Severe False Alert Sensor Warnings while in reverse after adding an aftermarket tire/wheel to the existing or an aftermarket spare tire tailgate mount

[JustinB]

The parking warning sensors went crazy in reverse after I put on a new larger wheel/tire on the factory spare tailgate wheel mount thinking the tire/wheel must be protruding into the bumper's sensor area. In reverse I could clearly see the tire taking up quite a bit of the lower area when viewing the Uconnect monitor. I thought after I got my new aftermarket spare tire mount [a TeraFlex mount] it'd fix the issue, it did not. What I discovered is that it was not a sensor per say, at least not one of the sensors in the bumper. It was the actual camera that was sensing!

The camera was reacting to the tire taking up some of what's displayed on the screen, the tire was protruding a little beyond [towards the front of the Jeep] relative to the red line on the monitor. I then tested it. I disconnected the camera, put the Jeep in reverse with nothing behind me, and the alarms did not go off. Same scenario with the disconnected camera, I put my garbage bin behind the vehicle and it did alert once I started to get close to the bin, the bumper sensors worked as they should. I then realized it was the camera, it 'sensed' as well.

So... I removed the camera and manipulated it to where the tire was only barely seen at the bottom of the screen, which pushed the red warning line away from the vehicle a bit further, the tire was below the red warning line when viewing the monitor. I then glued the camera into place. Problem was solved!!! It only alerted when something truly was behind me.

Now, prior gluing the camera I did mess with the camera a bit to keep the red line as close to the vehicle with as little but still adequate clearance as possible while also keeping the left and right green guide lines perfectly straight. But again, once I had the camera set up with little visual tire interference on the display, I no longer had crazy false alerts. Be sure to keep the steering wheel perfectly straight when setting the camera. To this day it's been working great.

IF you're having the same issue perhaps perform a quick easy test. Simply unplug the rear camera and see if the crazy alerts stop while nothing is behind you. With the camera still disconnected put something 15' behind the vehicle then start backing into the item. If it only starts to alert once you get close you then know it's a camera issue.

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[Terminex]

wow. this is surprising. I was sure that the system only used the sensors in the bumper.

this is very intriguing.

 

[JustinB]

wow. this is surprising. I was sure that the system only used the sensors in the bumper.

this is very intriguing.

I was shocked to discover this as well!

I actually wrote this up in an effort to potentially help someone on a separate 392 forum I'm on but realized it may be beneficial to any JL/JLU owner. So I copy/pasted it over here...

 

[Terminex]

nope, I appreciate it.

you know what they say "knowledge is power"

I am completely powerless

 

[JAC34]

Just ran across this thread after installing the GO RHINO relocation kit for my 35 tire.

My sensors are doing the same thing and it's so annoying. I realize I can turn off, but I would like to actually use them.

I read some other threads that recommended the "RC with sensors" product as a potential fix. But it seems that raises it higher away from the sensors which should still interfere with the camera screen.

Any other discoveries on this yet?

 

[mwilk012]

Coincidence. You rremoved the tire and messed around with the mount, that is what changed things. The camera does NOT feed into the alert.

 

[Vrrooom]

There are some sensors on the tail lights. Moving the tire out is probably messing with these sensors. The XR comes with tail light extensions, probably for this exact reason. You can probably dig around for part numbers. This is what my XR tail light looks like.

 

[Terminex]

I just want the camera housing from the xr. Looks like it sticks out a little more to clear my tire better.

 

[Dyolfknip74]

Coincidence. You rremoved the tire and messed around with the mount, that is what changed things. The camera does NOT feed into the alert.

I have to disagree. I put a Fishbone rear bumper on and my sensors were a bear to get set up again. I finally got them so they weren't blowing up in reverse but every 2nd or 3rd time into reverse and it shuts them down and tells me to wipe sensors.
I recently switched to the Motobult tag and camera relocate and I no longer get the "wipe sensors" issue. I never touched the sensors on the relocate install only the camera. It definitely woks in tandem with the sensors.

 

[Dyolfknip74]

There are some sensors on the tail lights. Moving the tire out is probably messing with these sensors. The XR comes with tail light extensions, probably for this exact reason. You can probably dig around for part numbers. This is what my XR tail light looks like.

Pretty sure those spacers are for the blind spot monitoring and not the parking sensors.

 

[JustinB]

Coincidence. You rremoved the tire and messed around with the mount, that is what changed things. The camera does NOT feed into the alert.

Sorry and with all due respect you're statement is inaccurate. I tested this as I described above and you can as well IF you have a Smart Camera for a back-up camera, like my Jeep does. The camera does work in conjunction with your bumper sensors in this system; however, they activate using different methods. Traditional bumper sensors use radar or ultra-sonic range-finders. The camera achieves obstacle detection through an algorithm, it reconstructs a 3D scene using a single camera. *Cite: "Single-view obstacle detection for smart back-up camera systems"

I'll include the *paper/pdf below.

So, you are correct. I messed with the tire and mount and my sensor would go off. What you're not understanding, with my tire and mount in this new position, is that I simply moved/tilted the camera upwards a few degrees and no longer did my sensor have false alerts. Basically, once I moved the displayed Red Line so that the tire wasn't in the 'Red Zone' [as much] my alerts stopped.

Here's how the *paper starts.
"This paper presents an implementation of a 3D reconstruction algorithm for the detection of static obstacles from a single rear view parking camera."

 

[JAC34]

OK, so if I'm following this correctly, it's probably my camera not the sensors that are sounding the alarm? I'm getting the right corner light (passenger side) that is lighting up indicating an obstruction. I tried rotating my tire around in every possible configuration and eventually it went off in the one position, but now it's coming back on again.

So do I just get the camera extension that I see in above pic to solve the issue? If so, where do I buy that part?

 

[JAC34]

I just want the camera housing from the xr. Looks like it sticks out a little more to clear my tire better.

Do you know the part number for this item? What is XR?

 

[Terminex]

Do you know the part number for this item? What is XR?

nope. if you find it please let me know.

XR is Xtreme Recon package that adds the lift & 35" tires. hence the need for the slightly longer camera housing to clear the spare wheel & tire.

 

[JustinB]

OK, so if I'm following this correctly, it's probably my camera not the sensors that are sounding the alarm? I'm getting the right corner light (passenger side) that is lighting up indicating an obstruction. I tried rotating my tire around in every possible configuration and eventually it went off in the one position, but now it's coming back on again.

So do I just get the camera extension that I see in above pic to solve the issue? If so, where do I buy that part?

You are correct, it IS your camera. And I did not purchase an extension, the pic I'm attaching here is the factory mount. The TeraFlex came with a camera mount that does stick out a little further than the stock mount.

I'm not sure how crafty you are. If you're feeling ambitious I'd suggest doing what I did, and I'll describe a little more below. With that, an extension may work but at the end of the day the camera must be set as such so that the tire is not visually displayed on your monitor above the red line. Really, I would 'move the tire' to the very bottom of the screen but you can play with it to get it Set Up to where you're just outside the alert threshold.

I have the TeraFlex mount. First off, the TeraFlex camera mount did not have aligned screw holes to allow a 'plug-n-play' attachment to the factory camera's mounting holes. (TeraFlex may have fixed this by now via supplying an adapter???) So, I had to do a little modifying anyways.

The TeraFlex camera mount does have a cylindrical hollow passage hole, perhaps a 1/4 in long, to allow the factory camera's eye to slide in it, but it's a loose fit and there was still no way of holding the camera tight. So, I put an O-ring on the camera's eye and it was a perfect snug fit that allowed for a little tilting of the camera in any direction. I placed the camera pointing downward as far as it would allow. From there I mounted everything up, the TeraFlex mount, the tire, and snugged the spare wheel down to where I'd ultimately want it to sit permanently.

I then got in the vehicle, making sure the front tires were perfectly straight forward, and I then put it in reverse and the alert went off as expected. [While doing this I also ensured the left & right guide lines where 90 degrees relative to the ground with neither line higher/lower than the other; rather, that they were both equal. Knowing that only the O-ring was holding the camera in position and that I had eye-balled the camera when centering up everything as best I could.]

Anyways, getting back... With a very small screwdriver I gingerly lifted the camera very slightly upward. I got in the vehicle, put it in reverse, and the alert went off. I repeated this step and I kept doing this until the alert stopped going off, tipping the camera up ever so slightly each time. I did this until there as no alert, the tire was now only displayed at the very bottom of the screen.

After I was good I very carefully took everything apart taking extra precaution to not bump the camera mount or the camera, or move the camera out of the position I 'tuned' it to. [I had my son help me remove the wheel/tire to not bump the camera/camera mount]. Obviously I left the camera in the mount where I had tuned it to and the mount was now in my hand.

Prior mixing the metal & hardener I then warmed up some JB Weld to where it had some viscosity, to where it could pour relatively easily, via setting the tubes in the sun for a bit. I carefully put tape over the camera video connection, mixed up the JB Weld, and poured it behind the camera allowing it to flow around and down to the O-ring, the O-ring acting as a seal. I let the weld set & harden overnight. The next day I mounted everything up and voila, everything worked. To this day it's still working great.

I will note this though... From time to time when I put my ball mount into the trailer hitch receiver, as I haul a trailer and RV once in awhile, the ball will set off the camera's alert. That is prior hooking up to the trailer/RV. If I drive around and I want to leave my ball mount on the vehicle I continue to get the alert when in reverse. If I'd of thought of this back then I may have adjusted the camera to the ball mount.

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