ADAS Calibration Services
Trust the Local Experts in ADAS Calibration in Tucson
Every day, we all rely on our vehicles to safely get us from point A to point B. As automobile technology has evolved over the last several decades, advancements in built-in safety features make driving our cars and trucks safer than ever before, helping to greatly reduce accidents.
One technology that now comes standard in many newer model vehicles is the Advanced Driver Assistance Systems or ADAS.
This system helps keep you safe on the road, alerts you of issues that may cause an accident, and helps prevent accidents from happening in the first place. Each component of this system is precisely calibrated to the manufacturer’s specifications for proper functioning.
ADAS Calibration Done Right
Because of the precision required for these components, you should only trust experienced professionals who have the skill and equipment to properly recalibrate them. For ADAS calibration in the Tucson area, look no further than your nearest BRAKEmax Tire & Service Centers location. That’s where you’ll find expert technicians from our partner Max Auto Glass.
All of the Max Auto Glass technicians serving customers at BRAKEmax are both Dow certified and Auto Glass Safety Council certified and use only the best components on the market. Count on us to properly test and calibrate the ADAS system on your vehicle and ensure it’s working as it should.
Schedule ADAS Calibration Service
Ensure Your Advanced Driver Assistance Systems are Working Properly
ADAS systems in cars rely on accurate sensors that are constantly and smoothly transferring information. When the ADAS’ sensors are perfectly calibrated, all of the systems will be receiving accurate information about the vehicle’s surroundings and effectively executing pre-programmed processes. If the sensors are out of calibration, the systems will not be able to properly provide the safety services they are built for.
Like most other systems in your vehicle, the ADAS system does require some level of preventative maintenance and care to ensure it is always performing as expected. Plus, some instances, like a collision or replacement of the windshield, require recalibration of the system’s sensors.
What is the ADAS?
Your vehicle’s ADAS is a group of interlinked systems that work together to enhance and automate vehicle safety. This is done by alerting you of potential problems and even helping you avoid collisions automatically.
Your vehicle’s ADAS come in a variety of forms but, in general, the systems will fall under one of four categories:
- Adaptive – Use input from the surrounding environment to change/adapt to ensure safety.
- Automated – Automated responses that take over and perform certain emergency functions to maintain safety.
- Monitoring – Use sensors, cameras, and other inputs to monitor the driving of the vehicle and the surrounding area and determine whether a correction should be made.
- Warning – Alert the driver to potential safety issues in others’ driving or your own driving that could result in injury to those in the vehicle.
You may be familiar with some forms of ADAS that have been around for a while, such as automatic headlights and windshield wipers. Some other newer functions of ADAS that help make driving safer than ever now include:
- Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) system – This system analyzes the surrounding environment to detect when a crash is imminent and alerts you to take corrective action immediately. If you do not take action, the system will automatically engage an emergency brake to prevent the crash.
A lesser version of this is the forward-collision warning system. This system will only monitor the distance between the vehicle in front of you and your vehicle and warn you of an impending crash without any automatic braking.
- Pedestrian Automatic Emergency Braking (PAEB) system – Similar to the AEB, this system is an automatic emergency braking system as well. But, the PAEB is designed to identify pedestrians on the road and if you have not taken the appropriate corrective action, it will brake when a crash is imminent.
- Adaptive cruise control: You are probably used to the original cruise control that has been around for quite a while, allowing you to maintain a consistent speed with your foot off the gas pedal on long-distance drives. Adaptive cruise control (also known as dynamic cruise control) is a newer version that is more safety-focused. This more evolved autopilot system automatically adjusts the speed of your vehicle to maintain a safe distance from the vehicle ahead of you, allowing you to still use cruise control even when there are other vehicles around.
- Lane departure warning system – Drifting out of your lane of travel doesn’t always cause accidents, but it is a frequent factor in accidents and doing so is extremely risky when traveling in traffic. The lane departure system detects when your vehicle moves out of the lane without a turn signal and will issue a warning sound.
Some newer vehicles also come with the Lane Keep Assist (LKA) feature. This system will actually automatically steer your vehicle back into the middle of your lane if you do not take action quickly enough to do so yourself.
Often, many of the sensing devices involved in these systems, such as cameras, sensors, and radars, are mounted directly to the windshield or behind the windshield. This means that any slight change to your windshield or a physical change to your car can cause these sensing devices to malfunction. Your ADAS will then need to be properly recalibrated.
So, if your windshield has been damaged, it is important to have it repaired or replaced as soon as possible and the corresponding ADAS recalibrated as needed. This will ensure you and your vehicle’s safety on the road.
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How to Know When You Need ADAS Recalibration
To enable your vehicle to keep you as safe on the road as possible, it is important to know when your ADAS should be recalibrated. These situations include:
- Windshield damage or replacement – Since most ADAS sensors are mounted behind or on your windshield, when the windshield is damaged or replaced it can disrupt the systems.
- Collision – Sensors can easily be knocked out of proper calibration from the force of a collision. So, regardless of how minor it is, bring your vehicle in to have the ADAS system checked and recalibrated as needed.
- Tire replacement – Replacing tires can sometimes alter your vehicle’s height, which means the ADAS sensors need to be adjusted and calibrated for the newer parameters.
- ADAS warning lights – The ADAS in your vehicle includes a variety of warning lights to alert you of issues. If one of these lights stays on or is blinking, your system may need inspection and recalibration.
The ADAS Calibration Process
Depending on the make and model of the vehicle, one of two processes will be used for ADAS calibration, either a dynamic calibration or a static calibration.
The dynamic process involves the technician receiving live feedback while the vehicle is moving and then actively inspecting and calibrating sensors as needed to meet manufacturer specifications. Our ADAS experts know how even small changes can affect a car’s response in different situations.
The static process involves performing the calibrations while your vehicle is stationary and parked in a controlled environment. Then, specialized targets and tools are used to perform the necessary calibration adjustments. Static calibrations can be slightly more difficult because the technician has to recreate specific conditions necessary to properly calibrate the systems’ sensors.
Both of these processes can result in optimal calibration. We will always follow the manufacturer’s guidelines when it comes to your vehicle’s ADAS calibration.
Book Your Service Appointment Today
At BRAKEmax Tire & Service Centers, our Tucson auto mechanics can professionally handle both windshield replacements and ADAS calibration services. Each calibration will be done to the vehicle’s OEM specifications, ensuring your ADAS can continue to keep you safe on the road.
Frequently Asked Questions
Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) represent the future of automotive safety. Many different features, including adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking, and lane departure warnings, are included in this category. ADAS can provide an added layer of security for drivers when the sensors these systems rely on are correctly calibrated.
However, ADAS is still a relatively new technology. These systems can misjudge traffic situations in some instances (especially when dealing with inclement weather and poor visibility), and drivers can come to rely too heavily on them. The costs associated with ADAS installation, calibration, and repair can also be high. Because of this, it’s crucial to find a service provider like BRAKEmax that can get this job done at a more affordable rate.
ADAS comes with significant benefits in terms of safety. Research suggests that lane departure warning systems can significantly reduce the risk of crashes. Since 2020, vehicle manufacturers have needed to incorporate ADAS into their cars to earn five-star crash test ratings.
That said, vehicles with ADAS are not “self-driving cars.” These systems provide driver assistance but cannot replace a human driver. You should always be alert and attentive while driving a vehicle, even if it has ADAS.
Your vehicle’s ADAS may differ from other manufacturers’ systems in some ways. Still, these systems tend to rely on similar technologies. Sensors commonly used in ADAS include radar, LiDAR, and cameras. The system analyzes information collected by these sensors and others, making it capable of reacting to any potential threats.
Currently, ADAS features are not fully standardized across the automotive industry. This lack of standardization can easily lead to confusion. Despite this, the team at BRAKEmax can deal with these technological differences and provide the service your vehicle needs.
While your car’s windshield may look like a low-tech piece of glass, it plays a crucial role in your vehicle’s ADAS. Vehicles with these features make use of a camera mounted near the top of the windshield. The video feed from this camera allows ADAS to “see” the road and respond accordingly.
Of course, your windshield needs to be precisely aligned to ensure this technology is working correctly. Even a minuscule amount of variance could spell the difference between functional ADAS features and a malfunctioning system. That’s why it’s necessary to have your windshield correctly calibrated—fortunately, the pros at BRAKEmax can help!
There are two primary types of windshield calibration. These are static recalibration (in which a stationary marker is placed in front of the vehicle throughout the calibration process) and dynamic calibration (where vehicles are calibrated by going through driving tests on closed roads). The calibration method you need depends on the requirements of your vehicle’s manufacturer.
The technicians at BRAKEmax are ready to provide expert-level static and dynamic calibration services for you. We’ll take care of this process in a matter of hours, getting you back on the road as soon as possible.
Like many other systems in your vehicle, ADAS has dedicated warning lights to tell you when problems have occurred. When these lights blink or stay on, you’ll want to have your ADAS looked at by the experts.
You should have ADAS calibration done in other situations, as well. It’s a good idea to recalibrate your ADAS when your windshield is damaged or replaced, when you change your vehicle’s tires, and if you experience a collision. Thanks to the low ADAS calibration cost offered by BRAKEmax, this work won’t be cost-prohibitive.
While BRAKEmax has various car repair shops across the Tucson, AZ, area, you won’t need to visit one of these sites for ADAS calibration. We can come to you to take care of this work, as well. Best of all, our mobile ADAS calibration services come with no extra charge!
Technically, you could attempt to handle this task on your own. However, we would strongly advise against doing so for several reasons.
First of all, the cutting-edge sensors that make ADAS possible require careful calibration. That means people working on these systems have to know what they’re doing and have the skills needed to finish the job. Along with this, they’ll need to use specialized ADAS calibration equipment, which the average vehicle owner wouldn’t have access to.
Going the DIY route isn’t the only way to cut down on your ADAS calibration cost, either. The employees at BRAKEmax won’t just give your ADAS the professional touch these systems need to operate correctly—they’ll get this work done at highly competitive rates.
Not when you choose BRAKEmax for this work! Our technicians have received training from manufacturers and are fully ASE-certified. Because of this, we can take on any job your dealership can—even highly technical work like ADAS/windshield calibration.
We could list every make and model our technicians can provide these services for, but we’d be here all day. To save you some time, let’s just say that if your vehicle has ADAS, there’s an excellent chance we can calibrate it for you!
Technically, even features like anti-lock brakes are considered ADAS. However, the first US vehicle with night vision arrived in the early 2000s. Other ADAS features followed suit, and these technologies are now commonplace in today’s vehicles.
Upcoming generations of ADAS technology will likely allow for vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure technology. Of course, this will come with an increase in the complexity of these systems. You can rest assured that BRAKEmax will stay on the bleeding edge of ADAS technology. We’ll continue providing the windshield calibration services Tucson residents need for years to come!
Every calibration job is different, so it’s hard to estimate what you should expect from your windshield calibration or ADAS calibration cost without additional information. However, you can rest assured that the employees of BRAKEmax will do everything they can to keep your costs under control.
Once you reach out to us to set up your ADAS calibration, we can tell you roughly what this service will cost. We give every BRAKEmax customer a complimentary written estimate before we start working on their vehicle—and that includes customers in need of calibration services.
Like any type of car trouble, there’s a chance you’ll need windshield and ADAS calibration sooner than you expect. Because of that, we’re proud to offer a wide range of financing options for our customers. These options include our credit card (provided in cooperation with CFNA).
Yes! For a nominal fee, we can provide a warranty for our services. This warranty will last for a long time, too—your coverage will be in place for 36 months or 36,000 miles.
BRAKEmax boasts multiple locations across Tucson, AZ, and in nearby communities. No matter where you are in this part of Arizona, there’s a BRAKEmax location ready to take care of ADAS calibration for you!