Nissan 370Z Forum - [How To] Hardwire Radar Detector w/$2 Mount

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[How To] Hardwire Radar Detector w/$2 Mount

Hey ya'll I'm new to this forum but not new to the Z scene and doing my own Modding. I know this has probably been beaten to death but I thought i would contribute to the plethora of how to hard-wire a radar detector. I used the search button and couldn't find anything like this, so here goes.

First ill start off with the home made radar mount. Why spend $60 Dollars when you can do this for less than $5. I saw this idea on a forum a while back and I thought that it was ingenious! The whole set up cost less than $5.
Attachment 63668

I actually went to a bike shop and got 2 for $2 I also asked them for an old tube. I then went to Lowes and got a pack of 3/8th inch nut and bolts and a tube of loctite.
Attachment 63669

The ring of the reflector is a little to big for the post of the mirror so this is where the old tire tube came into play. I cut a piece of the tube to the same size as the ring. I had to cut 2 rings of tube in order to fit the mirror post. I also used double sided tape to keep the tube in the ring (makes it easier for mounting)...also the key is the tube is kinda fuzzy on the inside so you want to turn it inside out.
Attachment 63670
I used a metal drill bit and drilled a center hole into the Escort mount
Attachment 63671 Attachment 63656
Attachment 63657

Now you want to attach the ring around the mirror post first. The inner tire tube grips the mirror post and a nice snug fit. After its nice and tight (and straight) you will then bolt on the second nut and hinge shown below
Attachment 63658
make sure to put your detector on the mount and adjust to your preference. I have the Escort 9500i which has quite a few buttons on the top so i chose mine to have a bigger gap between the mirror and the detector.
Attachment 63659

Now for the hard-wire...this is something that i did with my old 350. everything is the same from the 350 to the 370.

First thing that i did was get a black phone cord with a RJ11 head on it. Then after some trial and error I figured out that the red and green wires were the power (this might be different with your wire. You can trouble shoot with a 12 volt battery and the RJ11 cord, it will not damage your detector.) With my cord the green was HOT and red was ground.
Attachment 63672
Next I squeezed the black clip at the base of the mirror and was easily able to remove the black cover to expose the soft wire cover that holds the 3 wires to power the mirror
Attachment 63678
the next thing i did was look at the wire block that i disconnected from the mirror and figured out that the black wire with MAROON stripe is the HOT switched wire. there is another wire there that is black with an yellow stripe, leave that one alone! The black wire with a white strip is the ground.
Attachment 63674
Next thing i did was split the soft sleeve and locate the 2 wires stated above. I gently scraped away the plastic coating to expose the wire underneath.
Attachment 63673
After exposing the wire underneath I just loosely connected the RJ11 wires to make sure that they were still hot and plugged in the detector.
Attachment 63677
Now that I see everything is good to go I go ahead and wrap up the exposed wires with black tape (its better to solder them together but my solder gun was lame) and wrap the sleeve up with black tape.
Attachment 63676
Now I just replace the clip that i took off earlier.
Attachment 63675

All Done! Hopes this helps some folks out.

Nice cheap mount. Thanks for sharing

Awesome!! Thanks for posting this!! I've been wanting to do this, but didn't want to shell out $60+ for a mount.

wow good job! :tup:

i use that invisible mount or blend mount or watever they're called. bascially the exact same thing but costs like x40 more than $2... :icon14:

Thanks ya'll :tup: there is no need to pay a grip for a, well, a grip. had mine for on for around a month and still hangin in there.

Just tryin to do my part for the forums :)

Def. going to do at least the mount part, but I'll have to get the hardwire kit from Escort to run down to the console so I can make use of the empty switch slots there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Haboob (Post 2211380)

Def. going to do at least the mount part, but I'll have to get the hardwire kit from Escort to run down to the console so I can make use of the empty switch slots there.

that part is a great looking mod but IMO a little too much work just for a silencer button since the detector is so close to you to silence. But Rock on with it :happydance:

One month later and still keeping it together :)

Attachment 65338

Hard wire done! Thanks for the tip.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TKomodo (Post 2229626)

Hard wire done! Thanks for the tip.

:tup:

CB, I'm stuck on step one. I can't find a 2 dollar bike reflector. Only a bunch of electronic strobing LED crap...

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperDave (Post 2573889)

CB, I'm stuck on step one. I can't find a 2 dollar bike reflector. Only a bunch of electronic strobing LED crap...

just hit up any bike shop around town for like $2 or get this

Amazon.com: Sunlite Round Rear (Red) Bicycle Reflector with Bracket: Sports & Outdoors

( Click to show/hide )

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cbtech (Post 2180271)

Hey ya'll I'm new to this forum but not new to the Z scene and doing my own Modding. I know this has probably been beaten to death but I thought i would contribute to the plethora of how to hard-wire a radar detector. I used the search button and couldn't find anything like this, so here goes.

First ill start off with the home made radar mount. Why spend $60 Dollars when you can do this for less than $5. I saw this idea on a forum a while back and I thought that it was ingenious! The whole set up cost less than $5.
Attachment 63668

I actually went to a bike shop and got 2 for $2 I also asked them for an old tube. I then went to Lowes and got a pack of 3/8th inch nut and bolts and a tube of loctite.
Attachment 63669

The ring of the reflector is a little to big for the post of the mirror so this is where the old tire tube came into play. I cut a piece of the tube to the same size as the ring. I had to cut 2 rings of tube in order to fit the mirror post. I also used double sided tape to keep the tube in the ring (makes it easier for mounting)...also the key is the tube is kinda fuzzy on the inside so you want to turn it inside out.
Attachment 63670
I used a metal drill bit and drilled a center hole into the Escort mount
Attachment 63671 Attachment 63656
Attachment 63657

Now you want to attach the ring around the mirror post first. The inner tire tube grips the mirror post and a nice snug fit. After its nice and tight (and straight) you will then bolt on the second nut and hinge and show below
Attachment 63658
make sure to put your detector on the mount and adjust to your preference. I have the Escort 9500i which has quite a few buttons on the top so i chose mine to have a bigger gap between the mirror and the detector.
Attachment 63659

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cbtech (Post 2180274)

Hey thanks for this, saved me a lot of time today and was spot on.

ill hit you with some rep tomorrow when i have more to give out:tup:

I'm glad it worked out for you :)

Post a pic if you got one