crush cans, airbags, and other points of confusion

[p m]

why would you need a bumper different from the factory one if you couldn't apply any load to it?
That's the tradeoff - you give up some highway conveniences for offroad abilities.

 

[Kris A]

My experience with crash testing and air bags would have the air bag going off too late with a more ridgid than stock bumper. There is a slight time delay designed in the deployment of an air bag. With a ridgid bumper the driver would see the decceleration sooner (less crumple zone) and may hit the steering wheel before the air bag deploys. That being siad I have a SG bumper and don't loose any sleep at night.

-Kris

 

[p m]

Kris, the accelerometer triggering the airbag is located on the body of the vehicle, aft of and away from the crumple zone, so it will "feel" the impact as much "sooner" or "later" as the occupants of the vehicle.

 

[Brewser]

Kris, the accelerometer triggering the airbag is located on the body of the vehicle, aft of and away from the crumple zone, so it will "feel" the impact as much "sooner" or "later" as the occupants of the vehicle.

Thank you p.m. I was wondering when someone was going to point this out. In my other truck it's located in the middle of the passenger compartment. If this was such an issue why woudln't ARB have crush cans in all their bumpers for vehicles with airbags?

 

[1st Rover]

I'm guessing it is for off-road trucks and those many countries that don't require air bags.

 

[p m]

If this was such an issue why woudln't ARB have crush cans in all their bumpers for vehicles with airbags?

You should see how an airbag-compatible ARB winch bumper looks after it's been used

 

[Brewser]

I'm guessing it is for off-road trucks and those many countries that don't require air bags.

ARB sells lots of non-crushcan bumpers in the US. How many million "brush-guards" are there on SUV's that don't have crush-cans? It just seems like the trial lawyers would have a field day with all the aftermarket bumper manufacturers if crush-cans were really needed to keep safety equipment operating normally.

I'm just skeptical. My theory is it's more of a resonse to the legal attacks going on in Australia with pedestrians being hit by bull-bars. I don't want to injure people, but I own a bull-bar to provide solid protection for the front end of my vehicle, be it rocks, trees, or deer jumping in front of my truck, not to take a nose dive into the ground on an impact.

 

[Brewser]

You should see how an airbag-compatible ARB winch bumper looks after it's been used

I have (yikes!)

 

[p m]

still, it's the better outcome of the two possible

speaking of a field day for trial lawyers - I doubt it.
Reasons -
- there are relatively few Discos sold compared to other makes and models;
- very few out of those are outfitted with ARB bumpers;
- probably, less than a third of those did away with the crush cans;
out of remaining minority (even in logarithmic sense),
- very few had frontal collisions, out of which
- very few had airbags deployed, out of which
- very few had a reason to believe that if there were crush cans, the bags would not have deployed.

That leaves the trial lawyer gang very little ground for any kind of organized action

 

[Roverbox]

Ive been looking for a topic like this.

I was planning on getting the cheaper "non-airbag" ARB in the hopes that I would remove the steering wheel on my 95 D1 and use the money to get something more comfortable. The airbag seems to stick out too much and fumble my hands.

Anyway, I can remember seeing airbag warnings in the mid to late 90's stating that the airbag had a 10 year service life. For those of you in the know. Do airbags have an expiration date? Thanks

 

[kennith]

It's not ilegal to remove your airbags. I just passed inspection with them removed.

The insurance company does not seem to care, either. Allthough I am sure my personal medical coverage will be reduced in the event of an accident. That's commen sense.

Cheers,

Kennith

 

[syoung]

One angle that coud bite you if you get a discount for having airbags on your insurance, then have an accident, then the insurance company can void your policy stating you fraudulently had underpaid for the policy.

I think people are hung up on the label "airbag compatible" that ARB slapped on the bumpers with crush cans. It's very misleading in that bumpers without that label aren't airbag INCOMPATIBLE as suggested by the label.

Don't get hung up on labels- the airbags work even if you have a 4x6 chunk of wood for a bumper.

 

[dmcfarlane]

Ive been looking for a topic like this.

I was planning on getting the cheaper "non-airbag" ARB in the hopes that I would remove the steering wheel on my 95 D1 and use the money to get something more comfortable. The airbag seems to stick out too much and fumble my hands.

Anyway, I can remember seeing airbag warnings in the mid to late 90's stating that the airbag had a 10 year service life. For those of you in the know. Do airbags have an expiration date? Thanks

Yes. Land Rover recommends an overhaul of the SRS system at 10 year intervals. Check your service booklet, you will see where the dealer gets to stamp it every decade. Not sure whether this is a LR chosen service interval or a federal mandate.

As for when, in practical terms, the performance will degrade... I don't know. I imagine there is a reasonable design factor figured into the 10 year quoted lifespan. Provided you haven't been in any really corrosive atmosphere, and haven't gotten the seat belt tensioners wet, then hopefully the explosive charges (and the wiring) will last rather longer than quoted.

 

[kennith]

Right on all accounts.

Cheers,

Kennith

 

[Brewser]

still, it's the better outcome of the two possible

speaking of a field day for trial lawyers - I doubt it.
Reasons -
- there are relatively few Discos sold compared to other makes and models;
- very few out of those are outfitted with ARB bumpers;
- probably, less than a third of those did away with the crush cans;
out of remaining minority (even in logarithmic sense),
- very few had frontal collisions, out of which
- very few had airbags deployed, out of which
- very few had a reason to believe that if there were crush cans, the bags would not have deployed.

That leaves the trial lawyer gang very little ground for any kind of organized action

I think you might have missed my point.

It's been suggested in this thread that aftermarket bumpers that don't have crushcans will negatively impact the detonation of airbags to the possible detriment of the occupants.

There are millions of non-crushcan bumpers and brush-guards in the US market on vehicles of all makes and models.

By the sheer number of these bumpers on the market if they did cause injury by negating or reducing the effectiveness of manufacturer safety devices, then lawsuits would be rampant or at the very least force bumper makers to use crushcans on all aftermarket bumpers.

It has nothing to do with how many Land Rover owners have them, but how many bumpers are on all vehicles. Now perhaps it's a situation of the owners doing a mofification themselves that causes their harm, and liability lawauits have failed. In that case I would just wonder why it's illegal to disarm my airbag, but not put a bumper on that theoretically impairs my airbag operation.

Well enough of my blabbering.....Buy whichever you want. Choice is good.