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air bag question?

X

xj mimi

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Los Gatos
so i put an aftermarket rock crawler bumper on my 96 xj a couple months ago and something just dawned on me
where is the sensor for my air bag?
if i drop my new bumper on a rock will it set it off?
or is the sensor behind my grill somewhere by the radiator?
anybody know??
thanks!
Mimi
 
Last edited:
good question, but IIRC you have to be going a certain speed to set it off. so unless your pre running you should be ok, dont hold me to that though. BTW i too have a 96 and had a airbag go off on me after jumping some RR tracks when i was young and dumb, id also like to know where the sensor is.
 
Believe it's somewhere behind the dash.

And no, you won't set off the air bag if you drop your bumper on a rock. :)
 
I'm pretty sure the '96 has a self contained Airbag. It's got some kind of inertial trigger. I think it would be possible to set it off on a rock. The 97' and ups have a sensor in the steering shaft. If it colapses, it blows. I may be totally wrong here, but I generally have a good memory for this stuff.
 
passxj said:
I'm pretty sure the '96 has a self contained Airbag. It's got some kind of inertial trigger. I think it would be possible to set it off on a rock. The 97' and ups have a sensor in the steering shaft. If it colapses, it blows. I may be totally wrong here, but I generally have a good memory for this stuff.
Click to expand...

You're wrong this time... The airbag sensor on late model XJ's (97 an up) originated under the driver's seat, and was later relocated under the center consol by factory recall for those that were still located under the driver's seat.
 
Ivan said:
You're wrong this time... The airbag sensor on late model XJ's (97 an up) originated under the driver's seat, and was later relocated under the center consol by factory recall for those that were still located under the driver's seat.
Click to expand...


Oh. Is that what the blank spot under my seat is from? So is it an inertial trigger? If you hit something hard enough it pops? If so, it would go off even if the front end didn't colapse.
 
airbags are triggered by a sudden decrease in speed or direction. For the most part vehicles must be traveling faster than 25 for the unit to turn on.

Don't mess with it, wheel slower, trail only rigs swap steering wheels
 
passxj said:
Oh. Is that what the blank spot under my seat is from? So is it an inertial trigger? If you hit something hard enough it pops? If so, it would go off even if the front end didn't colapse.
Click to expand...

yes, it measure G-force of deceleration, so changing bumpers and such will not harm it, and dropping the front hard down on a rock will not trigger it.

Some guys with big aftermarket bumpers have claimed that the air bag went off when it should not have, based on the fact that the rig was not really damaged. This is not the case, as their bumper has protected their rig but a big strong bumper will actually transmit MORE force back to the occupants (rather than crumpling and absorbing the force). The result is that the vehicle damage was less but the G-force to the occupants still required the air bag.
 
passxj said:
So is it an inertial trigger?
Click to expand...
95-96 XJ airbags are completely self contained (100% mechanical). There are no electical connections, just an arming pin.
97-01 are electrical and have a remote sensor/module located under the center cosole. As Ivan said, earlier XJs (97-98) had the module originally under the drivers seat but they were recalled and relocated under the console to prevent moisture from getting to the connections.

I saw a show on TV a while back where 2 idiots had removed a bunch of 95-96 XJ airbags, re-armed them and then were throwing them off the top of a building. It made a pretty cool little explosion when they hit the ground. :explosion
 
So, Is it wise to pull the fuse or something off road? What if I want my son to be up front while wheeling?
 
There was several threads on the disable topic a while back.
The dealer used to sell (and install) a disable switch for the passenger airbag. Last I heard was that it is no longer available.
IIRC, Hinckley had some info on it.
 
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