Parking Sensors

Like Back Up Cameras, Parking Sensors can indicate how close you are to other vehicles, and alert you to the presence of objects, animals, and small children who could be hidden in the blind spot area of your rear view mirror. Armed with parking sensors on your vehicle, you can back into a parking spot or dark garage, or out of your driveway, with confidence. But parking sensors aren’t just for the rear. Mounted at the front of the vehicle, parking sensors can show proximity to curbs and parking barriers, so expensive damage to a bumper, or low hanging spoiler or valance panel, can be avoided.

Many late model vehicles are equipped with parking sensors as standard equipment, and we offer replacement sensors for many of these systems. But you don’t have to buy an expensive new vehicle to get high-tech parking assistance. We offer a variety of parking sensor systems with different features in a wide range of prices so you can get the system that best fits your needs and wallet. We offer systems that provide audible alerts, systems that combine audible alerts with a color-coded warning LED display, and combination parking sensor/back up camera systems.

Parking sensors are electromagnetic or ultrasonic proximity sensors. Electromagnetic sensors create an electromagnetic field at the front or rear of the vehicle. When an object enters the field as the vehicle pulls forward or backs up, its presence will be signaled to the driver. Ultrasonic sensors are more common. These sensors are typically installed in the bumper or grille, where they send out a sound wave that reflects off of obstacles in the vehicle’s path, which triggers a warning sent to the driver. Depending on the system, the audible beeps will increase in frequency and the LED display bars will go from green to yellow to red as the vehicle gets closer to the obstacle. Some LED displays will also indicate distance to the object numerically.

While the exact contents will vary according to system features and brand, a typical parking sensor kit contains 2-4 sensors, control module, speaker/buzzer, and the necessary wiring. Many kits include the appropriate size hole saw for sensor installation. The sensors are waterproof and most can be painted to match the vehicle. Systems with visual warning include an LED display that can be mounted on the dash or other convenient location. Some displays can be flipped and mounted on the headliner. Systems with back up camera include an LCD monitor or digital mirror display. Speaker audio volume can be controlled and/or muted. While the majority of kits use wired sensors, we also offer some kits with wireless sensors. With the latter there is no harness to route from the bumper to the dash.

Our Curb Alert parking sensors operate differently than the parking sensors above. These sensors mount to the front bumper and use advanced infrared LED technology to detect curbs, parking barriers or other obstacles that could damage expensive bumpers, spoilers, or valance panels. A control module uses an infrared beam emitted by the sensor to calculate your vehicle’s distance to the obstacle, triggering audible beeps that increase in frequency as you approach the object. We offer both universal and model specific kits for select applications. A basic kit includes the sensor, mounting brackets, module, volume adjustable speaker, and wiring. We also have kits that include a camera that provides a front view image to a factory or aftermarket display, to further assist with parking.