Advice on fitting reversing sensors please?

[dvisor]

Couldn't get in to a campsite this weekend, so decided to fit the sensors instead. I took your advice, rita, and put the control panel in the side panel. I was just being lazy before! I just need to tidy up now and secure the control panel back. The only mistake I made was to run all the cables into the offside, instead of the nearside, where my reversing light is I couldn't be bothered to rethread all the cables back through the bumper to the nearside, but I got round the problem anyway. I'm now able to blind reverse the Bongo back to my other van so that the towball is within 1.5" of it.

[mikeonb4c]

Couldn't get in to a campsite this weekend, so decided to fit the sensors instead. I took your advice, rita, and put the control panel in the side panel. I was just being lazy before! I just need to tidy up now and secure the control panel back. The only mistake I made was to run all the cables into the offside, instead of the nearside, where my reversing light is I couldn't be bothered to rethread all the cables back through the bumper to the nearside, but I got round the problem anyway. I'm now able to blind reverse the Bongo back to my other van so that the towball is within 1.5" of it.

You put me to shame - I really should do mine

[dvisor]

You put me to shame - I really should do mine

The hardest bit was plucking up the courage to drill the pilot holes in the bumper! I can let you know what distances I used between the sensors if you're interested. The towball's not causing any false readings, and I don't think that a towbar step will affect it neither.

[ronhud]

I have a guard rail about 4ft high on the pavement where I park my Freda and in the first week managed to cause a dent high up on the rear curve. I fitted the wireless sensors right away and they have been a godsend. So much so that when a loose wire caused them to fail I did the repair straight away. They are so sensitive that sometimes I think they are reacting to the markings on the road!

Ron

[mikeonb4c]

You put me to shame - I really should do mine

The hardest bit was plucking up the courage to drill the pilot holes in the bumper! I can let you know what distances I used between the sensors if you're interested. The towball's not causing any false readings, and I don't think that a towbar step will affect it neither.

Sorry I didn't reply earlier and thank for this dvisor - the forum software seems a bit random (or is it me ) at alerting me when something new comes on.

To be honest, I've no enthusiasm for Bongo fettling at present (though I did strip my fan down last week and got a great result) and my shoulder is still troublesome since I came off my bike, which doesn't help. But it would be useful to get info on sensor positioning for if/when I get a round tuit, if its not too much trouble.

[dvisor]

No worries Mike - I'll make a note of the positions tomorrow and post them up.

[mikeonb4c]

No worries Mike - I'll make a note of the positions tomorrow and post them up.

Thanks for that. Incidentally, are your sensors providing good coverage of the corners areas, by the rear pillars which seem to be where so many Bongo crunches happen due to the large blind spot?

[dvisor]

Mike, the inner sensors are 255mm either side of the middle point of the bumper (so they are 510mm apart). The distance between the inner and outer sensors is 400mm. The sensor centres are about 95mm from the bottom of the bumper, but I actually used the line just above this to measure down from, and get them nice and level. The higher you can mount them here, the better I reckon.

I've been using it for a week or so, and had no false alarms yet, from the towball or anything else.

Thanks for that. Incidentally, are your sensors providing good coverage of the corners areas, by the rear pillars which seem to be where so many Bongo crunches happen due to the large blind spot?

Funny you should mention that! I was reversing at an angle out of my pitch on the campsite yesterday morning - rear window was misted up with condensation - it was drizzly and horrible, and I only had limited visibility. I thought I was clear behind, but the sensors sounded a warning. Turned out that I was about to back into a hedge, at precisely the point you mention. Hopefully I would have spotted it before impact (doesn't say much about how safe I am behind a wheel does it), but I'll never know now.

[mikeonb4c]

Funny you should mention that! I was reversing at an angle out of my pitch on the campsite yesterday morning - rear window was misted up with condensation - it was drizzly and horrible, and I only had limited visibility. I thought I was clear behind, but the sensors sounded a warning. Turned out that I was about to back into a hedge, at precisely the point you mention. Hopefully I would have spotted it before impact (doesn't say much about how safe I am behind a wheel does it), but I'll never know now.

Excellent - thats good enough for me. Since I only have a 2 sensor kit I reckon your outer sensor positions are the ones I'll want. The towbar and step will just have to be my centre section sensors