this spring with my 99 dodge 2500 and a trailer w/ 3 full pallots of sod, i hit a stationary dakota going about 25mph and took off my front end and threw the palots of sod in front of my truck. the air bags didnt even go off. lucky i wasnt hurt at all but really pissed off.

 

The airbags didnt deploy because the accidents werent serious enough. By that I mean something yielded, crushed, deformed etc to absorb the shock so the airbag wasnt necessary. Proof, nobody was hurt. The vehicle (any vehicle with airbag for that matter) requires exterme deceleration to set off the airbag.

 

Well said Bill,it takes a serious hit to set off the bag-about 28mph into a wall to start with on a Ram.If it wasnt so hard to set off,we'd be buying airbags everytime the plow tripped or we hit a storm drain a little to hard.

 

I always wondered if I used my bumper to push somebody would it go off. Would the grill guards/brush guards keep the air bags from working if you had a head on?

Homer

 

Hitting a concrete wall?????...He destroyed the wall and you say it was not serious enough???? Come on ...He was not hurt seriously (lucky him) but he did recieve bruies) I have seen the accident site and if you saw it you would say that someone probaly got killed in that accident. Take also in account that he was also a very fit person...someone older and not in good shape could have been seriously hurt...don't defend a bad product when lives could be in danger.

Ps the front end of his truck lost 2 feet

 

The wall was destroyed; it absorbed the energy of impact. The truck is crumpled; it absorbed the energy of impact. Im sure if the wall was sturdier the bag would have deployed.

Dont be pullin a Charles/algore on us now lonestar...

 

I worked for a Ford Motor Company owned business for 12 years. It was the largest car rental company in the world and we got up to 200 totaled and 600 plus damaged cars a YEAR and trucks and with our mechanics are trained by Ford, Dodge and GM and have taken many collision corses and all the manifacures state the air bag sensor is really small and where the sensor is located did not recieve any amount of damage the air bag may not deploy. I have personally seen destrode cars with no air bag deploy and the customer tries to sue the rental company and the manifacurer but never wins for the air bag is not 100% affective.

 

I understand you statement thelawnguy and understand how the law of physics. I just saying that in this case at what point do you wonder "will my airbags deploy in a more serious accident" If my airbags do not deploy in any head on collision I would question it no matter what model vehichle I have.

And I don't know if I should take offense to your last statement (thelawnguy's)...I hope the statement was in fun and not personal.

[Edited by LoneStarLawn on 11-23-2000 at 02:03 AM]

 

"If my airbags do not deploy in any head on collision I would question it no matter what model vehichle I have."

I suppose its an incentive to drive carefully.

The last comment was in jest. Trust me, there would be no mistaking any personal attack from me

 

I think most of us have been in some sort of accident...I have been rearended so hard that I was forced into the car in front of me (I was 16). There are alot of careless drivers out there. I can say that I am a good driver, but that doesn't say an accident can occur in which there was nothing that I can do.

 

Other end of the spectrum

I own a 94 Dodge Intrepid along with my 79 GMC and although I realize the Intrepid isnt a truck ...but it is a Chrysler corporation vehicle so this might have some bearing. Last summer while driving home from Florida I was cutoff on the highway,and almost involved in a very serious accident, rather than let road rage get the best of me with my wife and son in the car, I punched the dash board.This set off the airbag warning light. I drove the car the rest of the day (approx. 4 hours more )and shut the car off that night . When I come out the next morning the airbags had deployed taking out the windshield and making the car undrivable. If that wasnt weird enough, the local dealer RUSHED MY CAR RIGHT IN, fixed it immediately,returned it to me the next day ,and never charged me !!!! no explanation, just no charge when I went to settle the bill. The car has 82,000 miles on it so I know it wasnt covered under warranty . Is it posible that Chrysler has a silent recall going on on that year vehicles??? Might be worth looking into if there is some sort of defect in the airbag system.

Dan

 

Sounds like the car was paying you back for punching it! I've never had a wreck so I can't say what might happen if I did. I' have heard those air bags feel like a Mike Tyson punch though.

Homer

 

this is my third post on stuff in the last hour or so, the wife is sleeping on the couch so you guys are all I got to talk to. All of you are pretty much on track with your comments (I'm a bodyman of 15 years - yadee yadee etc.) Vehicles are designed to absorb the impact of a collision, in pretty much any way, shape, or form. They all have what are called crumple zones, mostly on uni-body cars though, not really trucks. Trucks need to absorb the impact in other areas, such as the sheetmetal, the core-support( what the radiator mounts to etc.) the fenders, pretty much anything hanging off the front end.Most trucks have the air bag sensor mounted on the frame, or usually the bottom of the core support( below the radiator to the sides, in that area) Well, it does take a heck of a hit to move and/or even get to that area to shock or basically jolt those sensors to send off the airbags.So there is going to be a lot of visible damage to the vehicle before they go off.Trust me, there are bags that have gone off when you wouldn't think they would've, and when you think they should've.Hope this helped and if you have any doubts about the airbags working or not, they can test the sensors, it usually isn't done unless the air bags have deployed and they test them before installing the new bags,but if you have a doubt, maybe just see if they could do it for you. One other thing, just my opinion, car manufacturers I think do a pretty good job of making cars safer than they ever were. Example, look inside your vehicle, no steel dashboards, or steel anything for that matter, no sharp edges anywhere, pretty safe if you wre to get knocked around,and the introduction off airbags, alot better than 30 years ago, just food for thought. Sorry to make a story out of this. Randy

[Edited by TestModerator on 01-03-2001 at 05:42 PM]