Adding air bags? Possible/practical???

[Rumrumm]

OK, I know this is a longshot, but since I would like to return my '87 2WD wagon to commuter vehicle status soon, I got to thinking... I love the 36 mpg economy, but other than front disc brakes and seatbelts, the safety factor in thick, fast-moving traffic is a concern. Has anyone heard of a way to install at least a driver's side airbag? I would assume the easiest airbag plan could be some sort of aftermarket airbag-equipped steering wheel (do these even exist???) or installing a later-model steering column, but instead of reinventing the wheel, so-to-speak, is this column-swap feasible without re-engineering the entire steering system? A basic roll cage might be another addition, but I'm as concerned about front-end impact as much as a roll-over situation. Of course, upgrading the tires, headlights & brakes, and swaybar/shock/strut upgrades are no-brainers, but is this airbag daydream more of a nightmare? Maybe it's time to move up to a newer vehicle, but I bought this '87 new off the lot and am emotionally attached. I just don't have a deathwish. Or income right now for car payments...

[rer233]

retrofitting an airbag would be an ABSOLUTE nightmare. any idea of the electronics involved- not to mention the mechanical pieces that would have to be fabricated? and if not properly engineered in the event of a collision, the occupants may actually sustain MORE damage than in a stock tercel. then there's the liability issue... do yourself a favor- if you must have airbags- buy a matrix (probably cost about the same in the long run.) just my 2 cents..

[dlb]

i'm opposed to airbags. i work as a paramedic and i see a lot of injuries incurred in minor accidents by airbags being deployed unnecessarily just because the sensor was bumped in just the right way. i also see a lot of major accidents where they fail to deploy at all, just because the sensor was NOT bumped in just the right way. so i personally like to stay away from them.

as for retrofitting a car with them, as rer233 pointed out it would be cheaper to simply buy a newer car that has them. also, there would be no way to test the tercel to figure out the best place to mount the sensors without driving it into walls a whole bunch. so i advise against the idea.

i guess a custom roll bar would be more feasible but again, it would be ridiculously expensive. you'd also likely have a hard time finding a place that would take all the measurements, fabricate a one off roll bar, and install it for you.

i think that if you are really that concerned about the safety of your tercel, you should move up to a newer vehicle with a good safety rating.

[Petros]

I would keep the Tercel and do the safety improvements without the airbag. I will never buy a car with an airbag without disabling it, my preference would be to never buy a car equipped with one at all because they are a hazard, a rip-off and a fraud. You have fallen for the marketing lies to think you are better off with an airbag. The airbag creates a hazard by having an explosive device in front of your face, it can and does go off when it is not supposed to and can also fail to deploy when it is supposed to. The industry has been hiding the fact that they created a hazard that some times will cause an accident, death or injury. Ford had to recall 1.9 million trucks last year because of random deployment, even Honda had to recall 2 million cars to fix the same issue the year before. Many children and smaller adults have been decapitated or killed, or become quadriplegics when the air bags deploy. the industry has been paying these victims off and making them sign non-disclosure agreements with the pay offs. They have been treaching very poor driving practices in the driver's ed schools to minimize airbag injuries if it should deploy. This alone could cause more accidents.

The final proof they do not help is the fact that not a singe race car ever uses them. Yet, injuries and deaths are so rare in auto racing that it makes national news when it happens. There was a recent bad pileup at Taladaga and not a single driver was injured. See it here, it is an awesome pile-up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYTPQrovA0k

The Tercel has a remarkably sturdy frame, excellent visibility (better than all the modern cars), and very sturdy seats. It should get the brake up grade, and larger 14" wheels with quality modern tires, better struts and perhaps springs. If you really want safety you should replace the seat belts with the 4 or 5 point harnesses that are used on race cars, this alone will improve the safe far beyond what an airbag will do. If you want to go all out, remove the interior and weld in at least a roll hoop and some side rails, than reinstall the interior around it. this would be inconvenient to work around and climb over, but than you will be almost as safe as a racing car (which keep drivers safe at much higher speeds). One hazard however is that you must always use the heavy duty seat belt harness to keep you in your seat because if you strike the roll cage it becomes a hazard by itself. Or I thing perhaps a better (and less costly) solution, you could just stitch weld all the seams in the passenger compartment area to stiffen and strengthen the passenger compartment. You will not loose any interior space and all the interior panels and carpet will fit back in without problems. Eventually I will do this to mine when I redo the interior.

Consider how much a new car, or even a newer but used car, will cost you. something like $10,000 to $20,000 or more for just a 2wd car, and more for an AWD one. It will not get as good economy as a Tercel, it will weigh more, cost more to insure and maintain, and it will have an exploive device in your face waiting to go off. If you do these improvements to the Tercel, give it a nice custom paint job (if it needs it) and a new interior, you will have less than half that into it. For a bit more you can even up grade the engine to a 4afe or 4age, and get a modern 16 valve EFI engine that will have been economy and more power, and be as reliable as the stock engine.

That is my long term plan for my Tercel daily driver.

[splatterdog]

Go with "securefoam"- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnyhkBU1yaw

Or this- http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=mo9 ... ature=fvwp

Or even a self inflating PFD...

[Petros]

I love the clip from the Stallone movie, Judge. He is driving a future car with all the automatic features, that clearly someone overrode in an attempt to kill him. when he is trying to take control he calls the car "you mickey mouse piece of Sh*t!" Sums my feeling up pretty well about all modern cars: self steering, multiple airbags (equivalent of securefoam), cruise control, auto trans, drive by "wire", anti-lock brakes, automatic seat belts, OBDIII, GPS tracking (so each jurisdiction you drive through can mail you a speeding ticket), etc. etc. All part of the "mickey mouse piece of Sh*t!" of the present and future.

Next up, even more corrosive crappy ethanol in the gasoline. Officials say it will help "purge" out the older cars in the "fleet" (meaning our older classic cars). Cars like our Tercels.

good one splatt!

[ARCHINSTL]

While a tad OT, but upon noticing Petros' penultimate sentence - we here in Metro St. Louis are now allowed to have regular, old-fashioned, fueling nozzles on our pumps instead of those PITA plastic-shrouded ones with internal springs (which had a line leading to an underground tank to contain errant gas fumes from entering the atmosphere). The EPA said that all cars made since 2006 now have some kind of self-contained capturing system (more sophisticated than the old vapor canisters).
Tom M.

[splatterdog]

Actually, fuel vapors have been under "control" on cars since 96. Loose/bad caps and bad evap components make up a lot of check engine lights. Can't complain, more codes=more money!

I've read that external fuel filters will eventually no longer be used/serviced. All that evil spilled fuel and such. And if there is a fuel supply failure you get a whole gas tank "module"(tank,pump,filter). Now that's progress!

[dlb]

I've read that external fuel filters will eventually no longer be used/serviced. All that evil spilled fuel and such. And if there is a fuel supply failure you get a whole gas tank "module"(tank,pump,filter). Now that's progress!

i'm not surprised to hear this but i am still disappointed as all hell. all the more reason to keep driving old cars that simply make more sense.