VXOC Astra-J/GTC

Hey guys

Anyone know I which are the best type of aftermarket reverse sensors are that can be fit by a garage? It's something I'm thinking of getting in the future and see a lot of garages offering it as a service but don't wanna pay them like £150 and have them fit cheap rubbish ones, would rather buy my own and pay them to fit them.

Cheers

I have had this type in now for two years
and i can not fault it mate
cheep and cheerful and works perfect
i have seen the same kit sell for well over £100
and it is just the same kit up to you mate but it does the job as it should 

rear kit 



http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CISBO-REAR-CAR...5635a712b7

do you want front and rear or just rear sensors 

No way! Bargain that ain't it, so you have the same ones? Well the front would be a bonus if they were just as cheap...problem is id need to find someone to fit them which is where the cost would come front :(

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Do they colour them to match the car or would I just have to get some that are close to my colour?

if the color does not match then you just paint them yourself mate

front and rear ones here mate

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Front-Rear-LCD...27e2dcc178

there not hard to fit just got to get the holes inline and in the correct place
front will be a bumper off job but the rear can be done with out removing it
all the wires just connect together easy job just drilling the holes is the hardest part
and add a ground and take the live from the reverse light positive 

Right! Sorted, I'll go for that full front and back set how come it's the same price for front and rear as it is for just rear?

Yeah sounds easy if you're used to doing all that stuff but would take me a whole weekend...would probably just find someone to do them and pay them :P

I had a set off ebay for £17 fitted to my Focus for 4years and they were brilliant. They even came with a tool to drill into the bumper and what not

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(25:th-Apr-2015, 17:12:05)bhalay207 Wrote: [ -> ]I had a set off ebay for £17 fitted to my Focus for 4years and they were brilliant. They even came with a tool to drill into the bumper and what not

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Yeah these have this tool too may just go for the rear ones and do them myself then...just need a how too or something so I don't mess it up!

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Are these the same as the ones you links too @tucpal?

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.vie...0855522291

They're only £13!

basically the same

Sweet! Will pick some up then thinking iron grey look like the best match for my car...Don't suppose there are any tutorials on here are they? Not sure how to get the sensor wiring into the boot where I guess is where the connector box goes and then how to wire up the screen thing...

cheers

Just checked with him to see if they are CANBUS ready too..not sure if I needed too or not

They look good. I chose one without a screen but its personal preference.

They were easy to fit on the Focus. The most nerve wracking bit was drilling the bumper as you only get one shot at that!!

Hmmm probably could go for the one without the screen...would save me loads of work and that's how the official ones are anyway aren't they! How did you know where to drill the holes then?

I've had some of the cheap ebay ones before and there's nothing wrong with them work well.

However on my J because I was pushed for time and it was a newer car and I wanted some assurance with the fitting I decided to go with a company to fit them and a product that came with lifetime warranty.

I got mine from here... http://www.dolphin-direct.co.uk/category...ng-sensors in silver with fitting arranged via the site... £150 all in is a little expensive but it's a lot cheaper than some local places.

Normally I would do it myself but the guy came to my workplace and fitted them quickly and neatly.

Here's the results...

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On mine he removed the rear bumper in the end.

Also the marks on where to drill are on the inside of the bumper so you can put them in the OEM locations.

(25:th-Apr-2015, 20:47:01)bhalay207 Wrote: [ -> ]They look good. I chose one without a screen but its personal preference.

They were easy to fit on the Focus. The most nerve wracking bit was drilling the bumper as you only get one shot at that!!

(25:th-Apr-2015, 21:19:01)sheppy1 Wrote: [ -> ]Hmmm probably could go for the one without the screen...would save me loads of work and that's how the official ones are anyway aren't they! How did you know where to drill the holes then?

Well, with the Focus i took the bumper strip off and drilled the holes in line with the OEM positions. ASFAIR the Astra H has circles with X's stamped on the rear of the bumper to show the positioning of them. Maybe the J is the same.

(25:th-Apr-2015, 21:57:54)bhalay207 Wrote: [ -> ]

(25:th-Apr-2015, 20:47:01)bhalay207 Wrote: [ -> ]They look good. I chose one without a screen but its personal preference.

They were easy to fit on the Focus. The most nerve wracking bit was drilling the bumper as you only get one shot at that!!

(25:th-Apr-2015, 21:19:01)sheppy1 Wrote: [ -> ]Hmmm probably could go for the one without the screen...would save me loads of work and that's how the official ones are anyway aren't they! How did you know where to drill the holes then?

Well, with the Focus i took the bumper strip off and drilled the holes in line with the OEM positions. ASFAIR the Astra H has circles with X's stamped on the rear of the bumper to show the positioning of them. Maybe the J is the same.

Yep the marks for the OEM positions are on the rear of the bumper... you should be able to see them on the hatch without removing bumper, the guy doing mine said he had to remove the bumper on my tourer though to get to the middle ones.

Should make the job simple then. You're best placing them in the OEM position for coverage as oppsoed to banging them in anywhere.

Ahhhh wanted to do this without removing the bumper...is it easy to remove if I have too? Also how do I get the wires from in the bumper up into the boot where the plug box goes?

Thanks for all the replies btw guys

Again, i can only go on when i fit them to my Focus, but there was a ubber boot which all of the wires went through. I dare say that the Astra will have something similar but i could be wrong, and most likely will be.

Bumpers on any car aren't hard to remove really. They'll be some screws or clips on the wheel arches, underneith and on the top... It should then peel away. I'm sure @rusty2009 or @tucpal will be able to help more than me on that one.

Found these now:

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.vie...1477752992

Sound only, no screen thing. Where do you guys recommend wiring the speaker up too?

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(25:th-Apr-2015, 23:35:08)bhalay207 Wrote: [ -> ]Again, i can only go on when i fit them to my Focus, but there was a ubber boot which all of the wires went through. I dare say that the Astra will have something similar but i could be wrong, and most likely will be.

Bumpers on any car aren't hard to remove really. They'll be some screws or clips on the wheel arches, underneith and on the top... It should then peel away. I'm sure @rusty2009 or @tucpal will be able to help more than me on that one.

Ahhhh, a rubber boot would make sense...just need help locating it on the I :P.

Will remove the bumper if it's an easy enough job, wanna make sure I install them as they should be

Ended up with these ones:

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.vie...0855522291

Went with iron grey which I'm hoping will match my car colour! Didn't want the display but was only 2 quid more for it and I have it for the future then assuming I don't need to use it and can just use the speaker only anyway..

How-to remove bumper http://www.vxoc.org.uk/forum/Thread-How-...ear-bumper

There is rubber boot you can go through but TBH you will find it much easier to pop the bumper off.

Cheers @rusty2009

Will have a read over that to prepare myself for it . Just one thing though...anyone know if the one I linked too comes with a separate speaker or is the speaker built into the screen thing? Only just noticed that it doesn't mention any separate speaker :-/

Went for the iron grey colour too, hoping it matches my technical grey car as I cba messing around repainting then

Looks like a kit I had in my old veccy (which I never used) but the display housed the speaker too.

I never used the bloody things found the noise annoying so just left the display unplugged in the glovebox

Ahhhh balls :-/ some of the other kits have a separate speaker so I'm trying to find out if this is one of those as I don't wanna use the display

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Tutorial for the bumper looks nice and easy, just have to do it with the wheels still on. Hopefully it will still be easy

the speaker is in the display you can just leave the display out of sight if you wish
you will still hear it even from the back of the car mate

Okie dokie, just seems like there are two kinds (one with the display and built in speaker) and one with just an external speaker..have asked him to just send me the speaker. But if he doesn't then I'll do what ya said and just stash it in the boot somewhere can't wait for this! Ha

Just got under the car to look for the marks where I should still and couldn't see anything due to a big metal, silver bumper bar thing...are the marks on the bumper behind this?

[attachment=355]

bumper off job to find the marks for the holes mate

Okie dokie ta Was going to take it off anyway but thought I would be able to see the marks without taking it off just so I'd know they where there.

Hopefully come before the weekend anyway and then I can do them if the weather is nice

Hey All

My reverse sensors just turned up today and they look pretty good and paint looks similar to mine! One thing though, anyone got any idea how I would test them before putting them in my car? No idea where to pull the electric from to test...

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Also I know now that the wiring will go from the bumper to the car via one of those rubber tubes but where abouts in the boot does it lead out too?

Also I know it's hard to tell but...do you guys think these sensors actually match the car colour? I know it's hard to tell on photos but can't really tell myself tbh

they dont look to bad

i will put a few pics up for you tomorrow were to take power and ground etc

Cheers mate! also do they have to be installed a certain way up? Mine have number on the backs so I'm guessing they should just be installed with the number the correct way up?

Will be giving these a go on Saturday anyway

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In the meantime mate, you got any idea where and how I can test them around the house before putting them in the car?

no idea how to test them around the house

they have to be a certain way up numbers up mate and the numbers have to match the plugs in the module
that will be in your instructions power is from the reverse live the green wire but i will check that tomorrow
for you and a ground can be found the rear fuse box cubby hole there is a stud there
if you take the bumper of you will also see a grommet by the passenger side rear light you can pull the wires
up through there to the module it is easier then it sounds i will pop a few pictures up for you tomorrow
and you can do a how to if you like mate as one is needed

Haha hope it's easier than it sounds because it sounds more complex than I thought!

When you say there is a stud in the rest fuse box cubby hole, how exactly do I wire up the cable to it? Bearing in mind I've only ever done the leds before and that's the extent of my wiring knowledge...

Sure! Will take a load of photos and go about writing a tutorial when I'm done with it all .

Thanks mate, some photos and a quick overview would help me loads!

Any reason I can't just connect the ground to a wire in the reverse light or is that a stupid question? Haha

A how-to is a must mate.

Earth use the stud on the fuse board mate.

I don't have the rear fuse box do I mate so what's in my cubby hole looks nothing like your pic :(

oh I forgot about that

Why is it that there aren't two wires going into the reverse light (one live and one ground) like with all the other lighting wiring I've done?

one wire to the positive reverse live
and the ground to a stud in the rear glove box

there is 1 ground wire for the lot and a bus-bar that carries it across to each bulb. That's the way it's been for many years mate.

It's the same as a house consumer board (fuse board) all the lives go into the fuse or circuit breaker and all the earth's (grounds) go into one long bus-bar.

Oh right okay then, kinda understand it :P. So any idea where I can connect the ground wire then without having thay stud in the cubby hole?

you should the stud mate it will be there by default, if not look on the right side in the cubby hole.

here is all the info i have

earth stud in the glove box rear





i keep the module in there also



live is picked up from the reverse wire positive green from here



remove the rear trim and thread the wire to the rubber boot
remove the rubber boot and pull the wire thou it tape the wire to a pen and push and pull it through it







i pulled the sensor wires up through a gromit in the wheel well
as i did not remove the bumper to fit the sensors
but if you do you will see another gromit by the rear lights you can use







hope that helps you out and do a how to mate

i am moving this thread to retro fit research also for further use..

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move for further reference

Cheers mate! Does actually help a lot! So in summary:

Fit the control box in the left cubby hole

Run the live wire up into the boot lid and splice onto green reverse wire

Run the ground wire down a bit to the stud

Now I'm clear enough on the above but not sure about the following:

How do I secure this wire I have to the stud?

Not quite sure at the moment how to get the sensors from the control box down to the bumper outside the car...

Remove bumper you will see rubber grommet run wires from outside to inside.

Remove the boot trim (like when running the extra boot light wire).

It will all become clear then of how you are going to run the wires into the cubby hole.

you just need an earth connector
you can get them from halfords they look like this



you will need some extra wire to get to were you need to get to
just add extra wire to the plus and negative

Balls! I've just run out of wire and I'm skint too :( be lucky if I can tackle this this month now.

Thanks though dude, least I know what I need now

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(1:st-May-2015, 10:55:19)Rusty2009 Wrote: [ -> ]Remove bumper you will see rubber grommet run wires from outside to inside.

Remove the boot trim (like when running the extra boot light wire).

It will all become clear then of how you are going to run the wires into the cubby hole.

I'm with you now! will check it out later and see what I can see without removing the bumper. Will then TRY to tackle the job tomorrow but knowing that i need more wire no may set me back a few weeks :(

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Any idea where I can get some wire from for a couple of quid today (so local shops). It's like 6 or 7 quid at Halfords and I am really skint...think I may have been ripped off for £300 so kinda don't have any more money to throw away atm

any electric shop mate

i also have the display in the front so i can see it

Yeah I like that but couldn't be bothered wiring thay up through the car so I went for the speaker only version which I'll leave in the boot.

My cubby hole looks like this:

Guessing I just need a nut and to secure that ground wire to it?

[attachment=360]

yeah you will need a nut mate