Backup camera (spare blocks the view)

[flightace47]

Lots of useful info in this thread for my eventual wheel upgrades. Thanks all.

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[TrailJoy]

Lots of useful info in this thread for my eventual wheel upgrades. Thanks all.

And all I wanted to know was how to fix the camera. LOL!

 

[psdtime]

In case someone wanted to see what it looks like with the Energy Suspension spare tire bumper looks like with my setup.

 

[TrailJoy]

So I need some help understanding the sensors, if someone is willing to help me out. I thought it was the spare tire, but now I'm not so sure. If the spare was just too big and causing a shadow, wouldn't it just beep and not give me an error message?

I back in, and it will works (at least the side ones work fine). But I noticed yesterday that when I start the Jeep to drive away (no reverse gear needed), I get the same message and the button on the dash automatically disables. BUT, when I back up, the beep appears to work normally.

How can I tell if this is a problem with the actual tire being too bit, or the sensors? I feel like the tires might be causing a shadow (or something) but then wouldn't it just beep to tell me I'm too close? Why the error message?? And how do I tell which of the four sensors is giving me the message?

I'll go and check the exact message in a few minutes.

 

[TrailJoy]

I back into my driveway, and I just took a drive around the block. And now I know less than I did five minutes ago. LOL

As a test, I put the Jeep in reverse but did not back up. No error message.

From park to drive, the message alerts me right after I turn out of my driveway, when I start to actually drive (so somewhere just under 10 mph). The alert is as shown in the picture, and the sensor button lights up (disables).

When I get home and put the Jeep in reverse to park, it beeps at me (I guess to remind me that it's off), but the sensors seem to work as normal as I'm baking up.

But now the strange thing... I look down once I've parked and the sensor button is no longer disabled. The error message is also gone. This can't be just a shadow from the spare being too big.

Could something have gone wrong when they put the spare on??

(edit) WAIT! What's that red line under the middle left sensor??

 

[flightace47]

You could try taking your spare off for a while to see if you still have problems. We don’t have the sensors on our Jeep since we didn’t want the lane assist stuff so I can’t help you diagnose that myself.

 

[TrailJoy]

You could try taking your spare off for a while to see if you still have problems. We don’t have the sensors on our Jeep since we didn’t want the lane assist stuff so I can’t help you diagnose that myself.

Actually I just came here to tell you I did exactly that. I was out running errands and was right near the tire shop, so I swing by to ask about the bump stops, and we decided to just take it off to see if the problem stopped.

And it did!

So the positioning of the tire is causing three problems.

1. Camera obstructs back up camera.
2. Tire (or camera?) causes the park sensor(s) to malfunction.
3. Because the tire isn't flush on the mount (this is due to the offset of the wheel), it's adding extra weight to the tailgate hinge.

The obvious solution for this is to explore options such as the Teraflex HD Alpha mount) to allow the tire to be held where it should be (right up against the mount) and not held away from it where it could potentially cause damage.

If there is another device (like the Teraflex) that we could explore, please let me know! This is COMPLETELY new to me, so I don't even know how I would google for that part (what's it called??).

Now having said all of that, we reinstalled the tire and the sensors are no longer giving me an error message. LOL Go figure!

 

[TrailJoy]

UPDATE. I was going to start a new thread, but I'll post here instead to see if you guys have any ideas...

Guys, I can't figure this out. The problem started literally the minute I drove away from the tire shop, so logic tells me it's the tire. But how can this be?

(To remind you...) We switched from stock (255/70R18) to KO2's (285/70R17), and got an offset rim of -18. This caused the spare to stick out about 1/5" from the bump stop, which in turn caused the camera to show half the tire and one of the sensors to not work.

We removed the tire to test the sensors, and they worked perfectly normal. Put the tire back on, and they continued to work well for several days before malfunctioning again. It's always been the drivers side inside sensor, and sometimes the inside and/or the outside sensor. But always on the drivers side. And as mentioned, removing the tire completely fixed the problem.

For other reasons, we decided to switch from the -18 offset to a +12. This greatly improved the camera view, but oddly did not fix the malfunctioning sensors. BUT, the sensors changed a few days before the new wheels went on.

I can't seem to post a video... I'm parked in my carport. I'm a safe distance away (far enough to fully open the gate) from a stack of firewood, so the alert is different. Basically the drivers side lights (both) blink (as the previous picture) and go back and forth from one light to the other, from yellow to red, both at once, one at a time... They dance around, and again, screaming a warning at me.

But my question is why did it change from the little red line under ONE sensor, to the weird perimeter blinking/noise alert nonsense it's doing now? And why does it stop when I take the tire off?? WHY THE ONE SIDE?!

I would assume that it's the bringing the tire closer to the bump stop (wider tire) that may be causing it, but as mentioned this new thing started a few days ago - before we changed the offset on the wheel. ALSO, the sensors work fine when we remove the tire, although I'm starting to wonder if we should remove it a second time to test that theory out.

Help?

The first picture (on the dash) was the original problem. Note the red line under the drivers side inside sensor. No beep, park button on dash (below the heat, etc) on (disabled).

The next picture is sitting parked in my driveway (nothing behind it). It lights up immediately and flashes with a long BEEEEEP sound, regardless of whether I'm moving or not.

Edit: I can't seem to get to that first screen again (the one with the four sensors and the one red line), no matter what I try...

 

[tonygiotta]

Just an observation, but I'm pretty sure that "red line" under the middle left sensor is nothing more than your red Rubicon tow hook...

 

[TrailJoy]

Just an observation, but I'm pretty sure that "red line" under the middle left sensor is nothing more than your red Rubicon tow hook...

Interesting theory! You may be right, but my Jeep is not a Rubicon, nor is my hook red (I'm not sure if it's the same on the dash across all models or not). I'm fairly certain that was the one that was malfunctioning though.

 

[tonygiotta]

I was curious about that too, thought maybe the image would change based upon which splash screen you see during start up. However, it appears your "dash" Jeep also has Rubicon hood vents.

 

[TrailJoy]

However, it appears your "dash" Jeep also has Rubicon hood vents.

How awesome! I actually didn't notice. Got lost in the pretty... lol

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