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Adding a backup "warning" system?

dyeager535

dyeager535

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Has anyone thought of adding one to their truck?

I've got pretty bad depth perception, and I like trying stuff like this out anyways, so it seems a good fit.

Obviously these are cheap setups, there are far more expensive ones out there (kind of liking the ones that have a "smart mirror" with compass and built in screen for a backup camera), but to see how much value the idea has, it seems like a fairly inexpensive experiment. http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Parking-S...7235?pt=US_Relays_Sensors&hash=item1c29cce193

I drove a car with one factory in it years back, and I kind of liked it. No idea how it will do with a single rock poking up in the ditch as you back up, but again, for the money, I think it might be fun to find out.
 
The factory tahoe ones work good. I love the "look over your rear shoulder, and see if in the pillar" aspect.

I'd love it without sound, just visual keys.

Let me know how it works out.

Wonder if there is a chrome sensor version. If so, i'd add one right now!
 
Damn you, this post is going to cost me money right now.

As soon as i can find a cheap one, with silver sensors, that is silent, or has an aux. sounder i can skip, i'll order one and try it.
 
The interesting thing is that you can buy the sensor sets themselves in various colors.

Sorry! :)

As cheap as these ones are, I'm sure you could pop open the box and snip the speaker wires, voila, silent!

Was hoping someone had some experience with the aftermarket ones. I know these are going to be cheaply made, but I don't want to buy something that lasts all of 5 minutes bouncing around in the truck.

But there are more expensive ones sold (~$100) and I expect those would hold up much better.

I believe that with a trailer hitch and not wanting to cut the bumper, I'd make brackets for the trailer hitch that puts one on either side of the receiver, and look closely to see where the further out ones could be mounted and still protected. I have no idea if they need to be mounted on the same plane, if they can be angled a bit, etc.
 
Definitely going to drill them into a 2x4 first, and see how it works before it gets installed though. Install won't be fun....
 
More than anything, i want it for parallel parking, and backing close to my garage door.

I back the rig close to the garage door to keep prying eyes out of the back at night.
 
Yes, some of those Chinese "tools" work decent, some suck badly.

Not really sure why they are wired as they are. Assuming there aren't a million wires to each sensor (hopefully two?), you could clean up the wiring by cutting the sensor leads at a central point near whatever frame rail you want to run it down, and use Cat5 cable to get it to the cab. Bit of work I suppose if the cable leads are long enough, but other than not being waterproof, looks to me like the "module" itself could be mounted very close to the sensors, with the display a good distance away.

I had looked at the camera systems, not sure I am ready for a TV screen in the truck. I've seen MUCH smaller cameras though, I see that one getting broken pretty quickly in my case. I should look and see what options are out there.

Then again, when tuning, I could always have the laptop displaying on that screen...hmm. Now if I could tie the screen dimming into the dash dimmer...lol

*sigh* This looks easier to install than the backup sensors....http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Color-I...r_View_Monitors_Cams_Kits&hash=item2a1e4a8191 I've gotta get an idea of how wide that angle is though. I'm not sure the trailer would work to mount and see the whole back of the rig.
 
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Got mine, and mocked it up on a piece of cardboard today.

It works ok. Going to mount them in front of the hitch on some bent gauge metal to test them out before drilling the bumper . Can you see that i'm nervous to drill the bumper?

It was CAKE to cut the beeper out, but when i opened the display module, it was VERY cheaply put together. Lots of hot glue. But oh well, it was $20.

Display was nice and small, was thinking it would be bigger.

Doubt the drill bit will do much though, it struggled on my cardboard mockup...
 
Cool, thanks for the mini-review and pics! I am torn on the camera vs. this type of system, but I think the camera would be limited on mounting options.

If I were you I wouldn't drill my bumper, they are too hard to find in good shape anymore, but I'm not you. :)

If I go this route, I will do what I said earlier with the "inner" ones on either side of the receiver, and will probably just bend some pieces of sheetmetal for the outer ones that will hang off the outer bumper supports. Maybe bend up a piece so that branches and junk can't just rip it off/grab the wire if I am driving forward.

Any idea if these can be mounted at a slight angle other than facing straight back, and still pick things up to the sides?
 
No idea, really. Damn you saying don't drill my bumper, i'm super picky about appearance stuff like this, and they are plastic silver rather than chrome in color.

Hell, for $5 in shipping, i should send you this kit. Mock it up, play with it, buy it off of me if you like it. No pressure.
 
LOL. I understand the looks. I care too (can't tell from the truck lol) and I haven't been able to figure a way to make these things work without drilling the bumper just like you said. Anything else is going to have them hanging out fairly obviously.

Chrome paint probably wouldn't improve their color at all?

Sounds like you might do better with the camera setup? Without drilling I can't come up with a way to mount the camera though, where it is somewhere kind of hidden short of if you have a rear spoiler, the camera could probably be mounted off of the center support bolts, which would keep it fairly well hidden and not require any drilling.

Shoot me a PM if you don't think you can use it. Not real happy hearing the glue part, but that doesn't surprise me at all for the price.
 
If i was to mock it up, i would mount some gauge metal angle to the bottom of the hitch, and let it wrap up the front on either side of the receiver to mount the senders. IN this case, black would have been better. With some work, i could make it blend....but really, the idea was just for mockup. Losing motivation though, if you want to play with it and try it out, shoot me a PM, and we'll figure something out.
 
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