uglybastard
Autocross Champion
I've mentioned a handful of times over the years about my hardwired radar detector setup, and after recently seeing so many people using the cigarette lighter adapter to power the device that need very little power... Here we go, a review of the setup since i have been running this setup or something like it for years now on my Valentine One.
Parts:
Radar detector (Valentine One but a comparable setup can be used with others...)
suction cup mount (found this one on Amazon) - http://a.co/d/1wP4vot
Fuse tap - http://a.co/d/g8H02lR
direct wire power cord - http://a.co/d/aWhTY3Y
Here's my windshield mount. Note the high location for decreased vision blockage. I ran the wire directly to my fusebox, running along the windshield under the headliner, down the A pillar, along the seam where the A pillar terminates into the dash, and into the fuse box panel.
i wrapped the wire once around the mirror, and wrapped a few rounds of electrical tape around the wire, making it thick enough to serve as an anchor in the headliner. then i used a pry tool to stuff the wire along the previously described path.
I stripped the wire attachments of the other end of the wiring to add the fuse tap. I'm a fan of the "two hooks and twist" method of splicing - if you do this, do as you please. wrapped the splice in electrical tape. grounded to bare metal:
I used a switched fuse, for the rear wiper in slot 41:
Excess wire can tuck into the fuse box. Open to questions if you got 'em. i'll try to get some better pics in here this weekend.
I used this map of the fusebox to figure out what fuse to use: https://www.autogenius.info/volkswagen-golf-mk6-gti-fuse-box/ . using something not switched will drain your battery.
I really like the setup - If you run any of the accessories it's pretty easy to add them to this setup and keep it pretty clean.
Parts:
Radar detector (Valentine One but a comparable setup can be used with others...)
suction cup mount (found this one on Amazon) - http://a.co/d/1wP4vot
Fuse tap - http://a.co/d/g8H02lR
direct wire power cord - http://a.co/d/aWhTY3Y
Here's my windshield mount. Note the high location for decreased vision blockage. I ran the wire directly to my fusebox, running along the windshield under the headliner, down the A pillar, along the seam where the A pillar terminates into the dash, and into the fuse box panel.
i wrapped the wire once around the mirror, and wrapped a few rounds of electrical tape around the wire, making it thick enough to serve as an anchor in the headliner. then i used a pry tool to stuff the wire along the previously described path.
I stripped the wire attachments of the other end of the wiring to add the fuse tap. I'm a fan of the "two hooks and twist" method of splicing - if you do this, do as you please. wrapped the splice in electrical tape. grounded to bare metal:
I used a switched fuse, for the rear wiper in slot 41:
Excess wire can tuck into the fuse box. Open to questions if you got 'em. i'll try to get some better pics in here this weekend.
I used this map of the fusebox to figure out what fuse to use: https://www.autogenius.info/volkswagen-golf-mk6-gti-fuse-box/ . using something not switched will drain your battery.
I really like the setup - If you run any of the accessories it's pretty easy to add them to this setup and keep it pretty clean.
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