So I wanted to install some parking sensors on the truck. I didn't order them with the truck since I figured I would end up with a backup camera. Well, the front right corner is the part that I need the sensors for. That front corner is hard for me to tell where it is. So I bought the sensors and went ahead and installed the whole thing.
This write up will be more pictures than writing, but I will give short descriptions of everything.
The sensors are ordered from here:
Parking Sensor Backup Sensors Wireless Parking Sensor Kit
Thanks to Blueheadturner, I had pictures and measurements of where the stock sensors are installed.
http://www.toyotatundraforum.com/ext...ts-please.html
So I knew I needed to extend the front left sensor wire. It was going to be several feet too short to fit in the truck. They recommend buying a small coax wire to do the extension. At first I thought about using Cat5 wire and tested it out. I ended up using a different wire, but here are the test pics using the Cat5.
Slice the wire jacket open.
Pull the wires out.
Cut them. strip them, and get them ready for a patch cable in the middle.
Here's my test of the patch cable. I used about 6 feet of Cat5 wire.
I had it temporarily wired to the cigarette lighter in the truck. That's the sensor brain in the middle.
Now it's time to start drilling the rear bumper. I went off of Blueheadturner's pictures. The measurements I used are on the tape. Use masking tape on the front and back of the bumper. I used a 7/8" bimetal hole saw for the holes and plenty of lube to keep the bit and the bumper cooled. Keeping the bit cool will stop it from getting dull. WD40 will work for this. Just don't let it get too hot and you are good.
This is the left center one:
And a test fitting:
If you are going to finish the wiring right away, go and and carefully add silicone all around the inside of the hole and install the sensor. I too out the angled spacer in the center two.
Here is the rear left sensor. I went ahead and installed it at the same distance down on the bumper as the center sensors. I didn't like the staggered look of the stock sensors. This also worked better for the angled spacers that came with the sensors. The "11" at the top of the tape is not a number. That is where a groove is cut in the plastic on top of the bumper. I lined up the sensor with the center of that groove.
Rear left sensor:
Repeat for the other side of the rear bumper.
I had the center bit bend on me while drilling. It slipped and left a mark. Luckily I caught it before it got bad. I taped it off and used silver spray paint in the groove to cover it up. You can't really notice it once the sensor is in unless you are looking close.
Here are the sensors siliconed in place. There is some extra around the sensor. I let it dry and then cut it out with a sharp tipped pocket knife.
Now the USB cable that runs from the sensor brain to the read out in the truck was too short. I looked in every computer store to find a mini-B extension. None had what I was looking for and the extensions were expensive. So I decided to extend it on my own. After all, it's just six untwisted conductors. So I decided to use the Cat5 for this. Just patched in my own wiring and used heat shrink to cover up the solders.
Wire is extended with plenty to run all the way to the roof console in the truck with a little to spare.
Now I ran the wires under the truck. I used the split loom I installed for the fog lights to run the wire from the front left to the front right.
Then I ran the wire in the loom over the front right tire above the plastic in the wheel well. I ran the wire over the wheel and then added the loom since I wasn't positive that was the final route. Ended up nice. Just had to remove the tabs along the edge of the wheel well and the mud guard.
And the mud guard helped cover it to where the factory split loom is run:
The wire in the loom is run above the frame with the factory wiring all the way down the truck. Most all of it is hard to see. Here's a pic near the spare tire:
About half way down the truck, I had to add my coax patch and power extension. I decided to use a coax wire for the sensor wire extension. I had some old coax wire I pulled out of my car audio install. This is a really good wire for car audio and I thought it would work great for this application. The outer double shield was twisted together and the two center conductors were twisted together. The third solo wire was used to extend the power wire for the sensors.
The brain goes behind the right tail light. All the wiring is run in loom to that point. You can also tap into the reverse light right there.
Here is my tap into the reverse light using a blue splice. No solder needed.
Wire coming into the tail light location:
Sensor brain installed using the sticky velcro that came with the kit.
The USB cable and the power was run in the split loom toward the front sensors. I then went up through one of the factory grommets under the passenger side of the truck. There is a large grommet and a small grommet under the feet of the rear passenger in the CM. I'm sure the DC has something similar. I pulled up the door sills of the truck. I cut an X in the grommet to fit the mini-B connector and power cable through. I reached my hand under the carpet and pulled the wires through and into the factory channel for wires under the sill.
I used the channel to run the wires to the front of the cab. Under the B pillar, the channel raises up a little so I used a stiffer piece of wire to fish the wire underneath.
Removed the overhead console. This is rather easy to do. There are two T20 hex screws above the front compartment, two above the second compartment from the windshield, and two behind the rear cover that is not accessible. You just need to pop this open to get to those screws. Start at the front of the console and work backward or the console will fall on you like it did on me.
When the console is falling on you and your drill is in your lap, the drill can fall and hit the glove compartment. Then you end up with some scars like I did:
I removed the A pillar cover and ran the USB wire up on the window side. This was done without the loom. But I did use a couple of short pieces with zip ties. This allowed me to pull the wire up and down without much problem.
Ran the wire under the headliner. Just pulled the headliner down a little by the door and pulled it out the other side. There is not much room near the front of the windshield, but there is plenty of room a little farther back.
Next, I drilled wide hole in the front edge of the overhead console. The hole has to be pretty big to fit the connector through. But as you can see, the location of my hole can not be seen once the overhead console is replaced. This is shown in the second picture. There is a white sheet behind the console and you can't see the white through the hole.
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