RD= Radar Detector
First remove the Glove Box (while closed, remove 4 7mm screws at the bottom of the glove box, then press the sides in so that the box releases from the catches, and out it comes.
Next, remove the A-Pillar cover. Your factory pillar is attached to the car with five mounting clips that lock the pillar onto the unibody. To remove the original piece, work your fingers under the edge of the pillar at the rear of the driver’s door. Applying even pressure, pull the pillar away from its mounting point. A firm, slightly quick motion will release the upper
Optional: Removal of the passenger side kick panel. This is the panel that the fuse panel is behind. Remove the insertable fuse panel cover, and tug at the kick panel from the bottom, pulling towards the drivers side (there's one pressure snap there), then tug towards the rea of the car to release the 2nd pressure snap. At this oint you notice you have to partially lift the piece along the botton of the door, the step area, because the end of the kickpanel is tucked underneath it. Lastly, tug the slim vertical piece from the door frame towards the rea of the car.
Now you have unimpeded access to the areas yoou need.
I started wiring at the RD, and tied the wire around the rearvew mirror mount, so that if the RD's suction cups come unstuck, the weight of the RD wouldn't pull the wire out of the headliner. I then wrapped the wire in 3/8" flexible black plastic ribbon conduit, and ran the conduit from directly above the rear view mirror, tucked just inside the headliner, to the passenger-side corner where the headliner meets the A-pillar.
At this point you will see a wiring harness for all electrics inside the car's dome. I used strips of white duct tape to tape the RD's wire to the harness, following the harness all the down, into the innars of the dash and to the fuse panel. The easy way to thread it down there is to insert the left arm/hand under the dash, while the right hand is feeding the wire; when the lfet gets a hold of the wire, pull and continue to tape the wire to the harness.
Instead of splicing into a wire (which in theory could overload a circuit), I used an "Add-A-Circuit" fuse jumper, and placed it in one of the empty fuse holders (#15) in the passenger footwell fuse panel. #15 was empty, but turns out its "switched"...I tested it when I had all the wiring hanging out, the V1 connected and turned on, and the key in the ignition. This means the V1 now has a dedicated circuit, a safety item IMHO.
The pic of the fuse panel shows that #15 is the empty slot under the middle 5 Amp A/C Cycle fuse (middle from top to bottom) on the 3rd column from right to left. I also made a U-shaped hole in the fuse box cover for the wire to exit freely. The V1 hardwire harness comes with a snap on splicer that makes it very easy to connect the V1 harness to the Add-A-Circuit. The ground wire from the V1 harness was bolted to a bolt that secured the entire fuse panel assembly to the car's body.
Used a 3 amp fuse in the add-a-circuit, but its redundant because the V1 hardwire kit comes with a traditional shaped (cylindrical) fuse in-line (you can see it in-line on the red wire).
I then secured the V1 hardwire harness to the kick-panel, leaving the in-line fuse in the V1 harness accessible when the fuse panel cover is removed.
Looks professional, and now I won't forget to turn the dang thing on, and I can see my TC button again...gotta love a clean, uncluttered dash, and no wires visible except the 6 inches coming from the headliner to the RD, which I placed just under the rear view mirror. Thisposition is optimum for radar detection, while down low on the dash is preferable for laser detection.....the thing is, by the time your detector warns you of laser, and your brain processes whet is going on, the cop already has a readout of your speed, so to me the laser detection is more of an FYI: "FYI you just got nailed!"
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First remove the Glove Box (while closed, remove 4 7mm screws at the bottom of the glove box, then press the sides in so that the box releases from the catches, and out it comes.
Next, remove the A-Pillar cover. Your factory pillar is attached to the car with five mounting clips that lock the pillar onto the unibody. To remove the original piece, work your fingers under the edge of the pillar at the rear of the driver’s door. Applying even pressure, pull the pillar away from its mounting point. A firm, slightly quick motion will release the upper
clips with ease. Once the upper clips are free, continue to pull the pillar downwards releasing the mounting clips as you work towards the dash top. be carefull with the last one, almost to where the A-pillar meets with the dash...at this point the clip is just a guide that is slipped into the A-pillar cover, and mine fell off and rolled into the area between the glove box and door frame, and I had to waste 10 minutes looking for it. There's a vid link of the removal courtesy of Don_w (2nd from the bottom).
2005+ Mustang Pillar Removal and Installation Video:
2005+ Mustang Pillar Removal and Installation Video:
Optional: Removal of the passenger side kick panel. This is the panel that the fuse panel is behind. Remove the insertable fuse panel cover, and tug at the kick panel from the bottom, pulling towards the drivers side (there's one pressure snap there), then tug towards the rea of the car to release the 2nd pressure snap. At this oint you notice you have to partially lift the piece along the botton of the door, the step area, because the end of the kickpanel is tucked underneath it. Lastly, tug the slim vertical piece from the door frame towards the rea of the car.
Now you have unimpeded access to the areas yoou need.
I started wiring at the RD, and tied the wire around the rearvew mirror mount, so that if the RD's suction cups come unstuck, the weight of the RD wouldn't pull the wire out of the headliner. I then wrapped the wire in 3/8" flexible black plastic ribbon conduit, and ran the conduit from directly above the rear view mirror, tucked just inside the headliner, to the passenger-side corner where the headliner meets the A-pillar.
At this point you will see a wiring harness for all electrics inside the car's dome. I used strips of white duct tape to tape the RD's wire to the harness, following the harness all the down, into the innars of the dash and to the fuse panel. The easy way to thread it down there is to insert the left arm/hand under the dash, while the right hand is feeding the wire; when the lfet gets a hold of the wire, pull and continue to tape the wire to the harness.
Instead of splicing into a wire (which in theory could overload a circuit), I used an "Add-A-Circuit" fuse jumper, and placed it in one of the empty fuse holders (#15) in the passenger footwell fuse panel. #15 was empty, but turns out its "switched"...I tested it when I had all the wiring hanging out, the V1 connected and turned on, and the key in the ignition. This means the V1 now has a dedicated circuit, a safety item IMHO.
The pic of the fuse panel shows that #15 is the empty slot under the middle 5 Amp A/C Cycle fuse (middle from top to bottom) on the 3rd column from right to left. I also made a U-shaped hole in the fuse box cover for the wire to exit freely. The V1 hardwire harness comes with a snap on splicer that makes it very easy to connect the V1 harness to the Add-A-Circuit. The ground wire from the V1 harness was bolted to a bolt that secured the entire fuse panel assembly to the car's body.
Used a 3 amp fuse in the add-a-circuit, but its redundant because the V1 hardwire kit comes with a traditional shaped (cylindrical) fuse in-line (you can see it in-line on the red wire).
I then secured the V1 hardwire harness to the kick-panel, leaving the in-line fuse in the V1 harness accessible when the fuse panel cover is removed.
Looks professional, and now I won't forget to turn the dang thing on, and I can see my TC button again...gotta love a clean, uncluttered dash, and no wires visible except the 6 inches coming from the headliner to the RD, which I placed just under the rear view mirror. Thisposition is optimum for radar detection, while down low on the dash is preferable for laser detection.....the thing is, by the time your detector warns you of laser, and your brain processes whet is going on, the cop already has a readout of your speed, so to me the laser detection is more of an FYI: "FYI you just got nailed!"
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