disconnecting air bags for 4wding

[matto]

can you disconnect the air bag on a gu while 4x4 is it as easy as a switch?

[xxxhilux]

dont ever touch your airbags
there is a very small chance of setting off the airbags when u tamper wit them
if they go off your truck will be a write off. if you havent been trained to deal with airbags u should not touch them ever

[Struth]

dont ever touch your airbags
there is a very small chance of setting off the airbags when u tamper wit them
if they go off your truck will be a write off. if you havent been trained to deal with airbags u should not touch them ever

Why is it a write off, are they that expensive to fix/reset/replace?

Cheers

[xxxhilux]

to put a truck back on the road it needs air bags out of another truck but the truck they come out of needs to be checked by a inspector and if the vechle the air bags come out of is damaged the air bags cant be fitted because they my be flawed.
i have sold a couple of air bags and its alot of hasle so incurance company tend to right trucks off
i hope this makes sence hard to explain

[Struth]

to put a truck back on the road it needs air bags out of another truck but the truck they come out of needs to be checked by a inspector and if the vechle the air bags come out of is damaged the air bags cant be fitted because they my be flawed.
i have sold a couple of air bags and its alot of hasle so incurance company tend to right trucks off
i hope this makes sence hard to explain

Yes that makes sense, as in I understand what you mean, I am not in the business, but I would have thought Nissan (or any other manufacturer) had to sell airbags or airbag kits/sets as a spare by law.

Not picking just surprised.

Cheers

[Shadow]

to put a truck back on the road it needs air bags out of another truck but the truck they come out of needs to be checked by a inspector and if the vechle the air bags come out of is damaged the air bags cant be fitted because they my be flawed.
i have sold a couple of air bags and its alot of hasle so incurance company tend to right trucks off
i hope this makes sence hard to explain

Yes that makes sense, as in I understand what you mean, I am not in the business, but I would have thought Nissan (or any other manufacturer) had to sell airbags or airbag kits/sets as a spare by law.

Not picking just surprised.

Cheers

ofcourse they supply airbag's as parts. Dont know wtf XXXhilux is talking about.

Years ago when airbags first came in it was almost an automatic writeoff because installing new airbags was so expensive, these days airbags are replace for anywhere betweeen $2k and $5k, depending on wether whole dash needs to be replaced.

certainly not a writeoff on a $40k+ car...

[grimbo]

can you disconnect the air bag on a gu while 4x4 is it as easy as a switch?

why would you want to? If you're driving that badly that they'll go off you probably need them

[joeblow]

and remember, if you have dissabled the airbags and serious injury has occured YOU will be liable for all medical costs etc.

[phil94delica]

You have to hit something really hard for them to go off in the first place.

Not worth messing around with.

Also I dont know about nissan but my falcon has blown the air bag fuse a couple of times now. First time I took it to ford they just cleaned some connections and reset the computer and it cost me $150. Every time the airbag is disabled it will come up with a fault in the computer and the computer will need to be reset. I dont know how to do it in a nissan but in my falcon I have to take it to ford or someone with the computer software and its never a cheap fix.

Just worth considering b4 you go messing around with it.

[chunks]

I see smashed cars at work all the time with airbags gone off, they just get replaced...not sure wtf xxxhilux is on about

[matto]

how touchy are they i'm not a crap driver but i will go hard, has anyone ever had one go off by hard 4wd e.g getting thrown into a bank or bouncing around

[xxxhilux]

i havent heard of them going off just 4x4ing

[lump_a_charcoal]

I have heard that they are set differently on US and Japanese vehicles...

The Japanese vehicles have a higher speed trigger compared to the US ones (Jeeps primarily).

[Struth]

My understanding is that the vehicle needs to be travelling above a predetermined speed before they go off.
Because basically you don't want them going off every time you accidently nudge something.

In Commodores I think that speed is 50kph, don't know what it is in Patrols.

Cheers

[matto]

what if you put a v8 in it so the computer no longer recognises speed?

[xxxhilux]

what if you put a v8 in it so the computer no longer recognises speed?

im not sure for patrols but i think the same year R50 terrano has two pins that hold a ballbearing and when there is enough force the bearing falls fowred and completes a circet. so i may no change anything putting a new engine in

[joeblow]

how touchy are they i'm not a crap driver but i will go hard, has anyone ever had one go off by hard 4wd e.g getting thrown into a bank or bouncing around

i remember seeing a workmate punch a steering wheel and the bag went off!....we all had to change our jocks!

[xxxhilux]

how touchy are they i'm not a crap driver but i will go hard, has anyone ever had one go off by hard 4wd e.g getting thrown into a bank or bouncing around

i remember seeing a workmate punch a steering wheel and the bag went off!....we all had to change our jocks!

do you know what cuased this???
static?????
did it hurt him???

[bogged]

GUJohnno disabled his, told his insurance, had no problem, even when he wrote it off hittin a tree rippin into the front left corner, wheel, diff etc.

also dont know what xxxhilux is on about.....

[mkpatrol]

My understanding is that the vehicle needs to be travelling above a predetermined speed before they go off.
Because basically you don't want them going off every time you accidently nudge something.

In Commodores I think that speed is 50kph, don't know what it is in Patrols.

Cheers

It is actually lower than this as ADR69 sets a speed of 48km/h.
ADR's 72 & 73 are similar.

[lump_a_charcoal]

I have a feeling the Jeeps were about 35km...

[lay80n]

Most airbag setups rely on multiple acclermeters (sp?) to trigger the bag to deploy, as well as being over a set roadspeed. The accelerometers (my spelling sucks today) must all read very similar readings in the same direction of the bags will (should not anyway) not fire. Depending on the layout of the bags, they will also determine which bags/pre-tensioners fire (side airbags, etc). When you have a crash that involves deployed bags, you have to replace the whole system. When i used to work for Holden we did heaps of work for panel shops, fitting new air bags, dash asm's, air bag modules/sensors and pre-tensioners. It is expensive, but deffinatley not a write-off.

Layto....

[Struth]

My understanding is that the vehicle needs to be travelling above a predetermined speed before they go off.
Because basically you don't want them going off every time you accidently nudge something.

In Commodores I think that speed is 50kph, don't know what it is in Patrols.

Cheers

It is actually lower than this as ADR69 sets a speed of 48km/h.
ADR's 72 & 73 are similar.

Whoops

[mkpatrol]

I have just re-read my post & what I should have said was ADR69 sets a test velocity of 48km/h. Sam thing just stated in an ADR language.

It is also a roadworthy issue, unless the system is built to automatically disable airbags (allowable in the occupant protection ADR's and only for passengers generally, as the vehicle will not be moving without a driver) the states treat any occupant protection system that cannot perform its function as tested then the vehicle will be deemed unroadworthy.

[Ben]

I've never, ever understood why you'd want to turn your airbag off. It goes off for a reason, and if that reason occurs I'd prefer to know it's doing its job.

[tweak'e]

interesting topic. i've asked people about this before and got poor replies.

my main worry is go up the paddock/orchard and hitting a tree stump (done that a few times), rock etc and setting the airbag off. especially so as we don't often wear seat belts when driving off road. that often means the driver is sitting a lot closer to the air bag. people have been killed before due to airbags going off and blowing them back into the seat. are airbags turned off when seatbelt isn't used?
vehicle speed sensor is ok on tarseal but what about off road where you are spinning the tires. thats makes your speed look higher than it is.

i'm told later vehicle have different sensor rates when driving in 4x4 and different again when in low range. however a lot of the driving we do off road is in 2wd where sensor is at full rate.

also ABS, which is often disabled for off road, is sometimes tied into the airbag system. pull the fuse on the ABS and airbags won't work.

[hulsty]

how touchy are they i'm not a crap driver but i will go hard, has anyone ever had one go off by hard 4wd e.g getting thrown into a bank or bouncing around

Airbag systems rely off more than on trigger mechanism, the ones I've looked at had at least two in early sytems. There will be accelerometers, speed sensors, reed switches, mercury switches, crush cans.

Some people think smashing the front of your car up will set them off, ie belting the crap out of it with a sledge hammer. Shouldnt happen, you may activate the crush cans, but if they accelerometer or other system hasnt been set off aswell nothing will happen.

If these conditions are satisfied say the accelerometer, speed sensor and crush cans and the airbag goes off, you REALLY NEED THE AIRBAG. It wont go pop because you hit an bank and bounce around. Unless you hit a bank and 50+km/h and crush the front of your car causing major mechanical damage.

[hyzook]

Certain vehicles will reset themselves on there own such as the Falcons, we remove seats with airbags in them and we can turn the ignition on and the SRS light will come on, when we refit the seats the light goes out. Other vehicle such as BMW, Commoderes, Nissan 350Z etc will not reset if you turn the ignition on and we need the get them reset. If the SRS light is on then with the Holden (unsure about other makes) the entire SRS system is disabled so seatbelt pretensioners and all airbags are disabled untill the system is reset. Rego will not pass with an SRS light on.

[KiwiBacon]

people have been killed before due to airbags going off and blowing them back into the seat.

Are these american stories?
AFAIK because in the US seatbelts are optional (might be a state by state law), their airbags have to have a lot more force behind them.
Hence the stories of broken arms etc.

In NZ because seatbelts are mandatory, the airbags are a supplementary restraint (SRS) and aren't as violent.
I've never had one go off, hope I never need to.

[matto]

well its good to know that they shouldnt accidently go off the bad thing is if your stationary at a set of lights and some one crashes into you they wont deploy according to this thread