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Noticing a disturbing trend among Impalas and Grand Prixs

J

J57ltr

New member
So in my nearly weekly strolls through the junkyard I have noticed many seriously destroyed cars with the airbags intact. Recently 2 that stuck out is an 06' Imp that impacted so hard that the rocker arms were exposed the distortion of the front end was so bad that the firewall was crumpled and roof deformed. It looked as though it hit a pole nearly head on. Airbags fully intact. The other was a GP that looked as though it slid sidewise into a pole as well. I do not think the driver survived. The drivers seat, well it was where the center console was, the door pushed the steering wheel rim nearly to the center line of the steering wheel and slightly dislodged the airbag. Several other GPs had damage that looked as though the airbags should have been deployed but had not.

so have any of you guys been in wrecks that the bag should have gone off but didn't?

Jeff
 


Sometimes I wouldnt be suprised if the airbag light wasnt already on at the time of the crash, GMT-800/900 trucks are known for air bags lights all the time.
 
Ive owned 7 wbodies and not once have I ever seen a airbag light come on as having an issue or faulty.... The car I was in that got tboned on the drivers side door wasn't really that hard just enough to wrinkle up the sheetmetal and it didn't take much prying to get the door open although I did break the side window out with my arm or head. I was buckled in at the time too.
 
keep in mnd that some accidents the tires can all come to a stop....while the car is in the air, on ice/gravel. anti lock brakes arent....they can still lockup...and **** you over vs the old threshold braking...so notw that people dont have to learn how to drive they just slam the pedal and hope the computer is smarter than they are.

...once the vehicle speed registers below 20-25 mph i dont think even the first stage (slow-blow) of the airbag will get deployed


so if your impact sensor doesnt get triggered till after the cars wheels slow down....you dont get no airbag.
 
BillBoost37 said:
Take a look at where the crash sensors are located.
Click to expand...

I don't understand, they are located on the upper part of the frame behind the header panel. The Imp I saw should have deployed unless there is a fault. The computer for the SRS has an accelerometer built in so wheel speed shouldn't matter. In fact I have seen a Malibu traveling slightly ahead of me go off road and plunge to the bottom of a creek and the last thing I saw was the wheels locked in mid air. When I stopped and ran back to the scene the driver was already out of the car and looked like he had serious carpet burn on his face. The bag deployed.

The SRS light is on my car right now. I have a wiring issue up front somewhere as the HUD always displays between 105* and 167* and every once in a while correctly.
 


Front airbags don't do jack, seatbelts save lives, airbags don't.

Side airbags are worthy though, those do make a difference.
 
I'm too stubborn for that Bill, I am going to fix this think come hell and high water. This thing isn't going to beat me!
 
I bet you would, but that's too much car for me. I wouldn't be able to control the level of smug pouring out the car. Lol
 


technically in a side impact your front air bags shouldnt go off, depending on the strategy they use. And really, if you are wearing a seatbelt, in the correct seating position and the seat belt does what its supposed to, you shouldnt even touch the airbag. I got a bag wreck in my mustang and my bag deployed, but my seatbelt locked hard, I wasnt sitting all thugged out or on top of the air bag and my hands werent near the center. I was held in place and only got a slight burn/rub mark on my forearm and that was it.

though I guess you need to worry these days about shrapnel coming out and killing you these days.
 


J57ltr said:
so have any of you guys been in wrecks that the bag should have gone off but didn't?
Click to expand...

No. Other way around, maybe. This is an area where OE engineering ought not be second-guessed. Like aerodynamics... they have a wind tunnel, we don't. Parameters that satisfied the law-makers were arrived at and they were engineered into the cars. Just like everything else about manufacturing internal combustion-driven automobiles to be sold everywhere and driven by anyone... its a compromise. If you can drive worth a damn, pull the SIR fuse. Thats my advice. Did THEY know just how 5-10-15-20 year old explosives should work once they have sat inside a steering wheel for that long? Doubt. Do we? Nah.

Guessing what happened to a wreck in the boneyard can lead one to many false assumptions. It almost never happened exactly like it looks. As far as my personal experience goes... the SIR system in 99-02 Grand Prixs work perfectly to this day if not damaged. But every impact is unique and theres a lot of situations when the "err to the side of non-deployment" rule is a good thing. In the case of the fatal-looking sideswipe or slide, no deployment should occur unless equipped with side airbags. Its bad enough the driver's hip gets broken, no need to snap his neck as well. Just wear the seat belt and leave the SIR critique to them that have means to.
 
I'll get pics of it tonight but a local diver here in town was drunk and speeding in his 05 gp and slammed it sideways in to a pole so bad you can not tell what type car it is he passed away sadly but bags went off.
He hit on the passenger back door
 
SwedishDiddler said:
Front airbags don't do jack, seatbelts save lives, airbags don't.

Side airbags are worthy though, those do make a difference.
Click to expand...

I agree with this assessment. Airbags (front) usually seem to do more harm than good. That's part of the reason I am going to eliminate the airbags in my Stealth. Its a 94 so it has a passenger airbag. The 91-93's only had driver's airbags so I plan on swapping the dash, then finding a nice OEM style aftermarket steering wheel to replace mine.

And my airbag light has been on in my Grand Prix for probably a few years now. It used to be occasional, but then it became permanent. If the airbags are disabled then so be it, but that damn light being on in the dash drives me insane.
 
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