turning the airbags off

I would like to put a switch in my 99' Cherokee to turn the airbags off when I'm on the trail. I test drove a 09' Tacoma last week and it had this switch in the dash. Is this a computer thing or could i wire one up under the dash? Has anyone done this?

The switch on the trucks only shuts to passenger side bag off. It's for a child seat.

I wanted to rig up something like that for mine when I bought it. A dealership mec. friend told me it was never offered for the XJ because it has a back seat to put the child seat in. There's supposed to be a kit to shut the Dr side bag off for very short drivers(who have to jack the seat forward into the bag deployment area), but I've never seen one for an XJ.

pull the fuse.

I would imagine if pulling the fuse worked, you could find the wire hooked up to that fuse and simply splice a toggle switch into it. I guess you'd also have to find the circuit for the airbag indicator light on the dash and splice into that one too unless you wanted the light to stay on the whole time you had it deactivated. I really don't know if this would work or not, just throwing an idea out there. I've been planning on doing this to my ABS system as well, just haven't gotten around to it yet.

Anyone actually had an airbag deploy while off-roading? Anyone know of a friend of a friend of a friend that it happened to? I've never heard an off-roading airbag horror story before... I've slammed the front end down pretty hard a number of times on the rocks but always assumed I was going slow enough to not have to worry about them deploying. Maybe Jeepspeed type driving would be more of a problem than rock crawling?

cherotron said:

pull the fuse.

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Where's the "cool factor" in that? It's just not sexy...

my friends air bag went off while off roading, he was looking back at his brother do somthing in his jeep while still ideling forward, his jeep dropped down into a ditch and i guess hit it just right cause his bag went off. his was a 95, so it was only the driver side

"The switch on the trucks only shuts to passenger side bag off. It's for a child seat."

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The 09' Tacoma shuts all 6 airbags down and in case of a rollover it turns them back on automatically.
If you get on youtube you can see some some videos of airbags going off. Working on an ambulance I have seen slow speed airbag deployment. It causes more human body damage than it saves. ie burned forearms and jacked up faces :gee:.
If someone knows where i can run a relay switch from I'm all ears. I Don't care about the dash light being on since I will only have the airbags off when I'm on the trail.

fyrfytr1717 said:

Anyone actually had an airbag deploy while off-roading? Anyone know of a friend of a friend of a friend that it happened to?

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A friend of mine was following me on a graded gravel road when his Dr side airbag deployed. He was doing about 15mph.

I've seen a video of an Xj in large rocks. Wheel comes down off a rock, the frame/slider hits, and the bag deploys.

Then there's always a quick youtube search
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SlgpIqnM3Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBHttvi1O2g

fyrfytr1717 said:

Where's the "cool factor" in that? It's just not sexy...

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true.. true..

:doh:

Well judging by the above stories, I guess it is a real possibility. I'm going to go digging into my FSM a little and see what I can find. I think I'll try to locate the wires for the ABS and the airbags, splice a relay into each circuit, and combine them into one toggle mounted in the cab. One switch to turn off both "safety devices" that make off-roading unsafe...:gag:

any more info on this?

I ran into a guy up at Harlan, KY a few weeks back who had his go off while trail riding. I don't know the specifics tho but it's definitely possible.

would there be any issues with suddenly closing and opening the circuit (i.e. making the air bag go off when you flip the switch?)

Magus2727 said:

would there be any issues with suddenly closing and opening the circuit (i.e. making the air bag go off when you flip the switch?)

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yes. the airbag system is very finicky, and even plugging/unplugging parts of the system can make them go off. hell, even putting a meter on certain parts of the system can make them go off (seen this happen myself). I would do some long hard research and study the wiring diagrams etc etc before even considering doing this. I spent many years in the mobile electronics field and airbags and seatbelt charges are a constant concern. especially cause they have the power to do some real damage. Perhaps even calling the dealership and talking to one of the lead techs may be a good idea.

theres a video on youtube somewhere where the airbag deploys on a supra at the dragway...those suckers launch HARD

here it is

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cc0OKhJSuqQ

Mr. Ninja said:

yes. the airbag system is very finicky, and even plugging/unplugging parts of the system can make them go off. hell, even putting a meter on certain parts of the system can make them go off (seen this happen myself).

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Not to mention that you don't want to locate any RF-radiating devices (CBs, ham radios) or antenna leads anywhere near them. There are documented cases (rare, but they are out there) of RFI causing unintended airbag deployment.

Perhaps even calling the dealership and talking to one of the lead techs may be a good idea.
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No dealer tec wood ever help you mod the airbag unless he trusted you to keep his/her name out of it. If there was a failure of bag when needed. Death lawsuits etc that sort of thing. Even if the mod didn't course the failure.
A DPDT relay could be used with the airbag wired in the normally closed position. This would permit the air bag to operate normally unless shut off. A push button of the temporary on type would be used to active the coil in the relay. This in turn would open the airbag contacts and then normally open side of the relay would become hot. This would be wired back to the coil keeping it open until a key off kills all power to the relay. Permitting the rely to return to the normally closed position. This set up would mean the airbag would need to be shut off after every restart. But then they would be on when they might be needed. Often when a simple on/off switch is used the airbags get switched off and forgotten about. Bad news in a 50 MPH headon.
Remember that just shutting the power off will not work until the storage capacitors are actively drained, Witch WILL set them off if not did right. Discharge over time or shut off before they get a chance to charge.
Luck

I'm thinking of doing this too. I think I'll leave it so the airbag light will come on when I deactivate as a reminder to turn it back on when I get off the trail.

Remember that just shutting the power off will not work until the storage capacitors are actively drained, Witch WILL set them off if not did right. Discharge over time or shut off before they get a chance to charge.
Luck