Airbags and Aftermarket Bumpers

[Super Doody]

I did a search. Found some results but nothing too specific.

I'm just wondering what makes the fabricated bumper air bag compliant?

ARB is the only that I know of that which is air bag compliant.

Where is the "crumple zone" on the tacoma?

I'm thinking of getting a pre runner style bumper but my truck is DD and I don't want to compromise the airbag safety feature.

 

[Brian McVickers]

I believe the crumple zones are built into the frame horns that the front bumper mounts to. On my DII my ARB is airbag compatible and primarily mounts to these frame horns. You can see on the ARB where they have built in additional crumple zones into the mounts of their bumper.

 

[mountainpete]

First, "Airbag Compatible" aftermarket bumpers do not directly indicate any special design of the product - rather it only indicates that a vehicle has been crash tested with the bumper installed and found that there was no significant change in the way the airbag deployed as compared to stock. Companies like ARB do go an extra mile to crash pulse test and add special components to their bumpers which allow them to perform off-road while making few compromises in the safety features automakers have designed into their vehicles.

Second, most airbag sensors are basically accelerometers which close a contact if a certain force is achieved. The installation of an aftermarket bumper doesn't change the amount of force required for the airbag to inflate, but it does potentially effect how that force is transmitted through the vehicle. This is where the crumple zones come into play.

A crumple zone absorbs the impact of a collision which reduces the impact on passengers and ultimately the amount of force translated to the airbag sensor. If you eliminate the crumple zone, you put more force into the vehicle at point of impact and you would on paper be more likely to trigger the airbag in the event of a collision of less force then with the crumple zone in place.

As for the stock 96 - 04 Tacoma front bumper, there is a crumple area on the bumper. It just looks like wavy steel. I attached a pic of the bumper without the plastic cover below. The ARB bumper replaces all of that and adds a large crush can which absorbs large impacts. I thought I had a picture, but for some reason I can't find it.

So the bottom line is airbags still work with aftermarket bumpers, however they make work differently. But companies like ARB work very hard to ensure their specific designs work as close to stock as possible.

Hope that info helps!

Pete

 

[Super Doody]

Thanks for input.

There was an accident on lions back in moab where the Tacoma crashed head to the bottom. It had a stinger/tube bumper. The air bag did not deploy.

 

[mountainpete]

There have been a few crashes over the years there so I am not sure which one you are directly referring to.

Oftentimes airbags will not inflate in rollover type crashes so if the impact conditions were not met, the bumper installed doesn't make a difference.

Pete

 

[mountainpete]

This thread may help you:

http://ttora.com/forum/showthread.php?t=46235&highlight=airbag+bumper

Pete

 

[LAW]

Thanks for input.

There was an accident on lions back in moab where the Tacoma crashed head to the bottom. It had a stinger/tube bumper. The air bag did not deploy.

don't quote me on this, but i think the sensors on a Tacoma are crush sensors.. in an impact significant enough it crumples to a certain point then the airbags deploy to absorb the rest of the impact.
i was behind that truck on lions back, when i got down there i was pretty surprised that the airbags did not go off.

 

[calamaridog]

My buddy got spun out and hit from every direction on the fwy, including head on. His airbags in his Hyundai never deployed. I don't think it's an exact science.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

MountainPete his the nail on the head in regards to the ARB bumpers (ie: the Tacoma). What is even more interesting about their "crush" cans, is the fact they not only to they design them to crush at a certain rate and force, but they also have to withstand expansion from winch pulls

Here is a great pic of the cool "crush" feature of the ARB bars

 

[MountainBiker]

MountainPete his the nail on the head in regards to the ARB bumpers (ie: the Tacoma). What is even more interesting about their "crush" cans, is the fact they not only to they design them to crush at a certain rate and force, but they also have to withstand expansion from winch pulls

Here is a great pic of the cool "crush" feature of the ARB bars

From the picture I can't tell how they attach to the frame. Any pics of those installed on the Taco to compare to the above photo of the OEM parts?

 

[flyingwil]

From the picture I can't tell how they attach to the frame. Any pics of those installed on the Taco to compare to the above photo of the OEM parts?

Try this link... about six pictures down shows it mounted...

Also you can see it in Scott's write up...

Stock:

ARB: