Relocating the TSS Sensor

Story time!

Looking around it seems some folks have had an issue relocating this stupid thing. Not so much with the relocating, but the function afterward.

As far as I've found, only two vendors make a bracket to relocate it. One of them is made for their front bumper and the other is universal. And that is C4.

In anticipation of my front bumper showing, I wanted to take care of this beforehand. The kit from C4 arrived and I got to installing. Easy work.

Driving afterward would cause the sensor to turn the safety stuff off and you get a nice yellow light and a stupid message in the cluster every time. I tried to figure out when this was happening in an attempt to make the adjustments. No rhyme or reason. I adjusted it one way, I adjusted it another. I think I even did a little bending. Nope.

I looked around with the Googles and couldn't really find anything. I did notice something. The people that weren't having problems had a TRD Pro. Or as near as I could figure it was the case. Hmmmm.

I hoped on one of the parts sites and looked. Sure enough the part number of the sensor for the TRD Pro was different. Interesting. I ended up finding a used one on eBay and bought it.

Unfortunately, my bumper fabricator decided that waiting a year for my bumper was okay. Seriously. But I hadn't forgotten about the other sensor I had.

By the time the bumper showed and I was gearing up for the install, I had developed another theory on why I was having issues. I have a lift on my Runner with adjustable suspenders. Out of the box, they were set up for the extra weight I would have on both ends of the truck. There was noticeable squat because my back bumper was already installed. I thought that maybe the squat was causing the sensor to kind of point toward the sky and every time I hit a good bump, the suspension would flex all the way out and the sensor got confused because it was just seeing sky. I tried to pay attention and see if this was the case. It seemed possible, but I wasn't convinced.

The bumper goes on, the sensor is swapped and I'm ready to roll. I've been commuting in the Runner this week. It's a long commute (140 mi round) so I've had a lot of time. The sensor has only reported problems in the rain. I believe that's a normal response. The dry days the light hasn't come on once.

Is this success? I hope so. It was cheap enough to give it a shot. The sensor was around $50. So just some things to think about if you're having trouble. Good luck.

 

I think it was a success. Your theory about the back bumper sagging and thus causing the front to point towards the sky makes a lot of sense why it was going off from time to time.

The issue with rain (or snow or mud) is very common. I had my sensor go off while I was in the car wash last week. After I wiped it down it went back to normal.

Now that we’ve all read your life story and the trials and tribulations you’ve been through….show us pictures of your bumper man. C’mon, now. Don’t be a tease.

 

Yeah, that got a bit long. Out of character.

But here's your reward for struggling through: