Yota heads,

I purchased a Valentine 1 about 2 weeks ago. It paid for itself 2 days ago when I an Accord flew by me and got nailed by the radar cop that the V1 alerted me from very far away. Rock on!

In anycase, I want to hardwire this to my 4runner. Has anyone here hard wired their 4runners for this purpose? Also, being a total dunce to wires and electrical things, I wanted to ask you guys which wire is the best wire to tap? In addition, I bought the little "stealth" display unit too so I will have to run a wire from the V1 to the stealth unit too.

Some ideas I was thinking about:

Option 1: Run the power wire from underneath the dashboard where the windshield glass meets the dashboard.

Option 2: Run the power wire underneath the driver's side A-pillar, 1/2 way across the front headliner and down to the rear view mirror.

I read that the higher you mount the V1, the better which is why I am considering Option 2, given the added work and headache.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Bob

 

Hey Bob,

I'm about to hardwire my new radio shack detector into my corolla and I will probably either wire it directly to my battery or plug it into the fuse box somewhere.

Yes, the higher it is the better, but stay out of the tinted portion of the windshield. The tinting reduces the effectiveness (at least, that's what I heard). Also, make sure you can still use your visors, I learned that one today.

Steve

PS. sorry I haven't gotten back to you about your steps. I've been really lazy lately.

 

Steve,

Yeah, hardwiring it to the battery sounds like the easiest option. Sometimes the obvious just doens't come to me.

Re: step tube project, check your email.

Bob

 

Bob,
Wire the radar detector to your fuse box. Mine is mounted to the left of my rear view mirror and the wire is run under the headliner, down the a-pillar, and tied into the fuse box. It looks great and also performs great. Check out my pictures and you can see for yourself. Later.

Matt

 

Matt,

Are you talking about the fuse box on the bottom driver's side panel or the one inside the engine bay? If so, which fuse did you tap?

Sorry, total dunce w/ the electrical stuff. :confused:

Bob

 

Bob,
I am talking about the one inside by your left leg. It doesn't matter which fuse you use as long as it gets +12 volts when the car is on, you're good to go. Just look in your owners manual and I will see which one I tied into tonight. Later.

Matt

 

Matt,

Thanks bud, I appreciate it. I'll look in the manual myself tonite too.

Bob

 

talk to austin (turboale) he has the same detector wired in his 4runner.
i dont know anything about how you'd want to do it myself, cause i have not wired ANYTHING inside of my truck, but going to the fuse box sounds like your best option. then find somewhere to ground inside your truck. i dont know where you could, but someone probably does. i think there might be somewhere under the panels that are right by the bottom of the door on the inside... know what i mean? but im not sure. talk to austin!

 

hi guys, its really a bad idea to wire anything to the fusebox--thats a terrible way to get power from a toyota. how are you going to do it anyways? Yank out a fuse and jam the wire in on the fuse--those funky fuse taps? A much better way is to tap into the ignition harness which goes right to the battery and can handle some real current without blowing fuses--( god forbid you tap into the SRS system and deploy the airbags!!!!)

heres some wires:

white= direct to battery
black/red= ignition
black/yel=accessory
white/black=ground

use these wires and your all set-- in order to find them, youll have to remove the cover below the steering wheel ( 4 - 10mm bolts) and you can even make it look nice and stealth too!

Tim

 

i run an aux fuse box from painless wiring under the hood. i have my fog lamps run off of it (only thing SOFAR). i plan to run my valentine 1 off of it when i get it and some more aux lighiting along with a VHF or dual band radio. it has 7 circuits and 3 are ignition hot.

 

Hey, i was thinking about doing the same thing with my Passport 8500. I was also trying to figure out if i wanted to leave it at the bottom of the windshield, or put it at the top. Also i was looking for a place to mount the remote warning light and mute button. Any suggestions? The kit is about $25 for me.

David