How do you deal with the lack of airbag compliance and your insurance company ?

Anyone ever hit someone and had the other drivers insurance give you grief ?

Thanks

David

 

my insurance company does not know. I dont think it is illegal to have the bumper....just gives yourself extra protection!

I was under my rig today, and i saw the sticker that said not airbag compatible..LOL

 

SAHARA is "airbag compatable", but only "verified" for a Prado and only in AUS. Bull Bar, T-15/17's are considered "non-compliant", which means that they aren't crash tested on each and every type of vehicle to prove that the airbags still work within the specified ranges of impact severity. the main "issue" with front bumpers is that it's the belief that they will cause premature airbag deployment due to the fact that they would transfer more energy to the frame that a typical plastic/crush bumper.

i had an accident w/ my first sahara. my insurance company bought me a new one no questions asked. i just printed out 3 online quotes and they paid the lowest one for the bar.

 

as you didnt specify 3rd gen/taco's...

my 94 has no air bag = no problems hear.

BUt i have a small thread hyjack for you simular owners of bumpers.
Im wanting to hear from everyone that has had an arb/tjm installed for 5+ years and what the serviceablitiy of your winch is. Mine has all but quit working due to ground problems and was wondering if anyone else has had to pull there entire front bumper off to fix it?

 

ARB - Yup bumper has to come off to fix it - PITA

 

Ok,

Remind me again why we don't like the aluminium TJM products ???

David

 

If I remeber correctly, airbags are deployed using sensors that measure the rapid decline in speed, it has nothing to do with the front bumper.

 

I thought the manual for my camry stated that the impact had to push the headlight in. I don't know if it is from deceleration but it sounded like it was an impact sensor (i.e. needed to be crushed)

 

Correct. Inertia sensors. http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question130.htm

 

Woohoo! Howstuffworks is the best website ever!

 

Wow! Did I teach you something after all?

Whats been happenin Jody?

 

Ive had mine as said above and for 3 yrs I thought my Warn 8000 went bad, I pulled the relays out and tested thinking there was a bad one, All were good, After re-installing the relays They wouldnt work, Moved the ground to the body and the relays worked but no winch.
Found out all I had to do was loosen the 4 bolts holding the winch on and retighten to complete the grounding, I greesed them also to keep the threds cleaner.

Dont have to worry about Airbag rules.
I was able to get out of a lawsuit because I had the bumper,
I accidently bumped the rear of a womans bumper only putting a line in the step platic, She said it was nothing bad but the car is a lease so we exchanged info just incase the leaser's wanted it fixed.
1 yr later I get notice from my insurance company that she has medical problems for her whiplash, I called my insurance co. about it and there was a claim that I also totaled the rear lift hatch of her Tahoe, They came out and took pictures of my bumper and busted her on fraudulent charges since the pattern didnt match my bumper or winch.

 

WOW VooDoo. Nice 3rd Gen rims and my old BFG MT's to! Looks great on a 2nd Gen!

I also know of a guy with a ARB on a Cheeroke that got in an accident and had no problems with the air bags going off and also getting insurance to cover the replacement of the ARB. And this is in California mind you. LOL

 

my prado bar isnt 'airbag compatible' as the sahara ones are. my mounts didnt have the crush zones like bamachems or TJM's have..but i think the taco ones are. but that shouldnt matter since its not US/NA rated.

and since the bags work of inertia sensors, i wouldnt worry about airbag compliance. if that were the case, the same thing could be said about the liablility of 'brush guards' and the likes. you shouldnt have any issues with coverage.

i wouldnt want to be on the receiving end of being 'bumped' with one of these things though, and i feel sorry for the poor schmuck that taps mine

 

the "problem" w/ the airbag sensors is that most believe (as i do) that a large steel bumper with solid mounts to the frame will NOT absorb impact like a tupperware and tinfoil bumper with a "crush bar" behind it would. in that case, the hard, steel, solid bumper will transfer more energy to the frame. in doing so, you stop faster since you're not compression the tupperware, tinfoil, and crushbar.

stopping fast is counteraction to your inertia, which is exactly what sets off the airbags.

that's why "airbag compatable" bars have the crumple zones in the mounts. they can absorb some of the impact and not transfer all that energy directly to the frame.

 

Great info all.

So, the only option with crush zones for a 98 3rd gen is a Sahara bar ?

JUst to repeat, what is the negative with an aluminium bumper ?

David

 

perhaps i im missunderstanding that. but the air bag sensros are just accelerometers. when they measure a certian de-acceleration they trigger.

as acceleration is distance/time^2 the longer it takes you to slow down the lower the de-acceleration. = crumple zones. the quicker you stop the higher the de-acceleration.

so if they are going to go off with tupperware crumple zones, they will DEFIENTLY trigger with a more rigid impact.

But i was under the impression that "new" air bag systems take into account not only acceleration sensors, but also throtle postion, speed, brake position, seat belt tension sensors, seat postion sensors etc. Expecially in the variable depoloyment systems they currently have that try to guestimate how hard your gonna hit, were your sitting, do you have your belt on, how heavy you are (a "proper" air bag for my 260 lb arse is NOT right for my 100 lb wife) and produce an air bag that is hard/soft deployment speed etc.

its goten a lot more complicated. (not to say that first gen systems wernt much more simple) just food for thought

 

that's exactly right and the same thing i was trying to convey.

the sahara has crumple zones in the mounts to make them less "rigid" on impact. that's how they are considered "airbag compatable" in AUS. without that, they wouldn't be considered airbag compatable.

 

anyone? i'm curious about this too...

 

Strangely enough, me too