Hardwiring a radar detector

[bdub85]

Thats why you have a lawyer. We are talking traffic court here. A 10 over ticket is still less money paid then all that radar detectors and jamming equipment. Traffic tickets do not hurt your insurance if you are not assessed points (so, pay the larger fine for no points). The Raptor will get LEOs attention no matter what you do. Radar detectors are illegal in some states as well, I'm sure there is a comprehensive list somewhere "google it."

400 dollars for a detector is less than the cost of a lawyer and the time/hassle spent going to traffic court. Radar detectors are legal where I live. I'm not seeing the downside. lol

Anyways the topic of this thread is hardwiring a radar detector. Please start another thread if you want to debate the use of radar detectors.

 

[crash457]

Thats why you have a lawyer. We are talking traffic court here. A 10 over ticket is still less money paid then all that radar detectors and jamming equipment. Traffic tickets do not hurt your insurance if you are not assessed points (so, pay the larger fine for no points). The Raptor will get LEOs attention no matter what you do. Radar detectors are illegal in some states as well, I'm sure there is a comprehensive list somewhere "google it."

Not sure how you can say that paying speeding tickets is cheaper than a radar detector. Considering the cost of the lawyer and the fine, 2-3 tickets is more than the cost of a good radar detector. Then factor in the inconvenience of being pulled over and having to work with the lawyer and a possible day in court, a good radar detector is a good investment. That's like saying it's not worth having a home security system since your homeowners insurance will pay to replace the stolen items.

As far as being illegal, in non commercial vehicles, they are illegal in Virginia and Washington DC. That's it.

 

[smurfslayer]

Lidar is in fact aimed and they usually aim for the headlights or license plate. This is the same for all vehicles not just the Raptor (although the front of a Raptor has less reflective area than most since they can't use the grill or bumper). Considering Veil G5 is used to coat the headlights and license plate cover if you run a front plate, it should decrease the detection distance for Lidar. As long as you have a detector that detects laser, it should give you time to slow down before they can lock in a speed.

I can’t say whether that coating would help or not and don’t know of any reviews. There are a few plate covers that were tested, on the internet, so the results must be true, right? the plate covers had mixed results the one I remembered working had a distinct appearance but it was many years ago.

The Raptor is a fast moving, brick shaped object, while the grill may be “less reflective”, I’m betting a Lidar gun would get a signal back.

I would also say that it is unwise to just pay traffic tickets, particularly moving violations. These generally haunt you and your insurance bill from 3-5 years. Depending on your age, sex, credit score, marital status and other factors, you insurance could increase quite a lot. There’s quite a lot to it, but as previously suggested, that probably deserves its own thread.

 

[bdub85]

Back to the original topic at hand, I plan on getting the blendmount, and I already have the mirrortap for pulling power from the rearview mirror. It makes for a real clean setup.

 

[Wfo]

Thats why you have a lawyer. We are talking traffic court here. A 10 over ticket is still less money paid then all that radar detectors and jamming equipment. Traffic tickets do not hurt your insurance if you are not assessed points (so, pay the larger fine for no points). The Raptor will get LEOs attention no matter what you do. Radar detectors are illegal in some states as well, I'm sure there is a comprehensive list somewhere "google it."

My valentine has paid for itself countless times!!! Not that I drive recklessly all of the time it's cheap insurance.

 

[Flea176]

Why are people spending 70k on a truck? Because they can

Well, clearly I'm the uncool poor kid in this forum haha

And yeah yeah. To the other guy about starting another thread. Sorry to "hijack" the thread.... Jesus....

 

[SilentShooter]

Back to the original topic at hand, I plan on getting the blendmount, and I already have the mirrortap for pulling power from the rearview mirror. It makes for a real clean setup.

I am picking up an ****** Max 360 with the blendmount and tap. Was going to do the installed route with but the ****** installed is outdated compared to the 360 circuitry. I like the ALP for Laser Jamming but its $$$ for a set of 5 jammers (3 front and 2 rear) and once again the installed ****** unit it would tie in with is outdated. Do not want to deal with the active cruise control and lane sensors on cars setting it off all the time. The new 360 unit is much better by an order of magnitude in its processing of signals

 

[DROPOUT]

Alright .... Here is what I have learned and gathered about adding a Dash Cam and/or Radar Detector to the AUX Switches and my plan of attack on install (my goal is to keep my cig lighter free to use with a USB adapter)

This is my dash cam (love it ~ moving it over from my 4runner)


I plan to run this step down (steps down 12v to 5v)


Now, instead of using a fuse tap, I plan to hardwire directly to an AUX switch with an inline 5amp fuse just to be on the safe side and ground it to the body.


As for the Radar Detector. From what I gather ~ they don't need a step down ~ Plan to add the same 5amp fuse inline and ground it accordingly. Unless y'all feel I should run a large fuse.

This should allow me to manually turn them on & off with a switch and each should power down (even if left in the on position) when the truck gets shut off.

Anyone see any issues with this plan?

 

[Mark986]

Anyone interested hooking up their radar detector with "mirror taps" use the attached diagram. Confirmed and works well with my V1.

 

[Mark986]

See above.