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Accidental Airbag Deployment

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d0nnyg77

NAXJA Forum User
Location
New London, CT
So, when I was riding with a friend at Carnage Hill, I noticed that his airbag light was on. On the way home it dawned on me, "that would have really sucked if my bags popped while wheeling." Is there any way to disable the entire airbag system on a late model (97+) Cherokee? I thought about just pulling the fuses. But if I set off the trigger, as soon as I put the fuses back, the bags will deploy. Beaker made a good point. Remove the switch that activates the system, leave it at home in a place that it won't be disturbed and then reinstall when done wheeling. Does anyone have any experience with this type of "mod"?

Donny
 
it's been discussed before. but the xj uses a momentum based actuator. so it would only deploy if it sensed a sudden stop at a high(er) rate of speed. ...or if you get the airbag module wet there's a risk of it going off.

so i think the general consensus is that it's fine to leave it be.
 
More than likely if the airbag light is staying on continuous than the system isnt working anyway, on my F150 when the light came on I had to take it in to get it serviced and the tech told me that usually means the system active. beside like they work on a switch that sensed rapid decceleration.......
 
i had a wreck in my 2000 xj about 3 years ago where the airbags deployed.......i was hit in the rear by a truck going 25 mph and it pushed me into the truck in front of me. i was wearing my seatbelt and had time to brace myself for the impact. the airbag never touched my face or chest, all it did was threw my arms off the steering wheel and my watch on my left hand hit the door glass and broke it out. they also exploded my dash and getting that smelly white powder on EVERYTHING. they ended up causing way more damage than they protected me from. the jeep dealership said some BS about how they have a pendulum attached to a spring. and whenever there is enough of a frontal impact to swing the pendulum forward enough to make contact with the other side, it fires the airbags. turned out my frontal impact was equivalent to about 12 mph. ridiculous. id like to know how to disable them too.
 
some of these airbag systems use "nano technology". The story about the pendulum may not be too far off. The system trigger switches are so small you need a microscope to see them and do look a bit like a pendulum.
 
First off, 12mph is a pretty hard front impact. I would want my airbags to deploy in that situation. Is it possible that the airbag causes more trouble than it prevents in certain, rare situations? Yes, of course. Just like seatbelts can. But on balance, the plain fact of the matter is that airbags, like seatbelts, save lives. Disabling them for anything that's not a trailer queen is just foolish.

Besides that, kiss your insurance coverage goodbye if you disable them and then get into an accident. If you suffer any injuries that might, in any possible way, have been prevented by an airbag, your insurance company is going to deny coverage. Then it's going to be up to you to convince a judge or jury that disabling the airbags didn't increase the severity of your injuries. Good luck on that!

As for off-road, again, you have to get smacked in the front pretty hard for the airbags to deploy. Off-road or on, if I hit something that hard I WANT my airbags to deploy! I don't think disabling them, even for a trailer queen, is a very good idea.
 
The airbag light coming on, did it happen to coincide with the spedo and other gauges returing to -0- positions ? If so then it is the connectors in the back of the gauge panel. The dealer fix is to pull the panel and replace the self docking plugs back there. My fix was to pull the cluster, clean the pins and 'tweak' them a tad, a very small tad, so that they hold and make better contact in the sockets. Also, do you still have a small black box under your drivers seat ? If so you need to take it to the dealer and have the recall done that puts a new box in and moves it to under the console. The airbag system though is pretty well covered by federal law, if you are having a problem I would say that it is probably covered under warranty. Get it fixed. As for off roading, pulling the fuses is what most TJ owners do and I've pulled mine a couple of times with no ill effects. That said, when I do put them back in I recline my seat all the way back BEFORE I turn the key that first time, start it and count to 5. :laugh3:
 
We learned in my school that even just pulling the fuse does not completely disable most airbag systems, and for most cars there are exstensive steps for doin this, and it doesnt take much voltage to set them off so watch when pulling fuses and puttin them back in, espically if you're in frt of either airbags.
...and if anyone would like me se if I can get the steps in disabling the airbags let me know as I can still go up to the school and get it off the computers.
 
Danno said:
some of these airbag systems use "nano technology". The story about the pendulum may not be too far off. The system trigger switches are so small you need a microscope to see them and do look a bit like a pendulum.
Click to expand...

nano technology?

It's a Gforce sensor that consists of a ball bearing in a pinching track. A hard enough hit forces the ball up the track and into the contact.

The air bags stay active for something like 2 minutes after pulling the fuses (both if you have them).
It is often stated that one fuse is for left and one is for right, but this is WRONG. If you have two air bag fuses then one is a backup.
NEVER NEVER EVER monkey with an air bag fuse or wiring with the power on.

Jeep airbags very rarely deploy without good reason, and almost never off road.

Keep in mind that the air bag sensor is reading G force, not speed or body damage. Adding stronger bumpers, reinforcing the frame and anything else that beefs the body structure will reduce damage to your rig in a fender bender but will transmit more G force to you and the sensor, so your air bags will go of at lower speeds. This is NOT a bad thing, as it is not how fast you were going that matters, it's the G-force of the deceleration that determines whether you hit the steering wheel, get whiplash, etc.
 
Chris S said:
NEVER NEVER EVER monkey with an air bag fuse or wiring with the power on.

Jeep airbags very rarely deploy without good reason, and almost never off road.
Click to expand...

My advice is to never mess with airbag circuit period. And I agree there is no reason to disable them. BUT if you were so inclined, unplug the battery, drain the system power, unhook the air bag connectors first, then every connector to the module, and remove the shock sensors and put them in a safe place.

If the light is on, the module disables the system. Unless there is a short in the light circuit.

I DO NOT ASSUME ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR ACTIONS AS A RESULT OF THIS POST!
 
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I say don't mess with them. For techs to disable them we need written permission from the NHTSB, so if you do it yourself and get in a wreck and someone finds out you disabled them good luck getting out of some type of fine or punishment. I also agree that the best way to diable them is to disconnect all connectors and modules. Removing the fuses is like putting a loaded gun to your head and hoping for a misfire when you pull the trigger. If there is any voltage or energy left in the system (which there is) it could still set the bag off.
 
i've never had my airbag deploy offroad before. i'm pretty sure that dc specifically designed them to not do that, because otherwise we would hear of problems with people going to the stealership to get them replaced under warranty after offroading and having no evidence of getting in a accident. since these things are built to actually go offroad, they would lose $. heres some interesting FYI for those who have a 95': in 95 alone, the airbag is kinda like a parachute pack.TOTALLY self contained; sensor and all that built in. there is NO electrical connection whatsoever. only an arming lever on the back of the module.on the wheel there is an "arming screw" that depresses the lever and arms it (when it's screwed in, anyway) i have pics of both 95' and 96' airbags that shows the difference pretty well at the house. wish everything else was that simple.....
 
Damn guys, thanks, Lots of great info on this board. FYI: My light was not on. My buddy's was. Turns out he had broken his clockspring a few days earlier while replacing his steering box. It just made me think about the whole situation. I agree that if I hit something hard enough, I want the bag to deploy. I would never disable it for street driving. My main concern was doing a "Farmington Bump" and landing on the skids or frame hard enough to dislodge the impact sensor and fire when it is not needed. Sounds like it won't. Again, thanks for all you help. I don't think I will be disabling it any time soon, thanks to you guys.
 
my friend wrecked her cherokee and the air bag went off. i don't know how fast she was going but the damage dosn't look all to bad. definatly a situation where i would want the bag to stay in the wheel instead of breaking my nose. soo anyone find the official way to pull the plug while wheelin. sounds like the fuse method is not the best.
 
bj-666 said:
my friend wrecked her cherokee and the air bag went off. i don't know how fast she was going but the damage dosn't look all to bad. definatly a situation where i would want the bag to stay in the wheel instead of breaking my nose. soo anyone find the official way to pull the plug while wheelin. sounds like the fuse method is not the best.
Click to expand...

The official way is to unhook everything. How fast do you wheel? Usually if you are crawaling along and hit something hard it won't go off. If it blows and you are properly restrained and not sitting against the wheel it should help more than hurt.
 
I think you are more likely to have them go off while you are trying to disable them than you are on the trail. I wouldnt mess with it. Its a hassle and is all around something that should be left for the professionals. It would be an expensive mistake as well.
 
sleddy5 said:
I think you are more likely to have them go off while you are trying to disable them than you are on the trail. I wouldnt mess with it. Its a hassle and is all around something that should be left for the professionals. It would be an expensive mistake as well.
Click to expand...

Well said. If you really want to do it disconnect the negative battery cable for two minutes and then do the work, they won't go off. There are just too many libality issues with this and not enough of them accidently deploy while off-roading to do it.
 
I've got 96 XJ and I've hit trees boulders and came down on some boulders pretty hard and never had an airbag go off. Sometimes I wonder if my airbag even works when I hit things so hard. I also say leave it in for your own safety. Jeff
 
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