OK Escort and V1 both have hardwiring kits, but what about the rest of us with cheap(er) radar detectors. Seeing as you didn't shell out the cash for the V1 or 8500....I'm betting you wouldn't shell out cash for a hardwiring kit anyways. There is an easy way to do this.....slice the straight cord for your radar detector and attach the positive wire (red) to a fuse and ground the other wire (black or white). This is easy and cheap but doesn't have a prof install feel. So I bought a thing call Add-A-Mini-Circuit from K-mart. It basically turn a fuse spot into two fuse spot. I did this because I wouldn't need to solder in an inline fuse and very easy to remove. Anyways....now for the install. I choice my Cobra 9000 Series radar detector to hardwire.
These are the things you will need. 1) Crimper set ($5) 2) Tape ($1.50) 3) Add-A-Circuit (Mini Fuse Version) ($9) 4) and of course the straight cord, (free if it came with one or around 20 buck or so).
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Then you pull the A-Pillar off starting from the top. It should look like this now
http://www.acurainspired.com/albums/...1479.sized.jpg
Decide where your detector will be located. I placed mine here because its hidden from outside view by the tint strip.
http://www.acurainspired.com/albums/...1481.sized.jpg
Now slide the cord where the roof meets the windshield, make knots in the cord to keep it in place. Also use the tape to tape down the cord where the A-pillar is. Some use snap ties but these are a pain to take off when you want to.
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Slide the wire down to the fuse.
http://www.acurainspired.com/albums/...1482.sized.jpg
This is the Add-A-Circuit. Basically you just crimp the postive wire from your radar detector cord with this.
http://www.acurainspired.com/albums/...1483.sized.jpg
Now crimp the white/black/blue wire with a spade connector and ground it.
http://www.acurainspired.com/albums/...1484.sized.jpg
Now add a 3A fuse and 30A fuse into the two slots provided on the Add-A-Circuit and just plug it into the 30A Front Wiper fuse slot (thanks Sky for the info on this).
http://www.acurainspired.com/albums/...1485.sized.jpg
Replace A-pillar
Tada, its done. I hope that helps anyone thinking about this. There are easier ways to do this but I felt this look the cleanest and safest.
-Han