My custom x50 hardwire

[lookout4theyeti]

I’ve had my Escort passport x50 in my car now for about a year and a half, mounted high above the rear view mirror, but just finally got around to hardwiring it. Since I wanted to make this look very nice and unnoticeable in my car, I put a little extra work into it.

I went to best buy, and bought the hardwire kit for my radar detector. What you get is the main unit, that has a mute button, power indicator, and alert indicator, and the wiring that is needed to hook it all up (power, ground, and detector wire).

Hardwire kit:


I took the main unit apart, putting the sticker off to the side. Then I pulled the interior panel out of my car where I wanted to install the hardwire kit. I drilled 3 holes to match the 2 led’s and mute button into the interior panel. Then I had to sand down the face of the hardwire main unit so that everything would show nicely, and the mute button was usable. I then lined up the main unit behind the 3 holes I drilled, and epoxy’d it all around to hold it in place. Wired it up, and put everything back together. The last thing I did was put the sticker of the hardwire kit back over the 3 holes I drilled.

I have it wired to a source that only gets power when the car is on, but I also added a switch to it so I could turn it off if I wanted. You can see that in the following pictures as well.

This is the final product. I know a lot of people have done this, and I think it looks great. Sorry I didn’t take any “in progress” pics, but if you have any questions just ask, it really wasn’t too difficult.



And the x50 located above the rear view mirror, just below the tint strip

[StiLlsMoKiN875]

Re: My custom x50 hardwire

Nice! :tup: I've seen people put them on the T-Tops too lol

[nascar24jd]

Re: My custom x50 hardwire

Looks very good.

[lookout4theyeti]

Re: My custom x50 hardwire

Nice! :tup: I've seen people put them on the T-Tops too lol

haha I haven't seen em on the ttops yet. People never cease to amaze me :slap:

[zpwn06]

Re: My custom x50 hardwire

I've always been looking for a good way to hide a radar detector, but its gotta be in the window for it to work, yeh? Maybe putting it in the back window would reduce suspicion. I don't know

[lookout4theyeti]

Re: My custom x50 hardwire

I've always been looking for a good way to hide a radar detector, but its gotta be in the window for it to work, yeh? Maybe putting it in the back window would reduce suspicion. I don't know

You can put it in the headliner, and it will still work. You just lose laser alerts. The radar signal can pass through most material. You may notice some reduced signal strength, but if its that important that you must hide it, then it can work. Why do you need it hidden? Above the rvm, most people don't even know I have one.

[t-topV6]

Re: My custom x50 hardwire

looks nice... so... how many tickets has that thing saved you :naughty:

[95astrovan]

Re: My custom x50 hardwire

what's the deal w/ having to hide them? i see some ppl hide em, but then some ppl just hang em right on their windshield. Are they technically illegal, or do cops just look down on em?

oh, and very neat install job there...looks factory :tup:

[lookout4theyeti]

Re: My custom x50 hardwire

what's the deal w/ having to hide them? i see some ppl hide em, but then some ppl just hang em right on their windshield. Are they technically illegal, or do cops just look down on em?

oh, and very neat install job there...looks factory :tup:

Their only illegal in dc and virginia, as well as canada. Im not really trying to hide mine, you get a little better range with it up higher. The fact that its hard to see is a plus though. If you get pulled over and the cop sees it, you are less likely to get away with just a warning.

[zpwn06]

Re: My custom x50 hardwire

what's the deal w/ having to hide them? i see some ppl hide em, but then some ppl just hang em right on their windshield. Are they technically illegal, or do cops just look down on em?

oh, and very neat install job there...looks factory :tup:

yeh. The cops will always give you a ticket if they see it even if you were going like 2 over. They figure you probably speed all the time.

radar jammers on the other hand...are definately illegal

[lookout4theyeti]

Re: My custom x50 hardwire

Laser jammers are legal however though. You just have to be careful using them. You really don't want the cop to know you have one. Once you block his signal and get slowed down to the posted speed limit, you should turn it off to stop jamming his signal so he doesn't know what caused him to get no reading.