Echo Master reverse warning system

[wayno]

Just a piece of information. I recently purchased the EchoMaster Reverse Sensing System from Carfancy.com (It's actually sold as the "Dolphin Reverse Sensing System"). The unit took less than a week to arrive from CA to MA. I installed it in less than two hours. It works great. It has great sensitivity and is accurate practically to the inch. I installed just two sensors on the bottom third of the rear bumper. That way, I didn't need to drill through any metal, just the plastic facia. With just the two sensors, it picks up everything behind and to the side of the truck.

Great product.

 

[OviedoAV]

Thanks for the info. It sounds cool wayno, but around here we like to see pics

 

[mnr602]

I also bought the system but haven't installed it because:

(1) I was unsure of the appearance and the mounting locale.
(2) I really dislike false alarms, because then you get a false sense of security and tone them out

Any chance you can give me your critique, and post or pm me pictures to help me make up my mind.

 

[wayno]

Wow...you guy's are right!!! I should have posted pics......I'll have them up on this thread this evening. As for false alarms? I get some occasional noise when I'm backing down a hill approaching a level surface. That's about it. The sensors themselves are mounted in sleeves that compensate for the angle of the bumper. There are four sets of these sleeves that step you from completely straight to a severe angle. I'm not sure of the exact measurement....close to 45 degrees I would think. Because of these sleeves, the sensors protrude from the bumper a little. When I post the pics, you can see for yourselves.

Wayne

 

[DS]

I had backup sensors like this in my Audi's rear bumper and never had a false alarm. The reason I say never is simply because the sensors will only tell the system to complain if it detects something, so it's pretty foolproof. Mine did as wayno's and griped when backing out down a slope every now and then, but it though it was about to hit something, and may beep if a rain drop dripped past it when backing out of the garage during a storm. Other than that, I never had any problem at all. These systems certainly seem to beat camera based systems for simplicity and foolproofness, since they have no problems with low visiblility and such, and dependance upon the driver to interpret what's on a screen.

Thanks for the info wayno.

 

[mnr602]

any pics yet??

 

[wayno]

OK......Having problems with the PC this morning...I think I can get one pic to come out. It gives you a basic idea.

Wayne

 

[midlifecrisis]

That's not bad looking. How much for the system, with delivery?

 

[SpottyJ]

Thanks for the photo. Is it pushing our luck to ask for a photo of the interior equipment (speaker, etc)? I would like to see how the interior install looks, mounting location, etc.

Thanks!

 

[wayno]

The system cost around $200.00 from "CarFancy.Com", delivered. I feel it's a pretty good deal. There were so many solutions/ suggestions throughout these forums. People can get pretty carried away. I just wanted a simple solution. This fit the bill. I'll take a shot of the interior and post it tonight at home. I'll have much better luck there. The installation was straight forward. The unit, which is slightly larger than a deck of cards, simply velcro's to any surface inside the truck. the speaker plugs into the unit and has enough wire to be velcro'd anywhere in the truck. It's about the size of a silver dollar. Three wires run from the unit to the rear of the truck (sensor left, sensor right and power). My unit and speaker are merely velcro'd to the midgate. I had a small access hole already drilled for my Sirius antenna. Tapping into power was easy. The trailering harness receptacle is clearly accessable and marked (light green for reverse). I used a 1" paddle style hole bit to drill into the plastic facia of the bumper. I mounted the sensors low enough so I didn't need to drill through any metals.

Wayne

 

[SpottyJ]

Wayno:

The hole you drilled for the sensor is very clean, did you drill from the front/outside to the inside. Or from inside/behind to the outside. Did you put something between the bumper cladding to support, etc. I am amazed how perfect that fit came out. Nice job!

 

[wayno]

Thanks....the hole was drilled from the outside. I drilled low enough on the bumper that there was no metal to drill through behind the plastic. The plastic is hard enough to support the pressure of the dril. No additional support is required. After using the 1" paddle bit, I ran sand paper around the hole until the sleeve slid in. When the sensors are slid into the sleeves, they press on tiny fingers that secure the sleeve to the bumper. No additional hardware is needed. You can also purchase a drill bit for this installation specifically with the unit.