Brush Guards And Center Protection

[kmammas]

I have a 2003 LX 470. I was looking into a brush guard or a center protection. I have decided against the brush guard, but am close to purchasing a Jaos center protector for my car. They told me that the outer width is 32 inches and it should not interfere with the night vision sensors. I was wondering if anyone has experience or has installed a center protection, and if they have had any issues with the night vision.

I have contacted T & H and Manik, both have told me they have had problems with interference. Jaos claims that the have not, but yet they have discontinued their brush guards for the lx 470 and will be discontinuing the center protection. Please help

[Jim_Chow]

I have a 2003 LX 470. I was looking into a brush guard or a center protection. I have decided against the brush guard, but am close to purchasing a Jaos center protector for my car. They told me that the outer width is 32 inches and it should not interfere with the night vision sensors. I was wondering if anyone has experience or has installed a center protection, and if they have had any issues with the night vision.

I have contacted T & H and Manik, both have told me they have had problems with interference. Jaos claims that the have not, but yet they have discontinued their brush guards for the lx 470 and will be discontinuing the center protection. Please help

What are you trying to protect the center against? I replaced the entire center bumper w/ the steel ARB sahara bar. I replaced the rear with a Kaymar dual-pivot towbar. If you get in a collision w/ a center protector, they usually bend into the hood and cause more damage. The ARB replacement bumpers are airbag tested, as you have to replace the front aluminum crush beam behind the OEM bumper...all that comes off (front bumper cover, foam beam, aluminum beam). You'd have to mount the night vision sensor in the air intake slot in the bumper (just use an angle drill from the bottom). For stuff like deer, I hear that center guards are sufficient (probably varies by brand). I have ARB bars on both of my trucks, a full wraparound type on my 4runner (got it after almost running into a herd of deer in the middle of the road in Canyonlands NP in late Dec at dusk, 60 mi from the nearest town). Likewise, I have kaymar rear bumpers on both of my vehicles. 4Runner was bumped TWICE in the rear bumper corner by a teenager trying to park a Tahoe in the mall lot...barely even scratched the powdercoat on the bumper, as it's 1/4" plate steel. With a typical OEM plastic bumper, one would have a huge dent in the corner.

http://clublexus.com/forums/showthread.php?t=233506

[kmammas]

I have a 2003 LX 470. I was looking into a brush guard or a center protection. I have decided against the brush guard, but am close to purchasing a Jaos center protector for my car. They told me that the outer width is 32 inches and it should not interfere with the night vision sensors. I was wondering if anyone has experience or has installed a center protection, and if they have had any issues with the night vision.

I have contacted T & H and Manik, both have told me they have had problems with interference. Jaos claims that the have not, but yet they have discontinued their brush guards for the lx 470 and will be discontinuing the center protection. Please help

What are you trying to protect the center against? I replaced the entire center bumper w/ the steel ARB sahara bar. I replaced the rear with a Kaymar dual-pivot towbar. If you get in a collision w/ a center protector, they usually bend into the hood and cause more damage. The ARB replacement bumpers are airbag tested, as you have to replace the front aluminum crush beam behind the OEM bumper...all that comes off (front bumper cover, foam beam, aluminum beam). You'd have to mount the night vision sensor in the air intake slot in the bumper (just use an angle drill from the bottom). For stuff like deer, I hear that center guards are sufficient (probably varies by brand). I have ARB bars on both of my trucks, a full wraparound type on my 4runner (got it after almost running into a herd of deer in the middle of the road in Canyonlands NP in late Dec at dusk, 60 mi from the nearest town). Likewise, I have kaymar rear bumpers on both of my vehicles. 4Runner was bumped TWICE in the rear bumper corner by a teenager trying to park a Tahoe in the mall lot...barely even scratched the powdercoat on the bumper, as it's 1/4" plate steel. With a typical OEM plastic bumper, one would have a huge dent in the corner.

http://clublexus.com/forums/showthread.php?t=233506

Thanks Jim. I basically want to protect the car from Manhattan parking and I own a home in Pennsylvania, have had a couple of close calls with deers. I have a skid bar in the back. The only company that has claimed it will not interfere with the night vision sensors is Jaos. The width of the center protection is 32 inches on the outer edge. They claim it will allow one inch of space by each sensor. I am not totally convinced because the sensors are angle inwards slightly. I just want to make sure the the Jaos center protection will not interfere. The company also is telling me that there are only a few available and then they will discontinue them.

[Jim_Chow]

Ah, I see. Since you have the night vision, I think it's too much of a hassle to reinstall the sensors on a replacement bumper. You'd probably have to recalibrate them, as I'm sure they have to be a certain distance apart, pointed at a certain direction, etc. I think my factory manual has stuff on how to adjust the night vision IR sensors. If I can remember, I'll look.

[Mark3101]

I have a 2003 LX 470. I was looking into a brush guard or a center protection. I have decided against the brush guard, but am close to purchasing a Janos center protector for my car. They told me that the outer width is 32 inches and it should not interfere with the night vision sensors. I was wondering if anyone has experience or has installed a center protection, and if they have had any issues with the night vision.

I have contacted T & H and Manik, both have told me they have had problems with interference. Janos claims that the have not, but yet they have discontinued their brush guards for the lx 470 and will be discontinuing the center protection. Please help

The parts you see on the bumper are not cameras, they are the near IR emitters. The camera is by the center rear view mirror. All you would do by blocking part of the emitters would be to possibly reduce range and clarity.

[kmammas]

I have a 2003 LX 470. I was looking into a brush guard or a center protection. I have decided against the brush guard, but am close to purchasing a Janos center protector for my car. They told me that the outer width is 32 inches and it should not interfere with the night vision sensors. I was wondering if anyone has experience or has installed a center protection, and if they have had any issues with the night vision.

I have contacted T & H and Manik, both have told me they have had problems with interference. Janos claims that the have not, but yet they have discontinued their brush guards for the lx 470 and will be discontinuing the center protection. Please help

The parts you see on the bumper are not cameras, they are the near IR emitters. The camera is by the center rear view mirror. All you would do by blocking part of the emitters would be to possibly reduce range and clarity.

Thank you for clarifying this for me. So if there is an inch on both sides of these transmitters, there probably would not be any interference with the night vision system. Do you agree with this?

[Jim_Chow]

I have a 2003 LX 470. I was looking into a brush guard or a center protection. I have decided against the brush guard, but am close to purchasing a Janos center protector for my car. They told me that the outer width is 32 inches and it should not interfere with the night vision sensors. I was wondering if anyone has experience or has installed a center protection, and if they have had any issues with the night vision.

I have contacted T & H and Manik, both have told me they have had problems with interference. Janos claims that the have not, but yet they have discontinued their brush guards for the lx 470 and will be discontinuing the center protection. Please help

The parts you see on the bumper are not cameras, they are the near IR emitters. The camera is by the center rear view mirror. All you would do by blocking part of the emitters would be to possibly reduce range and clarity.

Thank you for clarifying this for me. So if there is an inch on both sides of these transmitters, there probably would not be any interference with the night vision system. Do you agree with this?

You need to determine the "field of view" (a.k.a., FOV) of the IR transmitter. Every IR device has a FOV (usually specified as an angle; tells you how wide the beam is). You can probably approximate it by measuring the range and width of the night vision image (what is the closest that it works, and how wide is the image). Then use simple geometry to compute the angle. You will likely have an overlap of the two beams in the center, then each individual beam falls off at the edges, but your IR baseline isn't that much (less than the width of the vehicle). So suppose you can see an image 100 ft wide at a distance of 300 ft. Then half of the FOV is atan(50/300)*180/pi=9.46 deg. Just measure +/-9.46 deg (or whatever you determine it to be) from the sensor and see if there is any occlusion. If not, you're in business! If you're bar obscures half the sensor, that's BAD, BAD, BAD!