Hardwire radar/dash cam help

[branflake]

Me again. I used the fuse for the rear power windows, which seems to be hot all the time, and set the detector to power off after 1 hour of being still.

Car was dead today, no lights, no response from fob. hasnt been driven in a couple of weeks. It seems there is a parasitic draw from my wiring job or the detector. I need to wire it to something else that is in the same fuse box but goes off with the "key"/engine.

Anyone have recommendations? thanks to all of you that got me this far.

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[roadpilot]

Find a fuse that's only live with key-on.

Also, of your not going to drive it but once or twice a month, keep it on a battery tender.

 

[Radiant]

Anyone have recommendations? thanks to all of you that got me this far.

Keep it on a battery tender, or if you want to throw money at it, look into an Antigravity Battery.

 

[branflake]

never used a tender. anyone have a suggestion? something i'd leave connected to the battery and like snake out through the grille or something? It sat from october to february and fired right up, didnt think something like this would be needed.

As for moving the hardwire, can anyone with a convertible suggest a fuse number that worked for them that is also on the key/engine only? crawling under the dash is a lot harder than it used to be.

 

[roadpilot]

A NOCO Genius from Amazon is about all you really need. 1A or 2A is perfectly fine for keeping your battery in good condition over days/weeks, but you can keep in connected 24x7x365 if you want. They do sell a 2A version that is an on-board/direct mount unit (so all you need to do is connect an extension cord), but I only use those on my SXS units.

 

[branflake]

thanks roadpilot, just checked out your build thread and i love what you did to your DH. Excited to get to drive one in October when i go down to the Ford mustang experience thing.

 

[Will2]

Hey all, my rearview mirror housing does not have the 5-pin adapter all the tutorials show. It's a base Ecoboost (also no USB plug behind the mirror). However, it DOES have rain-sensing wipers (all 2024 Mustangs) so it can be tapped, I just don't know which connector or where? How can I go about finding out? Are there wiring diagrams for these connectors somewhere?

 

[pecco1988]

Hey stang fam, I bought the hardwire kit for my Cobra Road Scout dashcam/radar and ran the wire from the unit under the mirror and around to the passenger footwell fuse box. Got it opened only to discover none of the usual fuse taps or add a fuse i've used in the past will work on the H style Case M fuses (had to look this up). Can anyone help me out with either a tap that will work or another solution? Are the empty slots in the fuse box actually powered? I've read the manual and know which I'd tap if i needed to share, but if there's an empty slot with power, I'd prefer that. It'll auto off after a few hours anyway.

Also, there is a nice bolt and bundle of negatives right under the glove box hinge if anyone else is attempting this. you gotta really crawl in there to see it, but its straight up, about 1/3 toward the right side of the door.

Thanks!

do u mind letting me know what fuse on the passenger side is always hot and which is acc power only. will be hardwire installing my dash tomorrow hopefully. would like some insight thanks in advance

 

[StuffWithCars]

Hey everyone,


I’m trying to hardwire a radar detector in my 2026 Ford Mustang GT, but I ran into an issue. Most of the install videos and writeups show tapping into the rain sensor power behind the rearview mirror, but my base model doesn’t have the rain-sensing wipers/sensor module up there.


For those of you with the base model or without the rain sensor:

• What wire/source did you tap into for switched 12V?
• Is there another connector behind the mirror I can use safely?
• Or did you end up running it down to the fuse box with an add-a-fuse? If so, which fuse worked best?

Trying to keep the install as clean as possible without cutting into anything I shouldn’t. Any pictures or wiring tips would be appreciated.

 

[LouG]

A detector draws milliamps so it's unlikely to damage anything, I'd look for any 12v source up there.
Do you have a multimeter?

 

[D/\rK•650]

Hey everyone,


I’m trying to hardwire a radar detector in my 2026 Ford Mustang GT, but I ran into an issue. Most of the install videos and writeups show tapping into the rain sensor power behind the rearview mirror, but my base model doesn’t have the rain-sensing wipers/sensor module up there.


For those of you with the base model or without the rain sensor:

• What wire/source did you tap into for switched 12V?
• Is there another connector behind the mirror I can use safely?
• Or did you end up running it down to the fuse box with an add-a-fuse? If so, which fuse worked best?

Trying to keep the install as clean as possible without cutting into anything I shouldn’t. Any pictures or wiring tips would be appreciated.

Try one of these, there should be one of these wires running in your car you can tap with the FitDvR kit. They work well and look good. It also adds a USB port that you can use to power lots of things.
https://www.amazon.com/stores/FitDV...=B0DL2QPNQ7&store_ref=bl_ast_dp_brandlogo_sto

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