Free (almost) radar mount to mirror mod

I wanted to mount my Escort passport 9500ix to the rearview mirror of my 2013 SR5, but I thought the kits were a bit pricey. Well if you’re on a budget, or just cheap like me, you probably already have something that will work.

Take the rear reflector holder off of a bicycle (the one that mounts to the seat post) and put it around the mirror stem. With my particular model (Huffy) I had to add a few wraps of electrical tape to get the clamp to fit tight.

Remove the rubber suction cups from the radar bracket, scrounge up a screw, nut and washer and bolt the bracket to where the reflector used to mount to the plastic clamp. You may have to bend it a bit. Now your radar is mounted just below your mirror.

You can go a step further like I did and add the Escort direct wire Smart Cord and mount the control unit wherever you like. I had a generic ethernet type cord laying around, plugged it into the radar then ran it above the headliner and down the drivers A pillar.

I used a coupler and plugged the smart cord into the Ethernet cable.

Then I spliced the power and ground wires from the SmartCord into one of the the 12v plug wires.

I mounted the control unit in the cubby hole just below the tow/haul switch with double sided 3M tape and by drilling through the back of the cubby hole.

If your fine with the original power cord dangling down from the mirror, this mod is pretty easy and cheap. If your like me and hate seeing wires everywhere I recommend the Smart Cord option.

Also I used a black sharpie on the hardware and Ethernet cable to make them less noticeable.

Cheers

 

I’ll post more pics tomorrow when I have some daylight.

 

Nice work, cool DIY... I'm gonna have to do this.

 

No view from drivers seat?

Cool mod

 

My bad. Pic added

 

Nice job!
I noticed you relocated your rear window switch. How hard was that? Is there enough wire? I want to relocate mine there along with the limited slip switch and use that opening for a brake controller.

 

Instead of trying to get my soldering pencil in there to splice into the harness, not much extra wire in there, I went the easy route and just bought a plug n play extension cable.

I wish the ext cable was shorter than 3ft, but I just coiled it up zip tied so it wouldn’t rattle.

The only “modification” I had to do was take my pocket knife and trim the inside of the new location to fit the grooves that are on the switch itself. The blank plugs will fit any hole.

Super easy job. The harness comes with a plastic pry tool that makes the job easier.

Besides 2 10mm bolts that hold the knee panel, (one by your right shin, the other is behind the plastic piece that goes down to the floor just below the hood release) everything else came apart by hand.

There are write ups with pics on here that better explain the process.

Here’s a link to the harness. You might contact them and see if the can make a shorter one. 12” would be plenty.

https://accessorides.com/products/r...2017-plug-play?rq=yr_2013~mk_toyota~md_tundra

 

Thank you!
That will save me a lot of time.