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Anyone Hardwire Their Radar Detector?

Ave

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SM 2014
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Feb 21, 2002
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Rocky Mountain high...
Just trying to cheat a little to save some time ...

Does anyone have a quick "how-to" on hardwiring a radar detector in the Avalanche. Looking for switched power to tap into. Having done it myself in other cars, I have found it easier to call upon other's experience first - it saves a lot of time. Some cars are easy to find power, some are a pain. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks a bunch in advance. :rolleyes:
Ave
 
Note - this applies to a 2005 AV...

I installed a Valentine One and hardwired it in. Jason P.  gave me some advice, as he did it on his truck as well...

Remove the overhead console. There is one screw toward the front, and two clips toward the back. Once you take the screw out, just gently pull down, with a bit of rocking motion, and the console will come down. Diconnect the wires for the map lights, and you can get the whole console out of the way.

Work from the passenger side -- this is a tight area to be working in. Get a small (2 AA) flashlight, and insert it in the headliner area above the passenger side, pointing at the driver side.

Locate the bundle of wires that are glued down above the driver side. Carefully cut away the outer black tape to expose the wires.  You are looking for the red wire. (This bundle is the wire set coming from the mirror. By tapping into power here, the detector will come on when you start the truck, and shut off when you shut the engine off. If you were to tap into the overhead lights, the detector would stay on for 20 minutes after you shut off the truck, just like your overhead lights will if you leave them on...)

Tap into the red wire for power. The V1 came with a nice little tap for just that purpose, and was prewired with an in-line fuse (recommended!). You will also need a ground -- I just drilled a small hole in one of the metal flanges above the conole area, and set the ground with a sheet metal screw.

Now just feed the connector to your detector between the headliner and the windshield. I positioned mine up high in the tint band -- it is almost impossible to see form the outside. Test your connection. Replace your console (don't forget to reconnect your overhead lights), and you have a very nice, almost invisible detector install!

Hope this helps.

(If you are in the market for a detector, the V1 is a very high quality unit - goto http://www.valentineone.com for information. Pricey, but I think it is the best on the market.)
 
I like this Idea.... Do you have any pictures of the radar detector installed?
 
That sounds like a lot of work. Here's what I did on my 2000 Silverado and Av. Just pull the rubber weather stripping away from the the post where the door closes and the window is on the drivers side and pull the plastic molding out a little.

Run your wire inside the plastic molding and loop it up into the headliner. Position your radar detector whereever you want it.

As far as wiring. There is a fuse panel that is accessible on the bottom left side of the dashboard when the drivers door is open. Pull the bottom panel to expose it. Pull one of the fuses labeled IGN and whatever number you want, IGN0 is pretty easy to get to so I chose that one. Wrap the stripped positive wire around one of the fuse posts, and plug the fuse back in with the wire attached. At the front of the panel there are two bolts that you should see. Remove one of the nuts, doesn't matter which, and either put a solderless U type connector on your ground wire, or just wrap the bare wire around the bolt, put the nut back on and tighten.

Put the molding and weatherstripping back together. Wala.
 
Very nice Argentte!!!
 
Naylor, hard wired my detector today using your method, works great. would advise using a light testing switch though, i had two red wires on was hot and one was not,, u should now i got the wrong one the first time, but was easy correction... 30 minute job and super neat..
thanks for info
zeeya
 
Call me paranoid, but use a voltmeter instead of a test light. There is always a small chance of the higher current-draw of a test light frying something!
 
I took a little different approach, with shortfalls and benefits.

Once you get the overhead console off, you'll see the wires powering the map lights. There's a strip of tape holding 4 wires together, some black, some orange, and if I remember right, some purple. Anyway, I unwrapped the tape which exposed an existing bare connector on each wire pair. I simply wrapped the split ends of the radar wires around these points and re-taped the whole deal. Maybe not the most graceful solution, but easier to install and maybe to remove later.

So here's the shortfall. The detector will stay on as long as the map lights have power (~20 after the truck is shut down). Fine with me, as it was on 24/7 before. The problem is this:

When you open the driver's door, the lights and such power up. While they don't come on, they still get power to their switches. This causes the detector to turn on and go through its normal startup.

"Testing. Beep Beep Beep. System Ready."

The problem is, when you start the truck, it causes the power lines to hiccup for a fraction of a second. This, in turn, causes the detector to do its little startup squak again. :cautious:

I might pull the cover off again and rewire the detector to the sunroof switch. This only has power when the ignition is on.
 
Hey fish, when i hooked mine up i used a test light, where as kbm said i should have used a volt meter, but i do not have one. The wire i used only gets power to it when the key is turned on. I have no hiccups when opening the doors like you mentioned. i did check 2 different wires when i did the install and used the one that powers up with key switch. Mine has worked great and soon as i turn key off is goes off instead of staying on with the lights.
my .02 cents
zeeya
 
I hooked up my cb in the OHD(no sr). The only difference is I wired it into the mirror wiring. It only comes on when the mirror gets power. Sunroof wiring should work too.
 
I mounted mine similar to naylor99 with a couple of differences. I hardwired mine to the map light circuit because it was easy to get to and I don't think my BEL 980 draws enough current to worry about the extra 20 minutes. For a location I chose to mount mine inside the cubby hole rather than down by the windshield. I tested the sensitivity by approaching a roadside radar gun from a variety of angles with the detector in different locations. I saw very little difference in sensitivity regardless of where the detector was located. From outside the vehicle it is almost impossible to see the detector in that dark little cubby with the power off. Of course I only have laser reception from the rear, but I haven't come across many laser guns and usually if you do you are already toast.

Radar1.JPG
 
I've wired all mine the same way. I melt the exposed power wire to a paper clip, which I slip in with one of the slots on the fuse panel. I think I went with the wiper fuse this time. I don't think it really matters, just as long as the slot you pick, gets power only when the truck is running. I've got mine mounted in the top drivers corner on the windshield hooked at the edge of the headliner, with the wires running down behind that side panel and into the fuse box.
 
I first had mine wired to the OHC map lights, but ran into the same problem. I didn't want the detector staying on and tripping the 20 run down protection. I went back and wired it to the mirror wiring. It's a lot better and the detector is only on when the truck is on.

You can use a tap splice and it makes a clean, good connection. They are really easy to use too, no cutting or stripping of wires.

 
Naylor you have your V1 located behind the shaded band. The manual suggests this will reduce the effectiveness of the detector. Do you feel the V1 is still reading as effectively located where it is?

The unit located in the console is ideal, but same question.
 
SimTechRay said:
I also used the power from the overhead map lights but added a dashboard switch...I don't like it on all the time. Mounted slightly below the sunscreenband.
Dash Switch

simtechray, where did you find those switches that your using for DRL's and radar on. they look really good there.
 
rockslide said:
where did you find those switches that your using for DRL's and radar on.
Nothing fancy, just from the local radio shack store. A bit dark to match dashboard but I thought the size and shape was good :)

 
I opted for the wireless radar detector by Escort called the Solo. This way I could move it from one vehicle to another. Uses 2 AA and it last for a couple of months.
 
I am convinced that the V1 is just as effective looking through teh tint as it is clear (er) glass. But, I am issing something about the in-console mounting. Is this detector only looking backwards? There needs to be an opening up front -- did you cut open the console?

I've actually been thinking about remounting mine in there, but it needs to see out!

--BN
 
I did a little experiment today with the photo radar van. The V1 seems to read just as effectively at the band level as lower down. No difference was indicated for K band. I then tried it in the console without the unit being able to "see" ahead, and it still picked up the radar; at less distance mind you.

I am going to hardwire mine just above the mirror at the band level. Can't see it very well from outside the vehicle this way.

(y)
 
Naylor99

I didn't cut any hole in the front of the console so therefore I don't have any laser protection from the front. But conventional radar bands (X,K, & Ka) are all radio waves and they travel right through plastic and glass (with some minor attenuation). Your radar detector's antenna is probably enclosed in plastic on the back of your detector. Your installation instructions probably say that the detector needs to be able to "see forward", but that is just to minimize obstructions and maximize detection range. I tested my BEL 980 long and hard before I settled on the console location. With the local roadside automated radar guns I saw very little difference in sensitivity or detection distance regardless of where the detector was located. For more information on how radar detectors work you might check out: http://www.howstuffworks.com/radar-detector.htm It is kind of basic but interesting none the less.

Regards,
Cyclops
 
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