What does the lane assist do?

All lane assist does is annoy me. I shut it off.

 

Lane assist wakes me from my naps.

 

I'm convinced that the ever increasing number of people on this planet plays a bigger factor than people are willing to admit. When I was a kid, it was a 30 minute drive from Mom's house into city limits. Now, Mom's house is 30 minutes inside of city limits. The house didn't move.

Mom gets annoyed that I don't visit as much as I should. But fuck the constant traffic nightmare that now crawls across the pasture I used to explore.

Anyway, more people, more screens, more noise, more collisions. That's my theory.

 

My 2020 Tacoma got a crater in it, got a bunch of quotes for replacement. Most ranged in the $750-$1K range. I think average charge for calibration was around $250.

Called a local guy and he quoted me at under $400 for a new windshield and replacement. Asked him about the calibration and he told me it was a scam. He joked that he could stick a USB not connected to anything into the truck and charge me $250 if I wanted. Never had issues with the lane departure features after he replaced the windshield. Everything worked just fine.

Business has an average of 4.7 stars with over 500 reviews and 55 years in service so I felt like I was in good hands.

 

So, to double check what you are saying for my 2018, if I don't calibrate the camera after windshield replacement, it might not communicate with the grill correctly and there might be issues with automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, as well as lane departure? If that's the case, I'll calibrate.

If the camera only does the lane assist and the grill does the rest, then I'll save the money and turn lane assist off.

 

The camera is also tied to TSS and adaptive cruise systems, yes.

I do not know the tolerance angles that the camera has. I speculate that it's not so much the mounting position that's the issue, but the media that it is looking through. Meaning if the glass is of slightly different optical quality, it's going to freak out.

The reasoning behind my wild ass theory is that I ran some experiments repositioning the radar sensor. It had no problems with mounting it to a new grille at a completely different location than original. And why should it, the truck rides at different heights and angles all the time, depending how much gear is in the back. Doesn't error out when I do that. However, when I wrapped the sensor shield with vinyl, that really pissed it off. Turns out there was a tiny air bubble or other inconsistency in the vinyl that it kept "sensing." And like a princess with a spec of dirt in her eye, it refused to work until it was fixed. Extrapolating that, if a windshield is more convex or has an invisible flaw, then it'll be dirt in the cameras eye. And it won't like it.

That's my wager. And again, I'm talking out of my ass so take the hypothesis with a grain of salt.

But if I were you I'd try running it without calibrating. If lane alert and cruise is still working after taking a 20 me drive, then you probably don't need it. If it starts lighting up your dash and throwing a tantrum, you could always go back and pay for the calibration.

 

Interesting, I have wrapped my OEM grille garnish with a matte paint protection film since 2021 and have only returned an error if the garnish is covered in ice, dirt, or snow.

 

It's a long story that I truncated for brevity. But it also involved a home made garnish and the quality of plastic used.

Once I figured it out it's been flawless. But it was a months long journey of fiddling with crap I shouldn't have been fiddling with.

 

So does my boss at work and that's really annoying.

 

Those guys are what's wrong with the autoglass industry. Neglect of proper procedures. If that's the way he works I am concerned for the quality of install. Think of it like bleeding brakes or coolant. Will it still work? yes. Properly? kinda. Safe? Not exactly. Cause issues or stop working later? More than likely. Next time use insurance glass claims don't raise monthly cost and they cover calibration. And more than likely you can get oem glass if you have a forward facing camera in the windshield.

 

Safelite just stated they cannot recalibrate my camera because my truck sits 1/2 inch higher (265/70 tires vs OEM 265/65)! I have to pay for the difference between non-OEM glass and OEM glass so they can have Toyota do the re-cal! Over $300 difference that I have to pay.

 

If the vehicle came with the safety system I'd be doing whatever is needed to calibrate it and keep it functioning the way it did when it left the factory. You start disconnecting and disabling this stuff and it just lowers the value of the vehicle. Always amazes me when guys are waffling over 300$ on a 40,000$ truck

 

I'm not waffling, I love the features and will keep them operating as designed. I'm just pissed that for 1/2" they want to charge me over $300!

 

How much should it cost?

 

My insurance covers free glass replacement so nothing is what it should cost.

 

Shouldn't have to pay difference. Have you already paid them??

 

I got the crystal fusion applied at the dealer which guaranteed my windshield for 5 years but didn't cover recalibration. Took a rock from a semi that splintered/spiderwebbed one of the days it got down to -35 deg F. Filed a claim with Crystal Fusion and found a local shop an hour and a half away. I opted not to have it recalibrated since I have an aftermarket lift and the glass shop wouldn't guarantee the calibration so I signed a waiver and saved $300 bucks. Calibration wasn't needed and the damn thing works better than it did stock with my new windshield.

My local glass guy that works on all my classic cars and I discussed this and he said that unless you are in a collision or something impacts the camera area of the windshield, a calibration isn't needed. Food for thought. Unless the installers bump or mess with the camera you'll be fine, just like I was. I opted out of the calibration and my lane assist works perfectly, auto dimming brights, and pre collision alerts still function. Windshield was replaced in February or March of this year and I have had no issues to this day.