Looking to mount my radar detector

[The_Ghost]

2 things. I have an passport 8500 and want to mount it somewhere. I was thinking just above the rear view mirror. Is this a good location? If so, are there any aftermarket kits to wire it into the pillars so that I don't have my "phone cord" hanging down from the mirror? Any help is appreciated!

[AggreSol]

Originally Posted by The_Ghost 2 things. I have an passport 8500 and want to mount it somewhere. I was thinking just above the rear view mirror. Is this a good location? If so, are there any aftermarket kits to wire it into the pillars so that I don't have my "phone cord" hanging down from the mirror? Any help is appreciated!

hardwire mount radar detector

That video may be of good help or google search a few others.

I'm going to try this after Christmas, seems like a clean and easy install.

[rob the elder]

I have a 9500ix and do not leave it installed when I'm not in the car. Mine is on their single large suction cup holder very close to the dash. I am "hard wiring" it to switched power this winter when I pull the dash. I like it down low near my normal line of sight.

[Rx4theSol]

The Ghost,
I have a Passport hard mounted right above the mirror with this nifty mount bracket. New Escort Permanent Windshield Mount for Beltronics Escort Radar Detectors 9500 | eBay

Rx4theSol

[wspohn]

While I have a Valentine to swap among the cars that I don't drive all the time, I use a permanently installed detector in the Solstice - an Escort SRX (previous model to the current 9500ci) and like it a lot. I always remove my portable detectors when I l;eave the other cars too and feel that leaving them in there will probably get you a smashed window sooner or later.

It's really nice being able to just forget about it when you leave the car - if you do worry about it, I have my read out stuck on the top of the steering binnacle and it pulls off the Velcro and tucks under the dash quickly.

[EarthNTX]

I have mine mounted above my mirror and remove it when I'm at a shopping center or something like that. Someone WILL steal it if they had a chance, especially when the top's down.

[scottydel]

Anyone try these?

Amazon.com: MirrorMountTM Radar Detector Mirror Mount - Escort 9500ix, 8500x50, Solo S3, Redline: Car Electronics

Amazon.com: MirrorMountTM Radar Detector Mirror Mount - Escort 9500ix, 8500x50, Solo S3, Redline: Car Electronics

Will this work in the Solstice?

Amazon.com: MirrorTap, 1000/2000 Series, Radar Detector, Power Cord With Inline Fuse, RJ11: Automotive

Amazon.com: MirrorTap, 1000/2000 Series, Radar Detector, Power Cord With Inline Fuse, RJ11: Automotive

[Carbon Sky]

I have an Escort Redline, and an STi Magnum. I've had the Redline for about 4 years, and the Magnum under 1 year. I recently had the Redline serviced. I took an existing Smart cord, and hacked it up to hide mine like so:



I cut off the green power LED, and jumped the leads (the red LED is wired in series to the green LED). So now when I have the detector in dark mode, everything stays dark and unlit until detection when the red LED right beside the Bluetooth mic lights up. I also left the mute/volume adjustment button intact.

I also put a little red nail polish over the red LED so that when it lights up, I can see it, but it's not bright enough to light up my face.

I've also seen lots of these where most of the smart cord was retained:



I like this option too, but was worried about a cop noticing it. Where as my current setup is practically invisible to LEO (no notice after multiple stops and RIDE/DUI checks).

Or are you trying to keep your smart cord unmodified?

[Carbon Sky]

Originally Posted by scottydel Anyone try these? Amazon.com: MirrorMountTM Radar Detector Mirror Mount - Escort 9500ix, 8500x50, Solo S3, Redline: Car Electronics Will this work in the Solstice? Amazon.com: MirrorTap, 1000/2000 Series, Radar Detector, Power Cord With Inline Fuse, RJ11: Automotive

Just visited those links. HOLY COW, that mirror tap at $30?! I'm in the wrong business . . . I could easily punch these out by the dozen cheap/easily. Even without much buying power by not buying in bulk, walking into a raw electronics components shop or automotive supplies store and a dollar store, it's like $5 in parts. $1-2 for a short phone cord from a dollar store which would be good for 2 of these "mirrortaps", then a fuse for under $.50, some taps for maybe $1, some heat shrink for under $.50 and some wire again under $.50. Anyways. just shocked at that pricing is all.

Oh, and depending on how handy you are at soldering, I'd suggest against using these taps, and solder your connections instead. The automotive environment is quite harsh, and all that temperature extreme with all that vibration/jostling/etc and these taps aren't the best idea. Nothing like using silver solder, and proper soldering technique for OE or better reliability in a car. All you'd need to do is strip back and expose a little wiring, then solder the new wiring to that.

Also, do you want the smart cord functions still? I kinda like having them still, and such a tap would remove that function. But if you don't mind losing the smart cord functions, this would really simplify the wiring.

As for the mount, whatever you end up using, just make sure it's rigid enough to not need constant adjustment, that your existing mirror mount is rigid enough to not sag with the added weight, particularly with bumps and rough road, and that it's still easy to mount and demount the detector as you'll definitely want to remove the detector from the car when parking in public.

[The_Ghost]

Believe it or not Carbon, I had a detector in my convertible Mustang for the first 3-4 years I owned it and nobody ever bothered it. I live in Detroit!!! I couldn't believe it. I wanted someone to steal it so I had an excuse to get a new one. At the end of owning my Mustang I was hoping someone was going to cut the roof to steal it because I needed a roof bad!! I even started leaving $50 in the center cup holder hoping someone would cut the roof....but nobody did!!! LOL! Nobody ever bothered that car. I left 2 booster seats in it with the top down at the Woodward Dream Cruise parked in Mustang Alley at 9 mile and Woodward (not a very good area) and was gone for 7 hours and nobody touched it....but I did find that the car became the cover of a brochure for the Dream Cruise the next year....LOL.

[Carbon Sky]

Originally Posted by The_Ghost Believe it or not Carbon, I had a detector in my convertible Mustang for the first 3-4 years I owned it and nobody ever bothered it. I live in Detroit!!! I couldn't believe it. I wanted someone to steal it so I had an excuse to get a new one. At the end of owning my Mustang I was hoping someone was going to cut the roof to steal it because I needed a roof bad!! I even started leaving $50 in the center cup holder hoping someone would cut the roof....but nobody did!!! LOL! Nobody ever bothered that car. I left 2 booster seats in it with the top down at the Woodward Dream Cruise parked in Mustang Alley at 9 mile and Woodward (not a very good area) and was gone for 7 hours and nobody touched it....but I did find that the car became the cover of a brochure for the Dream Cruise the next year....LOL.

Ha ha ha, interesting. Well if not for theft prevention, I wouldn't leave my detector out for heat reasons. Radar/laser detectors don't like to be left out in cars on hot sunny days. It has been the cause for "service required" on the large majority of detectors where resoldering on the board was the required repair.

To help prevent this problem in the future, part of the design of the pod my STi Magnum is mounted in has a CPU cooling fan. I cut a square hole in the center trim panel, and mounted the fan.




It draws air from inside the dash, and blows it at the bottom of the detector. The pod is air tight at the front, back and bottom, and the only outlet for this moving air is around the opening for the detector itself.



And the switch with the blue LED at the bottom is the power switch for the cooling fan, wired to a constant live circuit to run even when I'm aware from the car. The red LED switch is the main power switch for the detector.

I really only use the cooling fan if I'm driving in the sun on a road trip, or if I park in the sun from about Apr-Sept. If so, I'll put up a reflective sunshield, and leave the cooling fan running. It uses so little power I can easily run it for 12 hours without dipping into the battery reserve at all.

But it seems you have had none of these issues. I will say that my Redline seems much more "fragile" compared to my STi Magnum.

[Carpe Diem]

I did the suction cup mount and stretchy power cord thing for a while and really didn't like it. So, I mounted my radar detector above the mirror as shown in the pics below. I hardwired it into the power source at the back of the mirror. I found the cord from a guy who calls his business Invisicord (260) 341-8987. It's been several years - not sure if he's still in business. I can't recall what I paid for it, but I remember thinking it was really inexpensive at the time. The radar detector is mounted high enough and back far enough that it is not easy to see from the outside unless you really look for it, and sun exposure is not an issue. The other black device in the pics stuck to the windshield is my FastTrak toll road transponder. The little round thingy above the radar detector is just a black rubber cork I used to wedge into the space to stop the detector from vibrating.

[wspohn]

Not going to be of much use to most owners. but it occurs to me that if you gutted the box behind the mirror on coupes only you could house a detector in there. It (IIRC) contains the OnStar antenna.

[DaveOC]

Originally Posted by Carpe Diem I did the suction cup mount and stretchy power cord thing for a while and really didn't like it. So, I mounted my radar detector above the mirror as shown in the pics below. I hardwired it into the power source at the back of the mirror. I found the cord from a guy who calls his business Invisicord (260) 341-8987. It's been several years - not sure if he's still in business. I can't recall what I paid for it, but I remember thinking it was really inexpensive at the time.

Still has a web site:

Invisicord Products Home Page

[cdflint]

Would it be possible to pull the dash, disassemble a detector and install where the airbag indicator light is? Seems like a good place to make it look like part of the car.