Upgrading From '93-'94 For Airbags? (2 Viewers)

[harrydunn]

Considering this more and more. Either upgrade to a '95-'97 or perhaps a Hundy. Love my '93. Runs like a top, lots of PM, locked, perfect paint, perfect cloth interior (did not want leather), just no airbags. It's mainly in town but is seeing more and more highway miles lately on I-70. When I bought it in '09, it was my second, fun vehicle but I began driving it so much that I sold my primary vehicle and the 80 took over that role 100%.

Some folks have mentioned they wouldn't even trust a '95-'97 airbag any longer due to age. Wanted to gather some thoughts on this while I continue to mull it over.

--Mark

 

[Ebag333]

Well, technically airbags are supposed to be replaced at five years of age and every two years after (IIRC, going from memory so could be off, but you get the idea).

So unless you bought a brand new vehicle, the age of the airbags is going to be a "problem" at least on paper.

In real life? It's not much of an issue. My father was a first responder for 30 years, and I can't remember him ever mentioning a case where the airbags failed to deploy. I can remember him commenting many times how airbags saved lives.

There have been studies done on it.

http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/esv/esv21/09-0199.pdf

Results – Among FARS frontal deaths with available deployment status (N=43,169), front airbags were coded as not deployed for 18% of front occupants. In comparison, NASS/CDS (N=628) reported 9% (weighted estimate) nondeployment among front occupants killed. Among crashes common to both databases, NASS/CDS reported deployments for 45% of front occupant deaths for which FARS had coded nondeployments. Detailed case reviews of NASS/ CDS crashes indicated highly accurate coding for deployment status. Based on this case review, 8% (weighted estimate) of front occupant deaths in frontal crashes appeared to involve airbag nondeployments; 1-2% of deaths represented potential system failures where deployments would have been expected. Airbag deployments appeared unwarranted in most nondeployments based on crash characteristics.

Long story short, there's about a 1%-2% failure rate, but there's a possible significant margin for error (since there's a good percentage of conflicting data).

Basically airbags can fail like any other component, but age in and of itself isn't anything I'd be worried about, especially when the data suggests that the failure rate is incredibly low.

 

[MojoRisin]

My .02,

I definitely would not sell a good strong running cruiser for the additon of a driver airbag.... Just wear your seatbelt and Watch out for all the other bad drivers out there!!!

 

[harrydunn]

My .02,

I definitely would not sell a good strong running cruiser for the additon of a driver airbag.... Just wear your seatbelt and Watch out for all the other bad drivers out there!!!

That's the problem--there are too many bad drivers to keep track of!

Yah, I dunno. If I found the right one locally, I'd probably take a look. There are a few running around town that are driven by soccer moms and college kids in great shape. One is a 40th Sage. I should give them my card and have them call me when they upgrade to a Prius.

 

[specialk396]

I bought my '94 specifically because of no airbags. Not to say that they don't save lives, but I don't need them in my off-road vehicle, especially one with a full frame and armor galore.

 

[harrydunn]

I bought my '94 specifically because of no airbags. Not to say that they don't save lives, but I don't need them in my off-road vehicle, especially one with a full frame and armor galore.

Yah, I'm more concerned about a head-on than anything else. Those can be pretty ugly.

 

[EricG]

Well, technically airbags are supposed to be replaced at five years of age and every two years after (IIRC, going from memory so could be off, but you get the idea).

Wow - haven't heard that before. Sounds like a requirement that has its origins in the legal dept. rather then the engineering dept.

 

[86tuning]

Well, technically airbags are supposed to be replaced at five years of age and every two years after (IIRC, going from memory so could be off, but you get the idea).

afaik they're spozed to be inspected at 5years and then every 2y afterwards. The obd system for the srs is fairly comprehensive. If the warning light is working properly and goes out by itself after 5sec when the car is started then everything is okay.

 

[gtfour43]

Fixed it for you. Fwiw I wouldnt trade in your situation. Keep the 93.

That's the problem--there are too many bad drivers to keep track of!

Yah, I dunno. If I found the right one locally, I'd probably take a look. There are a few running around town that are driven by soccer moms and college kids in great shape. One is a 40th Sage. I should give them my card and have them call me when they downgrade to a Prius.

 

[devilc]

I am guessing adding an SRS into a pre-1995 Cruiser is a massive ordeal?

 

[Timpanogos Slim]

I am guessing adding an SRS into a pre-1995 Cruiser is a massive ordeal?

that would be my guess.

you need all the appropriate sensors and ecu and wire harness in addition to the steering wheel and dashboard.

as for airbags not deploying, modern VWs have something like a dozen of them and there are some that the junk yard guys say they have never seen deployed. but that's more an issue of germans overthinking safety.

 

[greentruck]

Those undeployed VW airbags were probably not told to explode by the computer. You don't want them going off and snapping yoru head off or anything. I'm no design engineer, but the modern system don't just fill the cars with balloons on impact is my understanding.

BTW, the 80 is my first airbag vehicle. I trust 'em. Yep, dealer will inspect at intervals, but all they do is look IIRC. On a used vehicle these days, might be a good idea, as I've heard of them being "harvested" -- and there's where you're likely to have a failure to deploy...because it's MIA. So if you don't know what to look for, might be good to have a tech or someone who knows look it over at least once if you're uncertain on this issue of our modern times.

 

[zayd]

Mark -- I narrowed my 80 search to 95-97 only for the airbags. I drove a '00 Tundra for ten years until last year when a lady tried to turn in front of me at an intersection. I t-boned her at 45mph and walked away without as much as a sore neck thanks to the airbag. I became a huge believer.

The truth is that there are terrible drivers out there and their stupidity can manifest itself a split second before a collision -- no amount of attentiveness or evasive driving will save you at that point. Good call on making airbags a priority.

 

[Timpanogos Slim]

Those undeployed VW airbags were probably not told to explode by the computer. You don't want them going off and snapping yoru head off or anything. I'm no design engineer, but the modern system don't just fill the cars with balloons on impact is my understanding.

Right, i understand that.

I was told by the junk yard dudes that my mk4 vw had an airbag in the back of the front seat for the rear passenger. Never verified. Said they'd never seen one deployed. I still have a mk4 seat back - I should tear into it and find out. It's a manual seat and has two wire harnesses and only one of them could be for the seat belt.

I know mk4 and mk5 have A pillar air bags in addition to front and side, and i've never seen one deployed at a junk yard.

I like that all the safety is there for me, I just sometimes wonder, if i get in a wreck is it just going to squish me like a grape?

Probably not.

 

[86tuning]

I am guessing adding an SRS into a pre-1995 Cruiser is a massive ordeal?

Yep. And legally impossible.

So your best results would be to get one that comes with airbags if that's what you want.

 

[greentruck]

Right, i understand that.

I was told by the junk yard dudes that my mk4 vw had an airbag in the back of the front seat for the rear passenger. Never verified. Said they'd never seen one deployed. I still have a mk4 seat back - I should tear into it and find out. It's a manual seat and has two wire harnesses and only one of them could be for the seat belt.

I know mk4 and mk5 have A pillar air bags in addition to front and side, and i've never seen one deployed at a junk yard.

I like that all the safety is there for me, I just sometimes wonder, if i get in a wreck is it just going to squish me like a grape?

Probably not.

As for rear seat passenger airbags not deploying, I'm pretty sure most seats so equipped have a sensor to tell if the seat is occupied or not. There's also a tie-in so that if you put a child seat in, it deactivates the air-bag. So lots of reasons why they don't go off and a really pretty good record of doing their job when needed, as zayd's story points out.

I was very much the skeptic when they first started being installed. I always use my belt and the first bags weren't too much more effective than that. I prefer things not exploding around me in an accident. But the stats have convinced me to just get over that and count on the system thinking faster than I every could and doing more than I ever could to protect myself and passengers in an accident.

 

[2KCruiser]

From personal experience, I have smashed plenty of cars that were anywhere from 9 to over 15 years old. All air bags worked fine. Most I wish never deployed since they were not even hit hard, but oh well.

 

[pkelly72]

One of the reasons I sold my 93' was because I wanted air bags. I bought a 100 series built it, missed the 80. Sold the 100* waited until my wife cooled off and savings went up, then bought my 97' LX with air bags.

I've got two girls 4 and under. I just wanted all the protection I could get. I'm also extremely paranoid about others driving ability or lack thereof.

* the only thing I miss about the 100 is the power from the v8. It was nice. Even better MPG.