain was all straight and flat at this point of the Interstate! I calculated the distance when I first received a "beep warning" and then as the signal gets stronger, the Ka band remains lit until my car passes the radar sign stating how fast you're going.

I'll have to experiment again when I can get better suction (or hopefully can get the rearview mirror mount from someone near me who wants to get rid of his/hers). Unless someone has already tested the theory out already!

 

I stand corrected. My thought was that when using the front license plate as a prime target, you would mount the detector as low as possible. Also, flipping through the user manual for the last radar detector I had, it states to mount the device as low as possible on the windshield. Opinions vary I guess.

 

A problem with the low mount, on some cars, is blockage of signals by the "at rest" windshield wipers.

Also, some (particularily high end) cars use materials coated onto the windscreen and/or other glass that will block the radar waves...and for that matter the garage door opener signal. The Corvette ZR-1 was an early example. It's owners manual specifically noted the need to hold the opener transmitter in the lower center of the windshield where a small "mail slot" was not so coated.

 

Anybody using a modified regular telephone cord to power your Escort 8500 x50? If so, would you mind sharing which color of the wire is the "+" and which one is the "-?" I would use a multimeter, but I don't have one at home; only at work so I thought someone can save me the trouble of checking this would be great!

Thanks in Advance!