Vehicles with spare wheel on rear door:
The Parking Dynamics PD1 car parking sensor when fitted to vehicles with a Spare Wheel on back door (i.e. 4x4) will only utilise Zones 1 & 2, as the depth of the spare wheel takes up Zone 3 (nearest to your vehicle). However this does not affect the overall accuracy and performance. We have fitted many Parking Dynamics PD1 car parking sensors to these vehicles without any problems.
Vehicles with a Tow bar:
Parking Dynamics PD1 is the recommended Car Parking Sensor for vehicles with a Tow bar fitted as performance is not affected.
Technical Operation:
When reverse gear is selected the small control unit generates a magnetic field and transfers this to the transceiver adhesive strip that is placed on the inner side of and run the length of your bumper.
The magnetic strip then sends out an elliptical magnetic field to cover full the area around your bumper. The transceiver strip works by sending and receiving unlike Ultra-sonic parking sensors that require 2 types of sensors, one to send and one to receive; if they become dirty the ultra-sonic performance can deteriorate. This creates the field.
Mass is then monitored by the control unit by translating this into a voltage. When an object (i.e. people, kerbs, cars, etc) heavier in mass than the magnetic field enters this elliptical zone, an increase in voltage is detected by the control unit and you are then informed by a series of audible tones how close you are to the object. You can then manoeuvre accordingly.
Installation:
The Parking Dynamics PD1 car parking sensor has an easy 3-wire installation.
1) Earth connection that is picked up from the body of the car or from the earth wire going to the rear light cluster.
2) 12V wire connects to the reverse wire going to the light cluster that is live when reverse is selected.
3) The adhesive antenna strip has a wire already attached that you simply connect to a wire coming off the control unit.
The adhesive magnetic strip must be placed 3cm away from any metal strips that may be on your bumper and 45cm (minimum) from the ground but it can mount as high as necessary. The majority of car bumpers are ideal to have this positioned at the top of the bumper. The magnetic strip can be cut to any length to fit your bumper but must be a minimum of 2.1 Metres in length (including the mounting lead that connects the strip to the live wire) to give optimum performance.
In many cases your bumper may need to be removed (dependent on vehicle) in order to mount the adhesive strip. This is generally far easier than you would expect.
For ease of installation you could consult a Haynes Manual or ring your local car dealer and ask to speak to a technician in the Service Department or you can ask your dealer parts department for an exploded view (print off) of your rear bumper, this will show you exactly how the bumper is held on to the vehicle and where any screws, locators or rivets can be found.
Recommended Professional Installation Service:
If like many of our customers, you would prefer an Installation Professional to help, we highly recommend InCar-Installer.com the UK's Leading In-Car Nationwide Installation Service company.
Alternatively look in your local Yellow Pages under the (Car Electrics & Car Audio) categories or visit Yell.com to find an installer in your area. If you would like to have the installation carried out at your home or workplace, look for a mobile installer in the advert or ask when you call them if they offer this service. You'll be surprised, that you find it's cheaper for someone to call to you and install it than to leave it at some fancy garage.