Apogee Rear Bumper Parking Sensor issues

Has anyone else with the Apogee rear bumper experienced issues with their parking sensors randomly alarming?

I've been toying with this for the past 3 months and haven't had much luck. My BSM works fine, but my parking sensors will just sporadically alarm when I'm in reverse despite there not being any obstacles behind me. I read through all of the info (attached) on the Toyota TechInfo site as to how to test the parking sonar system and after running the various tests on each of the 4 sensors it's clear that the issue is with the two in the center. The ones on the corners appear to be working fine.



At first, I thought it might be an issue with the angle of the sensor holes on the bumper; perhaps they are angled too far down? I ran some tests by cutting pieces of thin cardboard and shimming the sensors up. Once I hit 1/8" in shims the false positives stopped. For a short time that seemed to help. There were far fewer false positive alarms, but recently it has started to sporadically alarm again.



I talked with the dealership about it, to see if they had any ideas or a way to re-calibrate the sensors. They initially told me there was a way to re-calibrate the sensors, and that it was a very extensive (and expensive) process. Then when I finally decided to give-in and let them do the calibration, they told me they were wrong and there is no way to re-calibrate. They just keep telling me that the sensors are detecting the metal of the bumper....? Has anyone else experienced this or figured out a way to resolve it (aside from just turning off the parking sonar entirely)?

**I should also mention that I did reach out to Apogee and worked with Ethan to try and figure this out. We bounced some ideas, and I think he was going to try and fab some attachments to test out new mounting options for the sensors, but I think they are pretty busy these days so it's likely back-burnered for a bit.

 

My guess is that they're detecting your shackles and the shackle mount.

 

So I was thinking this, too. Partly why I'm asking the forums to crowd-source some usage data on this. If that's the case, I would assume more people would have the same issue?

 

Do a lot of people retain the parking monitor feature, I'm asking because for 1st and 2nd gens this isn't a concern. On my BMW those sensors were very sensitive and they didn't just detect straight out from the sensor they had like a 120 degree cone of detection.... which if these are similar then the solution would be to move them physically away from the shackle mounts toward the edge of the truck.

 

I would defiantly start here! Removing them is quicker and easier than anything and probably should have been Step#1.

 

Also gives you the added benefit of actually being able to use the shackle when needed. Won't seize, rust or be stolen while it's put away and when you need to unscrew the pin you can do it by hand instead of having to go get a wrench and screwdriver because you reefed on it trying to deter theft.

 

I would say that most 3rd gen owners who mod their rigs with high clearance bumpers don't care about retaining those features. None of my buddies here cared and so they just disconnected those sensors and purchased different styles of hc bumpers. However, this specific bumper is for those of us who are wanting to retain those features. Yeah that cone of detection is something I'm curious about, too. Moving the sensors out might make the difference.

 

Yep, I agree, this is a good call. I'm going to take them off today and see how it goes.

 

This is all smart and sensible....but my ego is screaming at me to leave them on the bumper because they look cool lol. Rather than wrenching the pins on, I actually just ran a zip tie through the hole and back to the shackle body to keep the vibrations from rattling it out. Not exactly anti-theft...more of a "mild deterrent". I just keep spares in the cab with my recovery gear.

 

But doesn't look as cool on my Insta

 

I have had the Apogee bumper for over a year now. It seems that the backup sensors are more sensitive than when in the OEM bumper. My concrete driveway has some joints in it and the sensors seem to pick them up sometimes when I am backing up. Otherwise they work well. I agree with the comment that you need to remove those shackles. They really do hang very close to the inner sensors which you said were the ones causing the problem.

 

its the designer shackles

 

What do you mean designer? Like Calvin Klein?

 

gotta stand out at the mall

 

Do you not keep shackles on yours?

 

Man oh man, the mall...I don't think I've been to a mall since high school

 

How do you pick up dates?

 

I chat them up when I catch them admiring my designer shackles in the Arbys parking lot

 

Nope.