Tail Lights with Blind Spot Monitoring System - Driver and Passenger Side

Video Transcript for CUB Blind Spot Tail Lights Monitoring System Review

Hey everybody, how's it going Today, we're gonna be going over the taillights with blind spot monitoring system. So this kit here is gonna be an excellent upgrade here for your vehicle if it didn't already come equipped with the blind spot or rear cross traffic safety features. So basically what these are is, this kit sort of does two different things, number one, it's gonna alert us to our blind spots, therefore, when we're driving out in the highway and we wanna turn over or merge over into another lane and there's someone coming up onto that lane behind us, we can't always see them because our factory mirrors don't always give us the best visibility. So there is a certain area where we can no longer see them but they would still be in potential for a collision if we're to get over, and that's just simply referred to as our blind spot, something we can't see in our mirrors. So having this system on board here, this is gonna alert us to someone in our blind spot, that way we know we can't quite get over, we either need to speed up or let the traffic move on by so we can safely merge into the other lane. So that's gonna be the main feature of this kit here.

The other one is going to be a cross traffic safety feature. So, cross traffic, this is best gonna be demonstrated, let's say when we're at the grocery store, there's a busy parking lot. A lot of the times you can have traffic coming both ways behind you and you can't really see until you back up the vehicle because you're all the way at the front there and there's usually cars on either side. So you really can't tell if there's anyone coming until you get in your vehicle and you actually start backing up. Now, sometimes depending on the speed of the cross traffic, this can actually cause a collision because you just can't see them and you're pretty much coming out blind to them as well so, having a system in place here to alert us that there's a vehicle coming up on when we're trying to back up, that's gonna ensure that we don't cause a collision.

So we do have an on and off button here for our blind spot monitoring system, and the real reason you're gonna be using this is when you're towing. This system here doesn't work well if you're towing a trailer because it's gonna think someone's in your blind spot and it's gonna give you false alerts so, while you're towing it's a good idea to just go ahead and turn the system off here, so you don't get any false readings. So we're merging onto the highway here, trying to get over, and my turn signal on. Luckily, everybody is letting me over but I do can kinda see I got a car coming up on me, yep. Right now our system is alerting us to that, so I need to know, basically telling me I can't get over, I'm not safe.

Now I can look out the window and see them there but I couldn't see when he was right coming up on me. So, system worked pretty good there, no complaints, so let me know that there was a car in my blind spot and I needed to use caution before I got over. Looks like he sees I want to get over, so now he's slowing down and now I can successfully merge. So, coming onto the highway, I always find myself to be, sort of, little bit cautious when you're doing that because you don't know if everyone's gonna get over, if they're gonna emerge for you, and a lot of the time that traffic is coming up on you a lot faster than you're merging onto the highway there. So, having that feature there is especially helpful in that particular situation, I will say.

Although our system will only give us an audible alert while we have the turn signal activated, it's still gonna have that light in the A-pillar when there is someone in your blind spot. So, you're not always gonna get that loud audible alert, it's only when you have your turn signal on. If you just simply glance at the monitor, you will see a light still when there's someone in your blind spot. So go ahead and put it in reverse here, I can see we have someone coming up behind us and there we go. Our system is working correctly 'cause it's alerting me to that oncoming car, therefore I know I need to stop and wait for them to pass before I can pull out. So the blind spot and the rear cross traffic are actually factory equipment on certain makes and models. So whether you purchased one without those upgrade options or it just simply wasn't an option for your vehicle at all, this kit here is gonna be a great added safety feature. So you can get to your destination safe and sound and in one piece. So what's really neat about this particular kit here, because there are other aftermarket blind spot monitoring systems you've can install in your vehicle, but this kit here is pretty much plug and play for the most part, it actually integrates into the vehicle very nicely and uses a lot of the factory components. So, in the kit you're actually gonna be getting new taillights. So I really like to look at these new taillights, they're basically gonna use these same bulbs as the factory one, but we do have an extra sensor built in here on the bottom. And this is gonna be where the sensors are located for our blind spot and our cross traffic. So it does replace the factory taillights, and if you ask me, I really like the looks of these. So it sort of adds to the style of a vehicle as well. So the way this all works is and how it communicates with the vehicle, so we have our new taillights here and then we have a couple extra wire and harnesses that plug into the vehicle. Now the port in the vehicle we're gonna be using mostly is gonna be the OBD-II POR. In addition to the OBD-II POR, we do have a couple wires we have to splice in so, mostly plug and play but there are a couple splicing connections we need to make, which is back of the trailer connector, that's not gonna affect any of the systems on your vehicle, so it is pretty minor. But basically what this does is this sends a signal to our control unit there, that lets us know when we're up to speed and when we're making our turns there, because if we we're just driving around in an empty parking lot, or a half full parking lot what have you, each time we pass a car, if there wasn't any sort of metrics there our system's gonna go off and we don't want our blind spot monitoring system going off and we're just driving around town and we're driving through a parking lot. Therefore it needs a way to sort of decipher that signal, and how this does it, it picks up on two different things. It picks up on the vehicle speed, and it picks up when we have our turn signals engaged. So this is gonna get rid of a lot of those false triggers there because, the system isn't going to turn on until we're at highway speed and we're using either our left or right turn signals. So it's gonna be a way to make sure that we don't have any false readings and they're only really working when we need it which when you're out on the highway. So then we do have an ignition wire that's gonna get hooked up to the fuse bay up here, for the fuse box in the engine bay, now this is just simply gonna turn on the signal, it's gonna let the system know when we start the truck so we can wake it up. So inside the vehicle here mount into either A-pillar we're gonna have our sensors here. So the sensors they're gonna be an LED light. So basically when there is someone in our blind spot, this going to flash yellow, that's gonna let us know which side the system is warning us, whether we have a vehicle on the driver or passenger side, there's one of these on each side. So the correct side is gonna light up depending on what side the vehicle's coming up on. And there're also gonna get an audible alert via a speaker mounted here, behind the A-pillar. So this is gonna give us a nice indication of someone in a blind spot we're gonna get both an audible and a visual alert. And the visual alert is gonna be side specific, so we can easily tell which side that we need to have caution on. So in regards to installation this particular kit really isn't bad. It is gonna be mostly plug and play. There's gonna be very little modifications to the vehicle. The only thing that you do have to modify or rather splice into, is gonna be three wires at the back of the trailer connector but that's not gonna affect any of the lights on your vehicle, so it's really not that big of a deal at all. But aside from that everything is pretty much straightforward, plug and play. You really don't need too many special tools to do this, you're gonna just need some common hand tools to get the taillights off, to remove a couple panel. But aside from that, you're gonna get a set of wire clippers and strippers, but that's pretty much it as far as the tools, I would say this is definitely a beginner can do this, to do it yourself or is gonna have no problem getting this done in three to four hours or so depending on your experience level. And that's gonna do it today for our look at the taillights with blind spot monitoring system..