The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk side impact airbags

i just purchased a set of buick lesabre seats with side inpact air bags and i need to know if i have to deactivate them before i install them into my 54 truck? if i do how can it be done safely? ron

They should not deploy unless they are set off by the sensor in the front end(header panel area)and you are going over 20 MPH verified by the VSS(vehicle speed sensor).Are you sure you want those seats in your AD ?

I'd get 'em removed just in case.

In theory, they shouldn't deploy without being told to do so by a host of other systems, but i'm not sure i'd want to be sitting with a can of compressed gas under me.

yes i like the fact that they have intergrated seat belts. also i assumed since i didn't have the sensor they would not deploy. ron

i was married to a side impact air bag once...

avette4me, i wish mine had been more of an air bag and maybe i would have known what was going on in her head before she left after 36 years of marriage. ron

Without the wiring in place, including the connection to the SDM [Sensing Diagnostic Module] it should not be possible to deploy the airbag.

Do keep in mind though that with integrated seatbelts to the seats that you will be concentrating a very large load on the seat anchors. On new production vehicles, this results in added structure in the floor pan and is part of the reason a majority of vehicles have the seat belt anchors separate from the seat.

Hate to be in a frontal crash and have one of those seats come loose with someone in it who is strapped in and contacts a metal dash....

Your seat belts probly wont work in a collision if they are the kind with the electric solinoid on them. They are operated by the SRS module and are useless without it.

can somebody respond to ray-mans comments about the solinoid? ron

I'm sure you got my P.M. ron, but just to let ray-man know the belts work just fine. The slightest tug locks them. Some of the time I can't reach the radio because the belts locked.
There is not a solenoid or even a wire to activate them.

Bill

The airbags are a pyrotechnic device and require current to deploy. No current source, no deployment. I'm not familiar with the GM connectors, but my guess would be they are of the self-shorting type. Which means, when they are disconnected from the vehicle harness, the leads are shorted together. This eliminates the possibility of a seperate power and ground path, making you safe from accidental deployment caused by a static charge.

John

WILBUR, GOT YOUR PM and i appreciate you taking the time to respond. i just downloaded the pictures of the seats in your truck to my pictures. a great referance. i hope my truck looks as good as your when i get done. i am not doing the work myself, don't have the skills or patience. just got the seats home today and have to clean them up. i thought they were a darker color than what they delivered but they have the right stock #. yes i pulled on the shoulder belt and it locks so everything is ok. my mechanic was concerend that the airbags might go off but with out power and the sensor it should not do that. i still will check at the local buick dealer, have friends that work there. thanks again. ron

Those air bag initiators are worth some LARGE dollars! I know of cars being totalled out over the cost of replacing air bags after a wreck. There's absolutely no sense driving around with the equivalent of money forming the padding of your new seats. Have somebody remove the bags, sell them, and use some of the cash to get the seats reupholstered without them, then party with the rest. It's like free money!
Jerry

Free money.....I like the sound of that.

hot rod lincoln, what kind of money are you talking about? i had thought of that when it comes to steering wheel bags being stolen. hondas were a big target a few years ago. ron

Before selling any SRS (supplemental restraint system) parts like air bag modules, check with local law enforcement. In some states it is illegal to sell used air bag modules.