Has anyone hardwired their radar detector into the vehicle's electrical system? I did it on my old ('97) Ram, but recently bought a 2010 & am mulling over the best way to gain access to the wiring harness (in the headliner)

I really haven't yet spent a great deal of time on this, figured I'd ask others first before plowing ahead and creating more work for myself.

Thanks in advance!!

 

I have mine mounted on the top of my rear view mirror with velcro and hard wired to the inside fuse panel on the keyed side of the wiper fuse. Comes on and goes off with the ignition. Been that way for over 11 years.

 

Thanks.

I was hoping for something just a tad more elegant

On my old '97 it was a piece of cake to get into the overhead console & tie it in to the courtesy lamp circuit. Of course that was hot all the time, but really wasn't much of an inconvenience to turn it on & off.

Above the mirror on a 4th gen truck puts it behind the "RAM" mask. This would work for conventional X/K/Ka band radar (RF signals) but blinds it from lidar (laser). Yes, I realize a "laser alert" is not so much of an alert as it is an "announcement that you've just been caught" but I still want that feature to work.

Does anyone know what the trick is to open or access the overhead console on a 2010 (4th generation) RAM? Sadly, mine does not have the "HomeLink" unit, it's just the basic courtesy lamps & rear window control, the latter of which is switched by the ignition. I notice too there's a slot already notched in the front edge of the headliner, presumably for the electrochromic mirror wire (which mine also does not have)

Thanks!

 

Just be careful when tying into those circuits in the overhead console because all of them in one way or another is controlled by the CTM and could cause you some unexpected problems.

 

I ran my wire across the headliner, down the a-pillar, and tied in to the 12volt outlet that is controlled by the key.

 

Thanks. I'd given some (albeit brief) thought to going that route. I tied into the electrochromic mirror circuit on my wife's '12 Acura TL & with tiny black wire and a couple miniature black ty-wraps the job looks A1, even the dealership commented on the workmanship, making me feel even better.

I'm a retired broadcast engineer & comfortable working on 50,000-watt transmitters as well as intricate circuits inside Motorola commercial two-way gear, pagers & walkie-talkies, so I'm pretty sure I have the needed skill, albeit perhaps rusty I was mainly looking for installation suggestions & examples as well as a how-to primer for accessing the overhead console. As it turns out, console access is brute force; grab & pull, it just snaps out, starting at the back.

The Escort 8500 has an initial power-up "inrush" current of approx. 875 ma (just under 1 amp) with a working load of 275 ma. The Escort Solo-2 has substantially less, not quite 300 ma inrush & less than 100 ma. in operation and 200 ma in 'detect/alert' mode. I can't imagine the CTM being that sensitive, particularly when the rear window switch circuit is there. Granted the window motor is probably relay-driven, but I should still be able to steal 1 amp from something. In terms of 12v DC systems, 1 amp is practically nothing.

I may also look into finding a wiring harness diagram, as there are likely several unused wires in the loom. I have a telephone lineman's "toner" and sniffer tool that might help in locating 'the other end'. I really didn't want to take apart the A-pillar unless there was simply no other way.

I guess I'm just a little disappointed (as well as surprised) this group isn't more into nifty-keen custom installations & built-ins...

 

I remember seeing a post where somebody tied in to the power for the mirror up there, can't find it though.

FYI, the A-pillar comes off very easy.

 

Tie it into the rear of the powered mirror. They make power cords for different detectors that just plug into the power plug of the mirror. Got mine off ebay. Took all of 2 mins. Turns on with the truck

 

I hooked the positive on mine to the power wire on my radio that turns on with the truck. Hooked the ground to a ground. Pretty easy job.

 

Thanks.

I found some information about the "roll-your-own" power cord using a phone cord (preferably a black one, which I have)

First look at the RJ-11 phone connectors on both ends of the cord and note well that a standard phone cord is what's known as a "crossover" cable, meaning that the wire colors at one end of the cable are reversed at the other end. This can bite you if you're not aware of it.

When deciding which end of the cord to whack-off the RJ11 connector, make sure you cut off (and toss) the one where the wire sequence (as viewed from the top of the connector, with the cord in your hand and the connector facing away from you) is (left-to-right) Black, Red, Green, Yellow in that order. This is the connector to remove.

The end to keep (leave the connector on the cord) is wired opposite. Again as viewed from the top of the connector (where you can see the gold pins) with the cord in your hand and the connector away from you the color sequence left-to-right is: Yellow, Green, Red, Black in that order!

You may have difficulty seeing all the wire colors. No problem, as long as the left-most wire (as viewed as explained above) is Yellow and the right-most wire is Black.

You will not use the Yellow or Black wires. Remove them

Now, assuming you understood the above directions of which RJ11 connector to remove and which one to leave connected, the Red wire is +12v and the Green wire is Ground