Ive heard of people swapping the internals of the 4th gen clock with the internals of a radar detector. does anyone have a write-up on this? How easy is it?

 

That sounds neat. I'd be interested in a write-up aswell.

 

Well, if you take off the dash piece and have a look in, you'll see there's plenty of room behind the clock and with a little DIY you could probably simply mount the detector in there. As for swapping the internals, it would probably be messy, not a very clear read out, and something would probably get damaged in the process

I've been thinking about this myself, but I decided against it because placing the detector that low would hinder its functionality

 

Radar detector is illegal in VA [Sob sob]

 

Here is a write up that I just made up.

1) Find a radar detector display the size of your clock. (not the housing).
2) You will need to find metal brackets to mount the radar detector behind the clock housing. (Home Depot or Lowe's)
3) Use the same screws as the ones the clock are mounted on.
4) Wire your radar detector hehe
5) Put it back together.


haha. sounds simple, but to get it right each step has details i'm working on.

 

I'd say the Valentine One remote display would be a near-perfect fit. I'll do some measurements in a while.

I was just thinking about good hiding spots for a detector the other day, I can't believe I didn't think of this. Nice idea!

 

I've seen it done on a 5th gen, it is a pretty cool idea. If I had a V1 I'd probably do it, my cheapie wouldn't work too well in the dash though.

 

That's why you hide them like that.

 

I did it to my car quite a while ago. Just remove the clock from the housing, stibk the detector behind there and support it somehow.

If you leave it plugged in to the cig lighter socket, that ruins the point of a stealth install. I wired mine up through a relay to my fogs, so I can easily and discreetly turn it on and off.

I'll take some pics if yall want.

 

I agree with 'nearthisbridge' about using the Valentine 1 radar/laser detector. I have seen it done in a 4th gen max a while back (SPUDMAN)?. I'm gonna look for it now because I would also consider this if the install is clean enough and if it can be returned back to a stock clock at some point.

 

Valentin One would probably be the best choice. They have a "discreet" display that can be mounted anywhere. A friend of mine installed it in his G35 dash. It looks pretty trick and functions properly without taking anything apart. I am sure there is a write up somewhere, for an install in another car, to get you started.

Get ready to shell out $500.00, but at least you would have piece of mind that it functioned properly.

Good Luck...

 

did this on my WRX, its pretty hot

 

I have one hardwired and tucked above my driver's side a pillar. It is very hard to see even if the cop bends down to talk to me. From the front, the factory tint shield on the top of the windshield hides it very well. I've had my radar detector for over 2 years in the same place and have been pulled over maybe 7 times for non moving violations and the popo never saw it. Sucks to be pulled over for tints, altered suspension, altered exhaust, no front license plate, and such.

 

I hope you all know that even considering mounting it in these spots is very self-defeating. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Radar is a Frequency, so mounting it in the clock would be alright, just reduce effectiveness a bit. But Laser is a light, so mounting it in the clock you immediately lose your Laser detecting abilities.

Also check: http://www.valentine1.com/lab/MikesLabRpt2.asp

And note for EteRnity059, tests have been conducted on a 1995 Nissan Maxima and the Valentine One's effectiveness was cut by 60% simply by putting behind our windshield (a necessity) and cut by 86% when put behind the upper tint band. Meaning your getting 14% effectiveness behind that band.

 

Good Point.

 

by the time my radar detector goes off its too late...

i was once pulled over in Virginia for my radar detector....but the thing was as soon as it went off he turned his lights on, almost as if he had a radar detector detector. do they? because he was very far from me, and also with my 20% tint (which is also illegal in Va) theres no way he could have seen the detector. so what did i do?? as soon as he pulled out of the grass i took it down and threw it under my seat

 

What kind of detector do you have? And how reliable is its laser capabilities, there' a distinct difference between radar/laser, you'll never see laser coming until its too late, or unless they have theirs alway on

 

yes alot of cops have radar detector detectors.

 

Research VG-2 and Spectre, VG-2's successor.

 

Thanks for the info. I have a passport 8500 and I do notice a decrease in effectiveness but not enough to keep me from putting behind the windshield tint. The detector still detects radars from over a mile or two away.

That is enough for me. I'm not the type of person that goes flying down the highway at 100+mph because I have a radar. I use it so that I have enough time to slow down when I'm going maybe 15 mph over which is more than normal in VA.

Believe me, the a pillar is wide enough so that if I put it below the windshield tint, I could get away with it. None the less, I haven't had a moving violation in over 6 years. "knock on wood"

 

My question is the same, what radar detector do you have and how fast are you going? Most mid to higher end radar detectors have VG2 (spelling) that makes them undetectible by police radar detector, detectors.

I do the same thing sometimes and pull the detector off the windshield and throw it under my seat or leave in the side door panel. It depends on how much time I have. Sometimes, I'll just push the visor down to cover it.

 

I think what you mean is VG-2 protection, VG-2 is an older RDD tech, replaced by Spectre which has been successfully detected by some Cobra systems.

 

yea, my detector is probably not the best of em, lol. it a false sense of security for me, but i dont speed anymore so it doesnt matter anymore.

lol, when the cop pulled behind me i threw the detector under the seat. the first thing he said to me was "wheres the radar detector?" , so i pulled it out and gave it to him, and he said "ohh i see, when you saw me get behind you you pulled it off the windshield huh? you do know these are illegal?". i get nervous around cops (dont know why), "no i didnt know they were illegal!" DOH!! im a sissy when it comes to the law

 

I guess it's time for an upgrade!!!

 

It is the same for me. I don't speed that much unless I am traveling out of town where I may be going just a hair faster than regular traffic. I still keep it reasonable. The cops always ask me the following:

"Do you know that your tints are illegal?"
"Do you know that your suspension is illegal?"
"Do you know that your Exhaust is too loud?"
"Do you know that your license plate bulbs have a hint of blue, so they are illegal?"
"Do you know that you headlights are not OEM?"
"What is that shiny thing in the front of you bumper with Red piping?"


I reply with, "Yes I know, but it's cheaper to pay for the tickets you are going to write me than replacing them. I always thought this was a free country, I guess not." "I do appreciate you doing your job though."

Sometimes they are surprise that I am honest and let me go with a warning. Sometimes not.

 

Only illegal in VA and DC, and also in NY but only for commercial vehicles there

 

I'd love to have the security of knowing when the radar is up, but to have to replace the radar detector pretty much annually as the cop detectors get upgraded is ridiculous, are there any detectors that are upgradeable I wonder.....hmmm now that would be worth buying.

 

agreed... very important to realize this.

radar guns use a microwave signal that (a) is very wide and (b) travels very far, making it extremely easy to detect. this is why eternity and myself get warnings far in advance from our escort 8500 radar detectors for x, k, and ka bands.

laser guns use a beam of infrared light - think sci-fi laser blasters - that is extremely narrow (18 inches from 1/10th of a mile away... a.k.a. as you round the bend that he's hiding behind) and commonly reflects off of your license plate or headlights. your detector needs to be within that small area to pick up the beam and/or its "scatter" and alert you.

on one hand, i only pick up consistent laser use around nyc and trenton, and that's from travelling around oh/pa (last i knew, pa didn't have a contract with a laser manufacturer at all) /ny/md/ct/ri/vt/me. also, by the time they laser your car it will almost certainly be too late to react if you are indeed speeding. but on the other hand i expect laser use to get much more popular in the next few years.

bottom line:

"Many radar detectors are loaded with popular features, they look good on your dash and they are user friendly. Unfortunately, most of these units perform poorly at Ka-band and laser detection. Look closely at a detector's specification before you buy!"

http://www.radarbusters.com/performancearticle.cfm

 

^^ EXCELLENT post. I learned.

 

swapping the clock with the radar detector must be sick! does anyone have pics im dying to see it. i have the valentine 1 so i would love to see this and do it my self

 

Did you even read this thread?

 

Here's two pretty gay (read: camera phone) pics of my setup.




Also got a .3gp video of it in action, but nowhere to host it.

Yes, it's held in by nothing but pure electrical tape. It's been holding up fine since August of last year with no problems. I have no idea what that mess is on the wiring to the defrost switch, I guess before I set up the relay I was tapping power from there...hell I don't know.

 

This thread blew up!

thanks for the helpful replys.

So I guess the moral of this story would be if you want looks over function, go for it. But if im going to spend 500 on a good detector im not going to limit its capabilities.

is there a ban on radar detectors in GA?

 

This has been done for years. Back in 95 when I worked as an installer we used to do it regularly. The catch is, you dont use a regular RD. you have to use one with the remote display option. I cant say for sure which brand it was back in 95, but I believe bell, and we used to mount them like that all the time. We had one guy buy two of them, and mout one up front, one in the back and we stealth installed the displays stealth in the guage cluster.
Valentine Ive seen down with the display mounted in the rear view mirror, with the sliver backing scraped off so that when the unit is on, its in the glass, and looks 100% stock when its turned off. VERY clean setup.

 

You can send the V1 and the Passport 8500 and up units back for updates.

 

I still think that it would be mounted too low and would not pick up the small laser beams. To me it is not worth the $300-$400 for the top end radars.

 

Talk about dustyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.

 

I dont agree with ur comment here.

 

Would you like to correct, elaborate and enlighten us then?

 

Its not as easy as he(the guy who quoted that) makes it sound to lock onto a moving target...or car.
1/10 of a mile is 528 feet..with an 18 in line of site.. nailing a "license plate or head light" is not an easy task... say two cars are driven down two lanes..he the cop has to free hand point the lazer that genral direction, say the guy in the right lane is doing 70 and the guy in the left lane (the fast lane) is doing 55.... the cop at that time has no clue which car he hit.... he just knows one is going faster then the other...
and at that point wether ur radar dector is on ur front windsheild or taped to ur headlight really has no bearing on if its gonna pick the lazer up or not.. and on our paticular cars(the maxima).. 18 inches above the head light or front license plate if u have one is almost right were u should have ur RD mounted.

so yes a laser speed gun may be very accurate but accuracy is not the point..The point i was tryen to make or the disadvantage is that the cop has to aim a laser speed gun,
and on top of that has to hit somthing accurate enough for that infrared beam to acutally be sent back to the gun.
Here in the west which i am sure is very different then in the east coast..but out here were u can see for miles it doesnt work well and the plus sides of that distance, is u can pick it up on an RD quite easy with out being detected of speed...

and i apologize for taken it out of context before and i forgot to leave this part of his quote in there earlier..but this is also what i was talken about as well..

"by the time they laser your car it will almost certainly be too late to react if you are indeed speeding."