Parking Sensors On Rx400H

[alex1372]

As far as i can see nobody tried to install parking sensors on 06-09 RX US version... I ordered some sensors off ebay for rear and front with LED display (http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l2736&_nkw=Car+Front+Rear+Reverse+Parking+8+Sensor+Blue+LCD+P805)

Does anybody know if or where is enough space in both bumpers to install them? I don't want to remove bumpers as I've seen some videos that people installed them just by drilling the holes and fishing the wires. Any input is welcome

Thanks!

[RX400h]

I'm not sure I could get myself to drill that many holes in my bumpers. Painting them would be mandatory. Have you taken a good look at the back of the bumpers to see if there's any wiggle room? I guess if you wanted to simplify installation you could mount the sensors to the license plate frames. I did this with a laser jammer, year ago.

[alex1372]

I've seen license plate sensors and backup camera... Not my cup of tea, it's makes it bulky and on some cars it's pure ugly; yesterday on the way to work i saw black Audi A4 with backup camera mounted above clear license plate cover... 'nuf said :)

[cduluk]

I installed a set for the rear bumper of my old Rx300 a few years ago- like you, i purchased from eBay. I remember the sensors needed to be placed a certain distance apart from each other (the two center ones being placed a different length apart than the other ones). It came with a diagram and a way to calculate exactly where they needed to be placed.

I had some paint that my body shop left me from a repair, so i painted the sensors myself. They came out perfect!

One hint when drilling the holes: Cover the entire area which needs to be drilled with masking tape first. Then stencil where the hole needs to be, and then drill. The tape prevents any "slipping" from the drill when first getting the drill-bit to bite, and it also prevents the paint from chipping around the hole.

As for placement of the holes, you MUST inspect the rear of the bumpers before drilling, as the bumper reinforcers lay right up against the bumper covers without any room to place a sensor.You can remove the liner beneath the bumpers to inspect possible locations to place them.

[alex1372]

I installed a set for the rear bumper of my old Rx300 a few years ago- like you, i purchased from eBay. I remember the sensors needed to be placed a certain distance apart from each other (the two center ones being placed a different length apart than the other ones). It came with a diagram and a way to calculate exactly where they needed to be placed.

I had some paint that my body shop left me from a repair, so i painted the sensors myself. They came out perfect!

One hint when drilling the holes: Cover the entire area which needs to be drilled with masking tape first. Then stencil where the hole needs to be, and then drill. The tape prevents any "slipping" from the drill when first getting the drill-bit to bite, and it also prevents the paint from chipping around the hole.

As for placement of the holes, you MUST inspect the rear of the bumpers before drilling, as the bumper reinforcers lay right up against the bumper covers without any room to place a sensor.You can remove the liner beneath the bumpers to inspect possible locations to place them.

Thank you so much for the tips! I was hoping not remove the bumpers but i didn't think about reinforces... I compared bumpers on my cars and Altima's bumper is very soft versus rx's is solid... I knew about the masking tape, there is an excellent video on youtube installation on new Accord... Hopefully I won't need to paint the sensors as I ordered silver ones and car is silver as well!

I need to properly align back bumper anyway - one more reason to remove it and do it right the first time :)

[cduluk]

yeah, definitely make sure you have room behind the bumper before you drill. You might be able to reach your hand behind it without having to remove it completely. There are two bumper reinforcers- a solid metal one closest to the car, and a styrofoam one between that and the bumper cover. If you are "desperate" you could dremel away at the styrofoam one, but do it too much and it might break...

[alex1372]

Received my kit... Hopefully this weekend it would be nice enough weather to install it

[cduluk]

Received my kit... Hopefully this weekend it would be nice enough weather to install it

Let us know how it goes! And post pictures!

[alex1372]

Well... It took me Saturday and Sunday on and off working on this...

Removed both bumpers, front one was a lot easier - maybe because I already had experience with rear one :) - I really took time to make sure to measure correctly... Still missed about 1/4 inch for the foam piece, I had to cut it so the sensors wont come out from vibrations

The hardest part was to find a path from front bumpers to the rear... I used driver's side inside front wheel fender and then inside the black trim piece below the doors to tackle the wires and then through existing hole into space below storage bins...

The LED display wires I tucked in between trim pieces above doors by removing the seal; the display itself found its place right above rear view mirror...

I had to remove plastic liner on rear door to see what color wires I need to tap in to; power for rear sensors come from reverse light - light pink and white wires - I ran my wire all the way to reverse light connector and tapped into it about 4 inches before ; front sensors getting it from brake light - i connected my wire inside little door on the left in cargo area - yellow and white wires...

I uploaded pics to http://us.lexusowner...lery/album/203 more to come including finished product.

I'm not good with writing up the stuff step-by-step so sorry for my rumblings :) But hopefully some of this information would be helpful for others

[RX400h]

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[alex1372]

Fixed the link above :chairshot:

[alex1372]

Finished Product

[1990LS400]

Sorry I missed this thread ... could have provided this link to how the Lexus park aid system is installed on the RX400h by Lexus dealers in Europes: http://www.lexus-tech.eu/aimuploads/%7B9BFB5B18-7535-9E71-C492-01C5BD4B7535%7D/TPA800%20RHD%20PZ464-K0425-00%20AIM%20000%20318-2.pdf

[alex1372]

Sorry I missed this thread ... could have provided this link to how the Lexus park aid system is installed on the RX400h by Lexus dealers in Europes: http://www.lexus-tec...000%20318-2.pdf

Thanks for the manual, better late than never :-) at least it proved that i have some common sense :-)

[cduluk]

It looks great! Does it seem to work well?

[alex1372]

It works well but now i sort of disappointed in the display unit - when it's powered the display lights up with blue background and i'm afraid that it will be too bright at night... but the good part it shows not only distance to object in meters but also visual representation from all 4 sensors - rear and front. Personal preference but if I will replace it for any reason - i will go with small LED stripes display, it should be more than enough.

Now i need to read the manual that 1990LS400 posted - maybe i can find out how to activate it only at low speeds - currently front sensors are wired to brake lights

[zyumin]

Sorry, I'm a new comer. I can't open the link to see the pictures. Is the link correct? I noted there're several letters missing in the link posted.

[zyumin]

I opened the PDF file uploaded by 1990LS400. Perfect! With those pictures, It would be easier for me to find the route of wires. Thanks.