Success with DIY BSM Calibration and Aftermarket Rear Bumper

Hi All,

I have a 22 ORP with a Victory4x4 Strike Rear Bumper recently installed.
My installer relocated the BSM's slightly up (maybe 5"),
so they now reside behind the cut OEM plastic body panel,
and NOT behind the hard steel of the aftermarket bumper.

After picking up my 4Runner from the bumper installer,
I started getting BSM and RCTA dash alerts after driving about 20 miles.
I've since been trying to recalibrate these sensors myself.

I've been trying to follow a couple of Youtube videos on recalibration of other Toyota models (Highlander, etc); and getting some DIY advice from a Tacoma forum on placement of a DIY ADAS reflector and reset using the Techstream software.
But, no success.

I'm trying not to use the hacked Techstream software that's floating around the web.
I contact the scanner vendor XTool, and they claim their D8 scanner can do the reset.
So, I've been working with this D8 scanner to attempt the "Beam Axis Inspection" for both my "Master and Slave Blind Spot Monitors".

Problem is,
I'm missing the EXACT placement location for the ADAS Reflector for a 2022 4Runner.
-> Anyone have access to a shop manual that could share reflector positioning coordinates ?
I've been trying to follow this guide for now.. https://www.ttguide.net/operation_check-392.html

Also,
I'm not sure my DIY ADAS Reflector is sufficient.
I just made one out of cardboard and aluminum foil, per this Tacoma forum post https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/diy-bsm-calibration-radar-reflector.762920/
-> Anyone have any better information on the reflector design/construction ?

Figuring I should have gotten a '21 at this point ;-)

Many Thanks....

 

I saw in another post that your dealership didn't offer the recalibration...would another dealership (maybe a bigger one) that's a little further or not your preferred do it? My local one would do it for $600.

There is also an independent guy local to me that does it. He works with other bodyshops in the area that don't want to invest in the tech or knowledge and does it for them. He quoted me between $320 and $450 (he was traveling and couldn't get me an exact quote). Maybe there is someone like that near you...I just googled "adas recalibration near me" and his info came up.

Sorry I don't have an answer to your specific question, but hopefully it at least gets you somewhere.

 

Thanks for your suggestions Fury23.

Had some significant success yesterday, and was able to
- validate that my DIY ADAS reflector works (cardboard & aluminum foil construction)
- and reset both my MASTER & SLAVE beam axis calibrations.
Trick was finding out the reflector placement arc is 11ft from the plumb centerline of rear bumper.

My success was only short-lived however,
as after a few miles of driving, my MASTER BSM went back out of aligment.
This was to be expected, because they are only attached by 1 of the 3 mounting bolts on a significantly bent BSM bracket.
They seem to move a bit more than they should when driving, triggering new error codes.
Am gonna need to
- bend the BSM sensor mounts according to the new placement geometry
- tap a few holes into body to screw the mounts home
- and reset my BSM calibrations again.

When I'm done with all this, and everything's stable; I'll write it up in detail.

 

That's awesome that some progress was made! I'd definitely be interested in seeing a write up and what tools you used. I already had the BSM mounts sunk well, just couldn't figure out the actual calibration part/didn't have enough time recently to really dig in.

Also don't have any scanners at the moment but have been looking into getting one since hubby and I could likely use the same one now (he has a 2019 Tacoma).

 

Really interested in this thread as I sort of scraped the rear bumper to the point where it needs to be replaced. The thing I'm wondering is how far off would the BSM be off if they put it in the exact same spot with the replacement bumper. Hopefully it won't be enough to require recalibration, but it definitely would help if I knew how to recalibrate it.

 

If you have a stock bumper and the mount wasn't affected, you should be fine. To my understanding they will recalibrate themselves if only moved a small distance. I moved mine 5" and they need recalibration because of it and OP did something similar.

 

So, to put this thread to a close,
I was able to perform a successful DIY relocation of my 22 ORP's BSM sensors after installation of an aftermarket rear bumper.
It took a lot more time and energy than expected,
so I figured I'd share the details as karmic payback for all the great tips and timesavers I've gleaned from this forum prior.

Preamble
I was generally aware of blind spot monitoring and sensors but none of my previous cars had this feature.
And I was aware that some of them had been tripping my radar detectors as false positives for years.
I've always been a "look over my shoulder guy" to check my blind spots,
so didn't purposefully buy the 4Runner because of the BSM and RCTA features.
But hey, why not leverage the modern safety devices that came with my new 4Runner?

So, when I started looking at aftermarket front and rear bumpers,
part of my select criteria was that they didn't fully impeded safety functions.
I had already had a Victory4x4 roof rack installed by the Toyota dealer before I took possession of my truck.
I chose the Victory4x4 roof rack b/c I like it's unique features in that it supported a recessed light bar
and was fully-flat, so I could transport plywood/drywall w/o contact to the light bar.

Anyways, both my Toyota Dealer and Offroad Installer highly recommended the C4 products;
but I found the C4 geometries to be less conducive to maintaining the safety features such as TSS & BSM/RCTA.
So I settled on the Victory4x4 Strike Winch FRONT bumper, which kinda "smiles" at you with a lower lip leaving the TSS unimpeded.
In term of aftermarket rear bumpers, I also went with Victory4x4 because their Strike REAR Bumper had a lower "waist" which wrapped around the rear corners.
My thinking here was that the BSM sensors had more room to be relocated.
(I also chose the Victory4x4 Rear Strike bumper because of it's modular nature, to add/reconfigure features later)

Anyways, I commit to the Victory4x4 products, also getting their Strike tubular rock sliders.
I put an order down with my Offroad Installer (late Nov '22) and wait 3 months for everything to arrive.
In early March, I had all the products installed, including a winch and 5th oversize tire (287/75R17) and rim as a spare for the new rear swingout.
My installer did a great job with all of the cutting and finishes, and roughly relocated the BSM sensors as I had requested them.
In terms of relocation, they simply moved the BSM sensor up about 5 inches, mounting the lower part of the bracket on the brackets upper stud mounts.
I picked up the vehicle, and drove about 20 miles without no DTCs triggered.
Until... just a few minutes short of arriving home, I started receiving BSM and RCTA system alerts on the dash.

OK, no worries, I had my free 5K service due at local Toyota 2 days later, so I figured I'd ask them if they would recalibrate the BSM sensors.
They took one look at the Victory4x4 aftermarket rear bumper, and said they couldn't do it.
Oh well, I tried...
(Interestingly, I think the distant Toyota Dealer that sold me my 4Runner, may have done the BSM work for me, IF I had them do the Victory4x4 bumper work for me.
This dealer was just a little farther away than my Offroad Installer; and b/c of Victory4x4 flip-flopping their distributor sales model, I would have had to purchase the items myself.
I say this because this dealer had already done some significant upfit work for me,
such as a 3" OME BP-51 lift, and oversize rims and tires 285/75R17 which required a body-mount chop, and then a re-alignment.
In hindsight, knowing what I know now, I may have given the distant Toyota Dealer the business instead...)

OK, so now I figure I'm gonna take on this project myself.
"My old man is a television repairman, he's got this ultimate set of tools. I can fix it..."

To be continued.....

 

....
so, I start gathering information here and there.
I learn new acronyms and words (BSM, RCTA, ADAS, TIS/techstream, etc)
I was already exposed to DTC and scan tools for basic reading and resetting.
This forum and others (Tacoma) were a great source of information, including Youtube videos on topic.
But I was missing some key information and kinda fumbling thru the process.

I knew that MINIMALLY I needed a scanner cable of resetting the BSM calibration flag and an ADAS reflector for a target.
I found construction details on an ADAS reflector made out of carboard and aluminum foil from a Tacoma forum.
I had recos on the XTool D8 scanner, and confirmed with them prior by email, that their D8 scanner could perform the BSM calibration.
So I bought the D8 on Amazon, figuring I could return it within 30 days if it didn't work for me.
Now I just had to do it

In typical fashion I just jumped in,
- made the DIY ADAS reflector and mounted it on a tripod I had lying around.
- got the XTool D8 from Amazon
- and found some placement measurements for a 2018 Tacoma.
The result... couldn't get the scan tool to see the reflector.
I then posted here about a week ago, and got an idea from fellow member Well69.

I wasn't aware that Toyota Techstream could be subscribed to for a very short duration.
I was initially scared away at the cost of some $1K+ per year.
Well69 had me take another look, and I bought a 2 day NON-professional subscription for $25.
This subscription gave me all the technical data for ADAS calibration such as angles, distances, etc.
With this information in hand, I was able to get my XTool D8 scan tool to actually "see" my DIY ADAS reflector.
(I think you can buy this reflector OEM for some $300, but you still need a stand which is also sold OEM at stealer rates;
but anyways, my DIY carboard/aluminum foil/tripod mashup seemed to be working).

So, I found out where to place the reflector on the Drivers/Master side
and get the angle within tolerance, and reset the calibration flag.
I do the same on the Passengers/Slave side.
I have now cleared the DTC's for "Beam Access Inspection of Master/Slave Module is Not Completed"
Yippee!
Get in my truck, driving it around for a few minutes, and then I get slapped with new DTC's.
"Misalignment of Master/Slave Module Horizontal Axis"

At this point, I've got the XTool D8 scanner main-lined into my OBDII port,
and I've routed the physical wire connector under my dash,
and I'm driving and resetting codes,
trying to figure out why this new "Misalignment of Master/Slave Module Horizontal Axis" DTC is tripping.
I can reset it, and it comes back.

So, I figure that my BSM sensors are NOT FULLY-aligned properly.
I had RESET the calibration flag, and THAT DTC went away, but now I've got a new one.
So, I go about re-reading the Toyota Techstream manual again, and realize that the BSM sensors are supposed to be
- perpendicular to ground at 90 degree
- horizontal to the ground at 0 degress
- AND between 46-54 degrees off of the linear centerline of the vehicle.
So, I need some more DIY tooling.......

to be continued.....

 

so, I'm on Amazon again looking at digital inclinometers ($20-30), digital protractors ($20),
and then all over the web looking at ADAS calibration jigs that would allow me to set my BSM 46-54 degree angle of centerline.

I then realize that my iPhone has a "Measure" app that does inclination.
So, I bent my BSM mounting brackets to ensure they were
- 0 degrees to vertical (90 degrees to ground)
- and 0 degrees to horizontal
2 outta 3 down... but how da f**k am I gonna do the 50 degree setting off of the centerline.

I figure I had a framing square that could do angles, so I just set a 50 degree angle on that.
(Truth be told, a child's plastic protractor from geometry class, you could prolly buy at Staples, would be fine too).
Then I walk out to the vehicle to get a rough estimate of how my BSM sensor was aligned.
I was WAY OFF....
The 50 degree setting is almost 45 degrees which is halfway between pointing straight backward and straight sideways.
My sensor's were pointing almost straight back.
I had already lost my frame of reference, as both BSM brackets were terribly bent & mangled by now;
so I couldn't even get a rough idea on where they were pointing to begin with.
So, back to the Internet I go, searching google images for pictures of how they look normally.
Ah...hah.... that's how they are supposed to look.

So, I relocate my bracket to stud mounts again.
The original BSM brackets mount to TWO studs at the top, and ONE stud at the bottom.
I had abandoned the one stud at the bottom, and now my bottom bracket had a choice of two (previously top studs) to connect to.
I simply moved my bracket to the other stud, to give me enough play to bend my bracket to the rough angle desired.

I get in the car and drive around.
DTC's ? No... no, but after 5-10 minutes, I'm slapped with the same horizontal alignment issue.
I re-align my bracket again, cutting off some of the bracket material so I can turn the bracket closer to the desired 50 degree angle.
Now, I'm driving like 10-20 minutes without the DTC's being thrown.
I'm driving longer and longer with more success, and getting closer.....

I'm also thinking that having my BSM sensors mounted to only ONE stud was allowing them to vibrate a bit,
so at this time, I decide to tap into the body and get a second point of bracket attachment;
and now my BSM sensors are firmly attached.

I also realize, that I should probably due another calibration with the DIY ADAS reflector at this time.
This is a bit of a pain in the axx, so I was holding off on doing this.
Alas, after doing the second calibration, I'm DTC free, and my BSM and RCTA warnings are functioning.
I don't know what angle to centerline my BSM's are set at, but I don't care at this point.

I've now driven multiiple trips and some 90 minutes without any issue.
I've got a bunch of specs, pictures, and guidance that I'll share in another post, prolly tomorrow.

My last post will be the TLDR concise instructions....

to be continued...

 

How To

Overview
1 - Relocate AND orient angles of both BSM sensors
2 - Position vehicle for calibration.
3 - Recalibrate BSM system using scan tool

BSM Sensor Relocation & Orientation
1 - Move sensor and bracket where it will not be impeded by steel of aftermarket bumper.
I re-used one of the original 2 top studs on the vehicle for my brackets bottom hole.
I bent and removed material from the bracket to achieve the correct geometry.
I drilled and tapped a 1/4-20 hole in the vehicle body to attach the top bracket securely to the vehicle.
2 - Orient the sensor so that it is 0 degrees to horizontal, 0 degrees to vertical, and 46-54 degrees (50 degrees) to long axis of vehicle.
I used the iOS Measure app to determine the horizontal and vertical angles, but I suppose you could also use a very small bubble level.
Setting the 50 degree angle to the long axis of the vehicle was quite a bit harder.
I did use a long straight edge up against the rear tire,
and a carpenter's angle bevel set to 50 degrees from a framing square. You could also use a protractor.
I then eye-balled it.

Position Vehicle for Calibration
1 - Move vehicle to flat surface with ample room around sides and rear.
All of the videos I watched, show this being done inside on a concrete pad.
I did this outside on a reasonably flat driveway, but it was NOT exactly flat.
Toyota docs warn you to ensure your tires are evenly inflated and your vehicle is not burdened with any excessive load.
I don't think it's THAT sensitive.
2 - Mark the centerline of the vehicle
Use a plumb bob from the middle of the Toyota logos on the hood and liftgate to mark the front and rear centers of the car on the ground.
Stretch a string over these two marks using some heavy weight at each end.
Align the "X" of the paper template over the rear center and centerline and tape it down.
Since I was outside, I put a small nail into the driveway, so I could hook my tape measure onto the nail head.
Measure out 11 feet at the angle indicated to position your reflector.
The center of the reflector should be at the same height as the middle of your BSM sensor.

Recalibrate BSM system with Scan Tool
1 - Connect your scan tool to your OBDII port.
I used the XTool D8 scan tool, but I believe you can also use a notebook computer and buy a 2 day Professional-Techstream subscription for $70 + a $50 cable)
Initially, I did this without the engine running and the Ignition switch ON, but after running my battery too low; did this with the engine running later.
2 - Enter the BSM system of your scan tool.
3 - Use the "Live Data" feature of your scan tool to make sure each BSM sensor is reporting.
The Drivers side is Master, the Passenger side is Slave
4 - Use the scan tool DISPLAY function to generate a read of the angle.
I waste a bunch of time here initially, by NOT having my BSM sensors oriented properly.
The DISPLAY function reports NOTHING to you if it can't find the sensor in the proper position.
Initially, I didn't even know if my DIY reflector would work. It does!
Without a proper ADAS positioning jig to set the BSM sensor to the 50 degree angle to long axis of vehicle,
you will need to move the reflector to the left or right of an 11ft arc from the rear centerline UNTIL you get a reading.
Through a bunch of trial and error, I started to get readings.
I then chalked where my tripod legs were, so I could fine tune.
I got readings of no more than +/- 10 degrees detected.
You need to be +/- 3.6 degrees in order to RESET the calibration.
Ultimately, I got within +/- 0.5 degrees.
5 - Use the scan tool the RESET the calibration.
You should NOW be done.

Take your Runner for a drive..
If you make it 20+ minutes, you've probably succeeded.
Test your BSM sensor on a multi-line highway, and your RCTA in a busy parking lot.

If everything is working as expected, you can close up your bumper.
I used stainless lock washers, but if not, you may want to use some Loctite.
I also cleaned and wiped the cut edges of my brackets and various scrapes to my vehicle's body with alcohol, then spray painted it to prevent rust.

In my next post, I'll add some pictures to tie this all together...

 

Rear of vehicle with cut OEM bumper removed.


Close up of initial BSM sensor relocation


BSM sensor bracket hacks...



BSM sensor mounting studs


BSM sensor final relocation and orientation


More pics in next post....

 

BSM reflector


Template


Reflector scene


Final with bumper reinstalled



And JFYI, a front shot, showing Victory4x4 Strike Front Bumper OEM placement of TSS sensor

 

I haven't looked into it yet, but where are the stock mounting locations for the BSM? Is it on the bumper cover itself or is it on the frame somewhere?

 

The BSM sensors mount to a bracket that slips over 3 OEM studs on the frame of the vehicle.
The bumper itself is not connected to the BSM sensors.

 

Wow.. sounds like an incredible feat. Now I'm unsure whether or not to install a rear bumper in the future. You kinda scared me here..

Amazing job

 

Outstanding post and series. I’ve just recently purchased my first 4Runner. I’m retired now and looking to build up an overland vehicle allowing me to return to old Utah & Colorado landscape I haven’t visited recently. As I get older features like BSM & CTAS are great aids I have grown to appreciate. I’ve been looking for a way to add a rear bumper to allow relocation of the spare tire and make room for an Auxiliary fuel tank. You absolutely nailed the concept of how to relocate the BSM sensors and calibrate them. Thanks for the great work and sharing.