Learn me back up sensors for a good cause....

A co-worker was recently involved in an accident where he backed over his 2 year old son. The little guy didn't make it and any accident makes one think a bit.

My little guy is pretty cautious but I'm not sure I could handle myself for a long time if I was involved in that kind of thing no matter who's kid it was.

I used to have a Nissan Titan with an audible backup sensor system and I'd like to install something similar on the two vehicles I have now. I know a lot of people install aftermarket backup cameras but I like the audible alarm when an obstacle is present.

The two vehicles are a Mazda5 and a 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Looking on eBay there are a lot of systems with displays but I like the audible system that beeps faster as you get closer to things. I want to wire it with a relay to the backup light circuit and have a master ON/OFF switch up front.

Does anyone have any experience with a kit like this from eBay?

Audible Back Up Sensor

I wonder if the display on this unit is an optional install.

Audible Back Up Sensor with a display

I've never checked on the Mazda but I know the kit from MOPAR for the Jeep is almost $300.

What I did was train the little tyke to stay on the porch until I was gone.

I would not move the truck until I could lay my eyes on my son, and know with certainty where he was. If he was outside, he was to come onto the front porch, and stay there until I had left the property. If he had friends over, they all had to go up onto the porch. I could see them all while backing the truck.

It worked wonderfully. I could tell him I'm leaving, and he'd charge up onto the porch, smiling and waving until I was gone. By and large, it continues to this day. My wife even got into the habit.

Ok well we definitely do that but kids in parking lots and other places I can't control are more the issue than my own home with my own child. If I'm moving the car I put the little guy in with me or make sure he's with his mom.

My wife was recently at a get together when and some kids ran behind her van, not every kid has the self control or training to keep from getting run over.

I have a sensor that pops into a receiver hitch and has an audible alarm up front. Bought a couple of them off Woot! a couple of years ago and haven't used them yet. I'll see if I can scrounge you up at least a model number.

My friend's RDX came with a dealer-installed "upgrade" motion sensor system that basically beeps and flashes an indicator. I will see if I can find out anything about it.

Sorry about your friend's loss. I'd be hard put to keep living if I did that.

My Transit Connect came with backups sensors and I added a backup camera when I put a new sound system headunit in it. I have had many instances where they have been handy to have.

I got my backup camera from Echomaster. They also sell backup sensor kits. Not cheap but very high quality stuff.

I am very sorry to hear about your friend, I too would have a very hard time going on after something like that.

The first thing I would do is look to see if the sensors were an option on the other two rides. If so there is a good chance the wiring is all there and a look at Car-Parts.com should net you the hardware you need for not too much money.

We install these at the shop I part time for.

Audiovox back up system.

Parking lots are scary, and I crack my wife up in them. She blithly pulls in and backs out.

I on the other hand will drive around the lot until I can find a space I can pull into and through, so when I leave, I'm only pulling forward.

If I'm in a place where I absolutely cannot do this, I will drive past a space, and then back into it, after I've looked into the space to see what is there, and what is around.

I also tend to roll the windows down, turn the sterio off, and if people are chatting, I'll tell them to hush for a moment.

On my last work van I installed a backup sensor with display similar to the one in the OPs second ebay link, it worked fairly well, except on really hot days the sensors malfunctioned. I would call it useful but not perfect.

Sorry to hear about the kid, I couldn't live with myself either, no matter how well you train them, something can go wrong

I'd say go with both a camera and a alarm. Something like the nissan back up camera is the best I've seen. shows range and shows the trajectory based on the steering wheel input

foxtrapper wrote: Parking lots are scary, and I crack my wife up in them. She blithly pulls in and backs out. I on the other hand will drive around the lot until I can find a space I can pull into and *through*, so when I leave, I'm only pulling forward. If I'm in a place where I absolutely cannot do this, I will drive past a space, and then back into it, after I've looked into the space to see what is there, and what is around. I also tend to roll the windows down, turn the sterio off, and if people are chatting, I'll tell them to hush for a moment.

You sir would do well in DE. We teach best practice--either pull through or back into a space. It is much easier for all when you pull out of a space nose forward! You can see what's coming more easily.

My old work truck used an alarm built in to the 1156 light bulb. put the rev lights on and BEEP..BEEP..

foxtrapper wrote: ..... I will drive past a space, and then back into it, after I've looked into the space to see what is there, and what is around.

Yes, this. Still, no one method or piece of equipment is 100%. Most back up cameras I've seen are so distorted I don't see much value.

one of these mounted to your back bumper or trailer hitch ought to move the little rascals out of the way

I ended up buying the system that has a display. The sensors came from Vegas so I had them pretty quickly. I basically measured four times, marked out the holes, and went to it with the hole saw. After doing this I removed the rear bumper cover, put in the sensors, ran the wires, and mounted the control box behind the interior quarter panel. The control box is powered by the back up light circuit so I tapped into the wire and provided a ground for the system. The display is mounted on the ceiling at the back of the vehicle to encourage drivers to actually turn their heads around and look in addition to the audible beeping.

Over all the installation was pretty easy and the system works great. I didn't cut away enough of the Styrofoam bumper absorber the first time so I had to go back and redo that. The symptom was that the system would continuously sound when in reverse, by putting my finger over each sensor to silence the alarm I was able to figure out which one needed a little more room.

The silver paint even matches our Mazda perfectly. Now I just need to find some unpainted ones for my Jeep.