Any aftermarket bumpers compatible with BSM + RCTA?

Thanks for the heads up.

 

Now we just need a guinea pig…whose going to be first to let us all know how good it works?

 

I’m glad CBI finally released it. However, with the heavy steel and a 16 week lead time, I still have no regret getting the ICI aluminum bumper.

 

When you gonna install that thing?!?

 

Trying to find time. Lots of travel and Holiday cutting in. Getting new shoes put on today as well as a BMC so I may attempt it this weekend.

 

Someone has the ICI installed here:
https://www.tundras.com/threads/2-5-gen-bumpers.9193/page-20#post-2233206

 

That was the generation 1 version made of steel. You can see the tow hooks on the underside. The aluminum gen 2 had the tow hooks removed.

 

He should take it off and curl it.

 

@RainMan_PNW I finally installed the ICI Aluminite bumper this weekend. I'm not completely finished for I'm working through a license plate light issue, so I have not tested the BCM system yet. But in the mean time, here are some pics and my thoughts.

• Overall Impression: While there are some things I think could be better, overall, I like it and give it a thumb's up. I'll reserve this right to change this opinion until I test out the BSM functionality.
• Build Quality: Top notch. The build of the bumper is really good.
• Biggest Grievance: As good as the quality of the bumper is and as much as they charge, they really went cheap on the license plate light. The license plate lights are extremely cheap. They use the "bolt" type lights with extremely thin wires and then supply end but connectors expecting you to cut your truck harness wires and connect with the butt connectors. There are also no other holes in teh bumper behind the plate in order to run a while for any other type of license plate light. The wires on the lights are so thin that they have a single strand of copper . There's no way I'm going to cut the connector off of the factory harness, so I've been hunting for the male version of the connector. So far, no joy. I did find a T10 connector that will allow me to plug the lights directly into the factory license plate light socket.. So I will give this a try.

Overall Look



Weld Quality


Tastefully placed logo. I like it on the top closest to the tailgate instead of a overwhelming logo on the rear face.


I do think the bumper could be about a 1/2" shorter (side to side) to fit a bit more snug to the body. But this could potentially vary from tuck to truck. Also, this bumper sits slightly higher than the factory bumper. I have a under tailgate break light which was mounted just above the factory bumper to clear access to the spare tire hole and the ICI bumper just hits this light. The light is still clearly seen, but the bumper would normally be pushed in a bit more (about 3/8"). I did not fell like moving the light so left it as is.



BSM System

While I have not been able to test the BSM functionality yet, it does appear that they got the design right.

• The sensor mounting bracket supports the pre '18 sensor type (horizontal mount) and the '18 and later vertical mounting.
• It appears that they got the angle of the sensor correct.

EDIT: They provide a self adhesive cover for the side panels. I'm not a fan of the self adhesive part because it makes maintenance in the future more difficult. The od provide metal plates that bolt in for those without BSM sensors, and think they could have used the bolt holes to provide some sore of "ring" plate connector for the plastic panels. This would have eliminated the self adhesive part.

• When connecting the sensors I noticed that the factory sensor harness was too short to connect to the rear parking sensor and the BSM sensor.

• This was because they moved the BSM sensor more forward on the bumper.. The sensor is 2-3" more forward.

• While this initially annoyed me because I had to unwrap the harness tape in order to separate the parking sensor and BSM sensor wires in order to reach the BSM sensor. After analysis, I can understand why their engineers moved the sensor forward. It was done so that the angle of detection on the BSM sensor would clear the metal bumper on the rear side of the sensor for property BSM detection. So, kudos to the engineers for doing this right.

All in all, I'm happy with it. It does provide some decent clearance and looks nice. Will update later after testing the BSNM functionality.

 

Very interesting, thanks for the post. Did you happen to see how CBI built adjustment springs into the BSM sensor bracket on their bumper? I wonder how the ICI would allow for the BSM sensor to be aimed/adjusted.

 

No, I did not see that on the CBI bumper. This is easily achieved on the ICI bumper with the use of washers on any of the 3 mounting screws. Takes a little more time but the sensor can easily be adjusted and aimed.

 

CBI rear install for reference:
https://youtu.be/mrl-u8a4Yt0?t=342

Looks like it is bolt - sensor - spring - mounting surface. Not sure what to make of the springs if the sensor is free floating. Looks janky. If he can compress them with his fingers its probably not doing much for shock absorbing if dampening is what it is intended to do.

 

Yea, not sure how I feel about a spring loaded bolt tensioner. While it may save a few minutes in adjusting the angle of the sensor at least I know with washers and a hard screw that the sensor is solidly mounted.

 

@Saltyhero13 , @RainMan_PNW , I was able to do some initial testing on the ICI bumper BSM support. This is just the initial testing but so far looks promising. In this test, I concentrated on being passed and did not test the passing feature.

Being Passed:

As far as I can tell, it appears that the BSM light up when it was supposed to. The light turned on when the approaching vehicle was still in the mirror view and turned off as the vehicle was passing the driver/passenger door.

The following photos show the video frame as the light just turns on and just turns off.

 

Yes. I think the ICI has the better mounting solution.

As an aside you can try some Moongel if you need extra dampening.

Looks legit! Glad the install had minimal issues. Seriously.

I wouldn't expect the scattering I saw on the channeled design, this one has appropriate clearances and positioning.

You'll notice the timing and position of the indication will change if passing others. The light will appear later and shut off later.

The difference between the two, passing and passed, is the size of the sensors "object rejection", meaning object must be larger than the difference to be detected.

 

Thanks, ICI seems to have done their homework.

On another note, I was looking at the CBI video again and it appears that they only support the ‘18 and up sensor mount. It looks like there are only holes for the vertical mounting and not the horizontal mounting.

 

Good catch. Disappointed in CBI but some of the drawbacks can be modded. Still on my radar.

I'm still looking at if I can MacGyver something onto Ironman after looking at these side by side, I'm thinking tight fit for 18s or no for 17s.:

 

Depends a lot on how compressed that spring is at the set point - it looks pretty well loaded and probably not too prone to movement. Another option would be to make up some delrin or nylon bushings and a rubber washer or two once the rough dimensions are figured out.

And you're right, it does look like CBI only supports the vertically positioned BSM units from '18 and newer.

He's also wrong in the video when he says they are "directional" (left vs right) - the sensors themselves are not. It is all in how the signal is routed to them from the ECU - it home-runs to the first sensor and then daisy-chains to the second one.

 

The more I look at the CBI sensor mount, the more I question it. The mounting plate is set way back and at a fairly steep angle. Flat mounting the sensor would put it too far back and the rear angle of the signal would not clear the steel at the rear of the bumper. They had to put the spring screws in to make the sensor angle more correct. In the last pic, the right side of the sensor is cranked down and the left side is fairly loose. The angle of the sensor does not match the mounting plate. I don’t like this because it solely puts the burden of getting the sensor angle correct on thee person installing the bumper. Unlike ICI who matched the mounting angle of the stock bumper. I feel the CBI will defiantly require a dealer calibration and that’s if a dealer would even do so on an aftermarket bumper.

 

As long as they took to release it, I have no doubt the CBI works as it should. I guess time will tell though.

 

He may not know its a logical assignment and not a physical one. The single part number is listed as a left/right module.

According to this video, the diagnostics reports one as master and the other as slave around 1:30:
https://youtu.be/_RPCYwpN6YE?t=91

 

Potentially it does. However, their design concentrated on providing adjustment flexibility. Meaning there is such a wide variance of sensor mounting position that will require a dealer calibration. The sensor mounting is not a true plug and play and your done situation. The installer will have to guess on the position of the sensor which may or may not be correct. The possibility of error is higher than I like.

 

I’ll start a gofundme, everybody pitch in some $$$, and I’ll be the Guinea pig.

 

I like how you think!

 

I often work with MIL STD 810 so I'm skeptical. Not shitting on CBI's design. Issues with the design can be fixed with some minor mods IMO.

The last pic in your series shows how janky the set up is, it doesn't even look like the left side of the sensor is resting flat against the bolt head. The sensor will be jumping around on washboard trails. Identical to the design of a keyboard's key or other spring-loaded switches/sensors.

At minimum I would opt for a stiffer spring to prevent the sensor from seating improperly as shown in your screen shot. Ideally I would look at some anti vibe standoffs with an option for adjustments using a short bolt + washer/spacer. A few other options I could think of as well but this is ACE hardware cheap.

The free floating nuts don't look secure or sturdy as an anchor point. It is easy to reduce any play in the system if you use standoffs instead of a bolt as long as the standoffs seat flush with the mounting surface. Longterm, untreated rubber standoffs will rot; other materials would have to be selected if these can't be maintained and greased.

I would look at some connector grease as well; maybe some tape. All of these bumpers will scoop water at higher speeds; another reason I was looking at the minimalist tube designs.

The shiny sensor covers needs to go. Wonder if Kydex works as a substitute; I have several panels laying around.

Concur. This was my concern with the removable mounting solution of the other bumper as well. The CBI system looks like its is less of a nightmare to calibrate but it can be problematic without prep.

Without access to cal equipment I would look at recording the sensor's orientation using an angle gauge/level or similar sensor. You'll need an index. These measurements plus height will get you in the ball park. The sensor allows for some degree of error; I think it was ~+/-1.6* or so maybe more.

I'm still interested in the CBI bumper just not a critical need at the moment. Leaning towards modding the Ironman for snorts and giggles.

 

Finally got the connectors in and was able to button up the license plate lighting. Was able to connect them into the factory harness without cutting or splicing/tapping into the Truck wiring.

Now that I verified correct BSM functionality, I installed the plastic end panels. Not a fan of the plastic end cap install. The back of the end cap is 3M self adhesive which you simply pull the film off the back and apply to the bumper. The actual contact is about 1/2” around the edge of the hole. I didn’t feel like peeling the whole back film off just so dirt and debris can stick to the inside of the covers so used a razor blade and straight edge to only remove the film along the edges.

final judgment:

 

ICI Looks better than expected.

Thanks for the Ironman Raid pics @dankberries . Temptation. temptation.

 

Few more pics outside the garage and in the open. I am really liking this bumper and glad I bought it. It is exceeding my expectations.

 

Kind of matches the MGM tone in the pics

 

Not bad but failing to see what benefit it offers over the factory bumper.