Yup, that's right kids.... I'm talking about RIPPING out that thing that sits on your headlined/window. You know, the thing that tells you useless, or better yet; inaccurate information!

Has anyone ever heard of this, or think it's possible to do? Take out that unit that meaures your MPG, your average speed, it has a compass and tells you how much fuel you have.... and then HOTWIRE a radar detector up in there. They say they read better up high in the window and they're more inconspicous (which is good because I live in VA and they're... *cough cough*, you know) it's a perfect spot. It may take some fabrication but I'm trying it!

Anyways, ever done it? Ever seen or heard of it done? Anyone?

PS: I rigged a light that tells me if my B&M Shift plus is on or not today.... right in my vision in the dash....

 

how will you get line of sight? it would have to be mounted lower then that console...

 

well I would hollow out the back (facing the window) of the console so the "eye" of the detector would have a vision of the upcoming road. The console back is almost flush (if not flush) with the window itself. It would just need to be cut out.

That or I would get a remote detector where I could put the eye wherever I please. (front bumper, license plate, roof, etc) and just have the reader/control unit up there....

 

those remote ones are freakin $$$$$$... like $400+

 

Yea I know.... I'm going to rig something up and just do some cutting/molding/sanding/painting with an extra head unit. (I'm going to go get one from the junk yard) I'm going to buy this detector to do it with... Whistler XTR-130 (xtr130) Radar and Laser Detector with 360

I'm going to flip it upside down so the buttons are accessible and hard wire it so no dangling wires for power. We'll see how it turns out, I'm sure I can get it up in there correctly and make it function if I have an extra unit to play with. I was just thinking though... why not just use some M3 double sided tape or something of the likes and just hang it on the bottom of the "cpu" upside down? I could still hard wire it with a drilled hole up there AND it could still be discrete.... ya know?

EDIT: Or possibly under the headliner itself? Hardwired and just keep it on the same settings at all times..... make it come on when the vehicle come's on!

 

If your going to hard wire it be aware that not all are 12vdc into the unit it self! The power plug may be a voltage regulator.

 

Gotcha.... ill be sure to check that out!

 

I don't know how discrete you are looking for, But the headliner itself will pull down far eneough that you can put a visor clip in there, if you do not use the visor. Back when I had one, I did that all the time, and hardwired like you said, on with truck, off with truck. Worked great.

 

Yea... the one I'm looking at comes with a hardwire kit for an extra 10 bucks, it also blocks radar detector "detectors"! I'm trying to be as discrete as possible because I live in VA and they're.... well.... you know! I plan to mount the speaker control, the city/highway button somewhere in easy reach but hidden as well (or maybe tap in new switches/***** for the control(s)). I'd like to be able to see the display as well though, not sure how all of that is going to work. I defenitly CANNOT afford a remote detector at a price like $400+ so ALL of this will probably take some soldering, trial and error and time, but I'm good with vehicle electronics so I MAY be able to work something out! I have an OLD Whistler 400 that I plan to experiment with before destroying the $100 one.

Question about the headliner though.... did you have 360* coverage like that? I would think you could only get what's infront of you if the unit and rear "eye" was looking at headliner "stuffing".

 

You kids and your radar detectors...never really understood the point of them...