Airbags and Custom Bumpers

I will be making a custom front bumper/grille guard for my Jeep as soon as my welding skills permit, but I also have a driver-side airbag. I have also noticed that some companies like ARB advertise their brushguards as "airbag compatible". Would a custom bumper that was stronger than stock mess up the airbag timing and lead to a dangerous situation if the airbag ever did have to deploy?
Thanks,
Matt

no, airbag sensor is in the cab and will react to any sudden rapid slow down/stop. ARB does test their bumpers in crashtests, but on XJs it's not a problem.

dennisuello said:

no, airbag sensor is in the cab and will react to any sudden rapid slow down/stop. ARB does test their bumpers in crashtests, but on XJs it's not a problem.

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I looked into this a while ago myself. same situation excpet i haven't bought a bumper or made one yet. Heres what i found, older xjs at least up to 1995 (the model year my jeep is) had a mechanical impact senor. I don't remember where it is but from what i read it was not affected by replacing the front bumper. It was described as maybe some sort of weight that upon impact slides forward and activates the airbag, also this sensor is not in the actual bumper so if you bought one of the more popular bumpers or made one yourself the force of the impact (how many G's ) is the factor that determines if the airbag goes off. Your front end could be strenghtned enough that the bags could go off and the bumper and "frame" still ok. I have only been in one accident in my XJ and the airbag did not go off the bumper was damaged but the jeep was not ruined to give you an idea i think the damge total was $3,700. I crashed into a corsica and completely smashed the rear truck in and soehow her glove box door blew off and the radio came out of the dash ! still no airbag. Hope this sheds some light on it. :repair: