kmchby76

I have been thinking of getting an arb or tjm front bumper, but I do have a question. Is the front airbags compatable with these aftermarket bumpers? I read a post where a tjm was installed and the warning sticker was still on the bumper indicating the airbags will not work with the bumper.

BajaRunner

id imagine there are crush sensors up front for head on impact. With a steel bumper i think they wont be triggered. Lets just say the bumper will take the place of the airbag.. heh

ecchamberlin

Ian that is not funny. J/K

The air bag sensors are attached to the frame rails under the front seats. The bumpers may effect the spec's that the airbag will deploy under however; and this has been talked about a lot here in the past, it is not seen as a safety issue because the bumper may actually transmit an impact faster than a crumple zone style of oem bumper. But we are talking about mili seconds here for certain.

So in short, a tjm or arb bumper will not cause your air bags to fail and not deploy.

Intrepid

I believe this to be 100% accurate. I think the manufacturer issues that warning basically as a "cover their behind" attempt. It may affect it somewhat, but more than likely, it will not, but they don't want to be the ones to tell you that.

firemedic

Chalk another one up that agrees. The airbag sensors are deceleration sensors which are not located in the bumper. The vehicle will still decelerate quickly and they will still deploy at whatever decel rate is specified, the bumper may have some marginal effect but will not render the airbogs inoperable, IMHO.

Tacoma Dude

Looks like this topic is going to be as inconclusive as the previous times it's been brought up:

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/show...tjm+arb+airbag
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/show...tjm+arb+airbag
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/show...tjm+arb+airbag

I wonder if there's a way to call up any of the engineers from TJM, ARB, or Toyota to get anything confirmed.
Actually here's a good read:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/show...tjm+arb+airbag

ac808m

Read this awhile back when I was looking into an ARB-

http://www.arbusa.com/design_engineering.htm

"ARB air bag compatible bull bars and mounting systems are built to replicate the vehicle’s crush rate, thereby ensuring complete air bag compatibility without compromising protection levels."

kmchby76

Wow, I have to say that with all that I have read, I feel a bit more confident in pursuing a new front bumper. thanks for all the input.

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

X2

SEARCH. READ. ASK.

Not vice versa. You'll get A LOT more help this way.

IMO neither will affect your air bags at all, but I prefer ARB as they add the crumple mounting zones.

Intrepid

Areas to conveniently crush against rocks? Haha. We need a better explanation of the "crush zones" IMO.

Intrepid

How inconclusive? We all basically just agreed on the same thing. Seems pretty conclusive to me...

Tacoma Dude

sorry my bad - inconclusive towards the middle of the thread and more definitive towards the end.

frodin1

I looked into the bumpers not to long ago and found somewhere that one or the other had models that said they were "airbag approved" I'm pretty sure it was TJM."My.02"

ecchamberlin

TJM no

ARB yes

boogyman

So here's something related. I'm taking a welding class next month and my goal was to fab a new front bumper for my truck. Are there certain designs, attachment points, metals, or anything else that make a front bumper "airbag compatible"? If so, what are they?