Help! Need to disconnect airbag

[carmen8969]

I can't find a mechanic who will do it for me. Need to disconnect passenger side airbag for child safety. I own the vehicle, don't want to buy a new vehicle JUST because of this issue. Someone told me it's easy to do myself but I don't have any idea what to do!! Anyone that can help me out? Thanks so much! It'a a 2001 Explorer Sport ( 2 door)

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! This thread is in the wrong forum. This is the transmission section. There is a section made for the 01 sport models.

 

[Blee1099]

Moved to a more appropriate forum. To be perfectly honest, I think the only people that may do this due to liability issue would be the dealership. They probably could install some sort of de-activation switch.

 

[Joe Dirt]

Doesn't the 2001 already have the weight sensitive switch in the seat to deactivate the airbag?

 

[TheJackal]

The back seat is the safest seat for children.

You can have an aftermarket key switch installed. Don't know who does this, though.

Have a look here, you need to file a form with the NHTSA first:
http://www.safercar.gov/portal/site...toid=172be66aeee35110VgnVCM1000002fd17898RCRD

 

[gijoecam]

Nobody in their right mind would install a deactivation switch for the passenger airbag due to the liability. The only vehicles for which that type of installation is approved by the federal government is a standard cab or an extended cab pickup (i.e. Ranger or F-150). In a crew cab pickup, they do not install the deactivation switch because they expect you to put the child in the rear seat where they belong.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news... If you want the child in the front seat, you'll need to buy the correct vehicle... In all other cases, it's simply not approved.

-Joe

 

[TheJackal]

Nobody in their right mind would install a deactivation switch for the passenger airbag due to the liability. The only vehicles for which that type of installation is approved by the federal government is a standard cab or an extended cab pickup (i.e. Ranger or F-150). In a crew cab pickup, they do not install the deactivation switch because they expect you to put the child in the rear seat where they belong.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news... If you want the child in the front seat, you'll need to buy the correct vehicle... In all other cases, it's simply not approved.

-Joe

There are places that can and will install a passenger airbag disconnect switch that meets NHTSA requirements, but only after you've applied to and receive permission from NHTSA to have one installed. NHTSA does state that one situation they would consider is if you have a child with a medical condition that requires them to be close to you. However, NHTSA isn't going to approve a disconnect if you just want to put your child up front because it's more convenient to you. As said, the safest seat is the back seat for children. Exceptions can be made for kids with medical issues, but that's it.

So, it depends on your circumstance.

 

[Joe Dirt]

I know most all new cars have pressure-sensitive switches in the front seat. If the party doesn't weigh enough, it deactivates the airbag. But yeah, thinking back- the only truck that had a keyswitch to deactivate it was my '99 Ranger SCab.

Agreed though- the child seat should be in the rear. Is there a particular reason why you need the seat in front? Just asking...

 

[Joseph1379]

There is at least one rightous reason to deactivate an airbag.
My husband had open heart surgery. It went well. They gave him a staph infection. 2.5 months later, 5 weeks of that time in ICU, his chest is damaged. He no longer has a sterum protecting his heart and lungs, just stomach muscle that they needed to expand over his chest. If he were to get in an accident and if the air bag were to deploy - it could kill him.
So, there is other reasons to disarm the airbag, let us not pass judgement as to why.

 

[gijoecam]

Glad to hear your husband is healing from his surgery.

I can't speak to your husband's condition specifically, but if the airbag deploys in an accident (and assuming your husband is of average stature and is not seated too close to the steering wheel), the air bag is going to be fully deployed before your husband even begins to move forward from the impact.

Furthermore, the seat belt is the primary means of restraining the passenger in a frontal impact. Personally, I'd be FAR more concerned with the damage a seat belt could do restraining his torso than what the airbag (which is designed to catch his face, not his torso).

If your husband was to move far enough forward in an accident that the airbag was going to contact his torso, he'd be in danger of hitting the steering wheel. I'm no expert, but I'm quite sure the steering wheel would do much more damage than the air bag would.

Now, were your husband thrown forward before the air bag deployed, I could certainly see the potential for life-threatening injuries, but that would go for anyone in that position when it deploys, not just your husband.

I'm not saying that there's never a reason to deactivate the air bags; I'm just saying that there needs to be some pretty compelling reason for it based on facts, not simple fear of what *might* happen. Your husband could just as easily sustain the same or more trauma in the same accident without an air bag deploying. In the type of accident severe enough to cause airbag deployment, the seat belt alone is going to cause issues.

 

[Joseph1379]

Thank you for your reply. The information and danger has been passed onto us by a cardiovascular surgeon,
the plastic surgeon who did the "flap surgery" and a thoracic surgeon.

The information you offer is a good guess on what will happen, but the circumstances, facts and expert's
advise from the 3 surgeons who operated on my husband disagree and we're going to follow their advise
rather than yours.

Again, thank you for your response ... but it's too bad people on these message boards cannot get an
answer that helps rather than attacks or offer a generic "just hope for the best" solution to a specific problem.

We will pray that you do not lose your sturnum nor that you aquire a staph infection.

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