Relocation / protection solutions for Blind Spot Monitors?

I screwed up and bought a truck without doing my homework, and ended up with the blind spot monitoring system. The dealer told me the sensors were in the mirrors, and I just assumed he was correct.

Given where I live and how I'll use the truck, the BSM system is of very little use or importance to me but, as long as I have it, I figured I might as well quit being a neophyte and learn to utilize all this this new nanny technology.... even if it's kicking and screaming as I go.

However, mounting expensive, sensitive and fragile radar units into flimsy, plastic-covered bumpers strikes me as the worst idea in the world. Maybe it's suitable in an urban or suburban environment, but I'm nervous and doubtful about my rural, mountain use. I'm not in any way an "off-roader" in the sense that many of you on this forum are, but my bumpers are regularly dragged on rocks or dirt roads with steep approach angles, caked in mud, nerfed into frozen snowbanks, submerged at the boat ramp, covered in slush or fenderbergs for 7 months a year, twisted, bent, dinged, and bumped. They're bumpers... on a truck.

(Conversely, I might drive on multi-lane roads one or two times a year if I'm lucky. I know I could just ditch the sensors and turn off the system, but the idea of paying for something that I can't use - and of having residual componentry, buttons and dash settings - just bugs me in principle.)

Am I worrying for nothing, and will these hold up? Or am I smart by trying to proactively protect them? Or is trying to do anything non-stock going to be an exercise in frustration which should make me consider returning the truck for something else?

The only aftermarket bumper I can find is the ICI one, which isn't a great solution. Are there others yet? Honestly, I'd be 95% happy with just the replaceable, chrome, steel, OEM end caps, if I could relocate the radar units out of harms way. Has anybody successfully engineered some other sort of mounting system in a more protected location?

 

Don’t know if this helps but I have the BSM on mine. When I bought the truck from a private sale the previous owner had clipped a snow bank and ripped the entire resin corner off and tied it back on with screws and string ties. Idiot! But the truck was nice and the price was right. Plastic bumper broken, no big deal. The BSM was still in there with the harness ripped out of it. I just took it out and brought it to the dealer and said WTF is this? He said about $800 and a recalibration fee! I put it aside. Fast forward to me replacing the resin bumper on my own and LOL breaking it yet again. I found out about the recall for the flimsy bumper and had the dealer replace the bumper ends. I ordered a new harness. At that point I didn’t know if they even worked, just a warning light when I turned it on. Anyhow I hooked it all up and the system kicked in and works fine since then. It had been through hell and back. Since then it’s been through some pretty nasty snow and ice up and down the state through the “Hainsville Woods” on route 11 (old country song about Maine truckers) with endless springtime frost heaves the size of Volkswagen bugs and is working just fine. I do both city and country driving and ended up really liking it. The bumper sucks on a truck this size but the system has been pretty bullet proof IMO so far. So far as moving it. I don’t know about how shielding will affect it. Mine will pick up cross traffic, even bicycles, on the street or a parking lot from quite a distance.

 

Thanks. Definitely good to hear that they're "electronically" reliable as long as they don't get smashed. I had worries regarding both the electronic and the physical durability. Summer and boating season is almost here, so I guess I'll figure out soon enough if submerging them for long periods of time is problematic.

Unless I or someone comes up with another solution, I'll keep crossing my fingers for a subtle-looking-but-durable aftermarket bumper that is compatible. What was the flimsy bumper recall? I haven't heard about that yet. Mine is a low-mileage, certified, 2018 truck, so I assume it's been resolved even though the "bumper" is the flimsiest I've had on any vehicle ever... by far.

That $800 microwave unit cost, PLUS dealer installation and calibration cost, PLUS bumper parts cost, PLUS paint-matching costs is what I'm dreading and hoping to prevent. A $1,500 bill every time some jerk backs into my truck in the parking lot, or every time I back into a snowbank that's more frozen than I anticipated, etc., etc. is a daunting prospect. People keep saying that this technology benefits your insurance premiums, but I suspect that the actuarys are well aware of the compounding repair costs and that they ding you accordingly.

I just don't understand why Toyota would locate these in the what is literally the most vulnerable part of a truck instead of, for instance, behind an enlarged taillight lens.

 

I guess I just needed to do a google regarding the bumper recall.

https://www.equipmentworld.com/toyota-recalls-2016-2017-tundra-due-to-bumper-defect/

Jeesh...

 

Aha! THIS is what I was hoping for. I'll be watching to see what they come up with and whether the sensors alone will plug-and-play with factory circuitry, but it looks promising and if this one doesn't work maybe the next company's will.

​

VOXX Electronics Introduces the Advent Factory Taillight Replacement with Built-in Blind Spot Detection
“The Advent Factory Taillight replacement with built-in blind spot detection analyzes the environment and warns the driver through audible and visual alerts of oncoming objects from both the driver and passenger side, providing an OEM experience for a fraction of the cost,” said Aron Demers, Senior Vice President, VOXX Electronics Corporation. “Truck applications are the focus for our launch, as most aftermarket radar-based systems out today have a limitation on vehicles with metal bumpers. This system will be the industry’s first aftermarket blind spot application for the Light Duty Truck Market. With a simple installation in mind, the Advent Factory Taillight is a clean and quick install – requiring no drilling or body modifications. The sensor is preassembled in the replacement taillight, therefore reducing installation error of mounting the sensor."​

http://www.12voltnews.com/2018/02/0...light-replacement-built-blind-spot-detection/

 

You sound a little dramatic about this. Mine works great and I use it alo, it's ticking right along without issues. If someone backs into it, their insurance can fix it. Enjoy the truck dude

 

Ha! I probably am. Admittedly, much of this fear/drama comes from unique personal experience in the facts that I've been badly rear ended by a drunk driver in the past, and that I've returned to my truck in a parking lot to find the corner smashed more times than I can count. In the former case, the guy had insurance, thank goodness. In the later, people rarely - though sometimes - leave a note, so it would be MY insurance deductable. I've learned to live with a beat up bumper, and the reason I even discovered this issue is because I was trying to just preemptively replace the body-colored, resin end caps with more durable, chrome, steel ones while I was doing some other things.

That, and the fact that snowbanks are inevitable and always on my mind* - driven home by yet another record snowfall this past winter and the fact that it's STILL snowing on a near daily basis even as memorial day weekend fast approaches.

I'm very, very glad to hear that they are ok from a reliability standpoint, though.

(* the issue, for those who are tempted to say "why don't you just not hit the snowbanks?," is that by the end of winter a normally- 22 foot wide road or driveway is usually down to about 10 or 12 feet with 10 foot high plowed banks on the sides, and it's virtually impossible to turn a truck around WITHOUT pushing into the snow, or to move out of the way so someone can pass, or to park, or to unload a snowmobile if that's your thing.)

 

You'll be fine. I just came from a gmc, have had Ford, dodge yada yada...my current 2017 tundra is by far my favorite truck.

 

Mine is a 2016. The bumper extensions were entirely bolt on “resin” frames with the BSM bolted inside. They would crack at the slightest tap. I also heard that they wold snap if someone over a couple hundred pounds used the corner for a step. Toyota Probably had lawsuits for dental and jaw work . They were replaced by a stiffer metal frame and capped with the same overlay. It is by no means a bumper, but you can stand on it and it’s mounted solid. Have had no issues with mine except the tech installed them an inch back so the gap is much wider. Looking at it reminds me what happens when they take your truck behind the curtain. I don’t like those guys touching the truck so will do it myself.

 

I'm having a problem with replacing my current brown bumper ends on my 17 Tundra limited with new chrome ends. I took it apart last night and discovered the object sensor was bolted to the original bumper end. The problem is my new chrome ends do not have a place to bolt this unit. It looks like I will have to zip tie it to the bumper support unless anyone else has a better way. I can't be the only person who has done away with the color end caps and went with chrome with the back up sensors in the rear bumper.

 

You're certainly not the only person who's WANTED to replace the colored, plastic caps with chrome ones. But it won't work. The radar actually transmits and receives through the plastic cap. Covering it with chromed steel will block the signal. Toyota supposedly even specifies that the plastic caps must not be repaired or painted in order to prevent interference.

 

FWIW, somebody here DID paint theirs with some kind of textured, black rattle can paint or liner, however, and the radar still worked. So that's an option for when they get scuffed up.

The lack of funtional bumpers on these trucks - rear OR front - is a source of daily distress for me. My family is tired of hearing me complain. I think I"m going to eventually get a REAL aftermarket bumper - hopefully chrome - and just do away with the BSM system. At that point, I could get the larger towing mirrors too, since I wouldn't need the indicator light.

 

Am I understanding this right that all Tundras with this system did not have the rear chrome bumper ends? I've seen some Tundras that have the chrome ends that have sensors in them and I assume that they made some from factory that way. Maybe people put the chrome ends on and just did away with the system. I just think the truck looks stupid with a chrome front bumper and brown rear bumper ends.

 

Yep. If you look at the brochure, any package that has the BSM included (probably the convenience pkg on the ltd.) says it comes with an "upgrade" to color-matched bumpers, and you can't order it any other way. It just doesn't say why it's changed, and it's disingenuous for misusing the terms "bumper" and "upgrade." It's neither.

 

Looks like I have two chrome bumper ends that I can either use as book ends or install them and do away with the BSM. If I install the chrome ends and just leave the object sensor unplugged but plug in the sensors on the bumper, will any dash lights stay on, or would I have to activate the switch for them to come on. I don't mind doing away with the sensors as I have to shut them off when hauling a trailer anyway. I just don't want to look at a dash light all the time.

 

Probably a dealer question. Let us know if you find the answer. Sounds like you should investigate the towing mirrors too, like I mentioned above.

 

I installed a set of aftermarket towing mirrors about 1 month ago and they have the blind spot function in them that currently works. I'm sure that if I do away with the sensor that they wont work anymore. I'm more concerned about the looks of the truck than that function. I'm assuming the two rear sensors that are mounted to the plastic on each side of the tow hitch would still work?

 

Just to make sure we're talking about the same thing, the 4 little round sensors - including the ones in the black plastic center piece between the faux bumper caps AS WELL AS the two located further out in those caps themselves - are parking assist proximity sensors. You can drill a hole and install those in almost anything - including aftermarket bumpers that aren't already pre-drilled for them. Those are the ones I have to turn off when towing a trailer, to silence the beeping.

The two, larger radar units, which are aimed slightly diagonal and are concealed beneath the plastic caps, are separate and unrelated to the parking sensors. They are for Blind Spot Monitoring and Rear Cross Traffic Alert, the later of which also happens to be activated when you are in reverse.

You'll actually have TWO dash lights to get turned off:"BSA," and "RCTA." I'm sure it can be done with the dealer's techstream software if it doesn't happen automatically, and would be pretty surprised if all dashes didnt have provisions for those lights even if they aren't used.

 

I have the BSM and had the recall work on the bumper done. The frame is metal but the sensor has to “see” through the frame. My understanding is these won’t work through a metallic bumper, but you should be able to buy chromed resin/plastic covers. I hardly consider truck bumpers, even metallic ones, to be what they once were i.e. they look it, and maybe will stop a basketball, but not much else... until it hits the frame.

 

you can turn them off inside with your BSM switch. Your cluster will show a fault when you turn them on until you reinstall the sensors. I had a harness issue when I got my truck)

Those small rectangular BSM sensors sell for over $800 each. (I priced one with the dealer) I would put them aside and protect/secure the connectors on your harness so you can pass them on if you ever sell your truck.

 

I have a Steelcraft front bumper on my 2018 CM P/N 70-13380. It's a beast but it's awesome. They just came out with a rear bumper P/N 76-23380 that's compatible with the BSM sensors. I plan on picking it up.

 

That's encouraging ! Do you happen to have a link to an image or info?

 

This is what the front bumper looks like on my truck. The bull bar does not interfere with the TSS

 

Thanks for the pics, looks nice. If that rear bumper indeed accommodates the BSM sensors, I'll be picking one up too. I'm not sure where you're getting the inside scoop, but please post updates on availability if you happen to hear any and if you remember.

 

bumperonly.com has them for $600.00. Just received the quote

 

Looked at their site, that rear bumper has the worst approach angle of any bumper on the market...... worse than factory!

 

Then don't buy it

 

I won't..... jeez someone woke up grumpy this morning