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Shutting Off Air Bags?

BUCKEYEAV

BUCKEYEAV

Charter Member
Full Member
Joined
Feb 25, 2002
Messages
104
Location
Powell, Ohio
Just bought an Indigo Blue Z66 on 02/23/02, and love it. Really wanted the 4WD Z71, but with our budget the 3 grand made a difference. Anyway love what we have.

Question:

Anybody know anything about installing an after market "shutoff" for the front passenger airbags? Only issue with the Av is that if I need to drop the midgate and go to the hardware store, that means I can't take my 4 1/2-year-old son with me.

I have seen a couple of after market options, one called "The Switch" from AOI Electrical, Inc. Just wondered if anyone has messed with this yet. Kind of hate to mess with the airbags. Also not sure if it will void the factory warranty?

Any help appreciated!
 
Check with JP Customs and see if he can't retrofit the standard Silverado keyed cutoff into the bottom of your "quad" panel [below the OnStar] - my bet is he will do it. He likes a challenge - tell him Gandolphxx sent you ;D
 
Actually because this is a safety concern I bet you could go to the dealer and they'll do it for you. It seems like a design flaw that GM didn't think that if you drop the tailgate you'd have no place for a kid, but the front seat. Let us know what you find out.
 
Check the section in this Website called "future & vision", then go to "wish list", pg2....You will see a posting addressing this subject. According to the reply, it looks like a major hassle to get this oversight by GM corrected

TOM
 
Yup. The first hassle is the forms to fill out. The second hassle is finding someone willing to install it. Everyone is worried about you suing them for allowing you to turn off the air bag if you get into an accident. Gotta thank the lawyers.

We ended up just putting the car seat in the back center. Safer for the little ones, even though you need an extra long arm just to reach them from the front seat. :)
 
I wanted to do this for the same reason as you. It is a royal pain in the arse and I haven't done it. I guess the Feds changed the law but BEFORE in bygone days you could ask for the switch from the dealer, fill out the paperwork, and the dealer would install it free. NO MORE. :mad: :mad: :mad:

Now you still have to fill out the paperwork and get D.O.T. approval (from Uncle Sam in Washington D.C. - don't even get me started). Then you have to sign some waivers. Then you have to find some one to install the switch, and it isn't the dealer. Then when you find that person you have to give them your waiver and approval letter, they order the switch (3 to 10 days) then about 1/2 a day to install. Cost on the Avalanche? $330 to $500 depending on the switch you get.

Really stinks IMHO and even more frustrating is all of the PR pictures of the 2002 interior show it having this switch (and a tape player by the way). Don't know why GM left it out pushing the midgate functionality. As you so noted, if you drop the midgate down to carry a load, you can't if you have a child passenger with you.
 
Check your owners manual, the airbags are not as forcefull as older ones. The manual indicates that children as well as forward facing car seats are ok, put the seat back as far as possible, NO FORWARD REAR FACING CAR SEATS! Check the manual, its in there.

Edited by Admin to indicate that there should be no rear facing car seats.
 
half-breed said:
Check your owners manual, the airbags are not as forcefull as older ones. The manual indicates that children as well as forward facing car seats are ok, put the seat back as far as possible, NO FORWARD REAR FACING CAR SEATS! Check the manual, its in there.

Edited by Admin to indicate that there should be no rear facing car seats.
Click to expand...

Well, you made me look and you are correct. On page 1-44 in your owners manual it states:

You may secure a forward facing child-restraint in the right front seat...always move the front passenger seat as far back as it will go...

It also goes on to strongly suggest they are better off in the back seat.

So there you have it - thanks for the intel halfbreed!
 
Thanks for the edit Chief, my brain wasn't working that early in the morning. I also asked the dealer if he could install a switch to shut off, he said no. I have two kids. I missed it the first time I read the manual, caught it the second time.
 
???Correct me if I am wrong, but can't you turn off the pax air bag by pulling out the seatbelt all the way and then fastening it without letting it go all the way back in? I thought the owners guide said something like that. Of course, I haven't gotten much sleep the last few days, so there is a chance that I just pulled this one out of thin air...
madmax
 
:rolleyes:OK, I'll correct myself... I just went to the owners manual online (thanks!!!) and saw that that only locks the seatbelt. Sorry. So...I don't have kids yet, I don't pay a lot of attention to this stuff! Hopefully soon...
madmax
 
I know this post is WAY old and since Im new tonight, Im startin from day 1.

First as far as the "GM oversight" thing, thats not really applicable. Federal law PROHIBITS any airbag switches being installed in anything but a pickup truck (DONT ask me why an extended cab 3 or 4 door is any different, but remember your dealing with Washington). I really believe if the option for airbag switches was given to consumers and mfgrs alike, EVERYONE would want them. But since when has Washington EVER given the ones who pay the bills, the decision?

As for disabling the airbag??? Do it the simple and cheapest way, simply get in the owners manual and see which fuse in the panel on the drivers side dash is for the airbags. YANK it out then put a small piece of electrical tape over the annoying redlight that will come on on your dash and your set. Keep a fuse puller handy and you can replace/remove it as passenger load varies!

WAY cheaper than time and money for the "legal" way of doin it,
RA

ps
I suppose you could make a case for liability. But I dont haul other peoples kids anywhere but the backseat, airbag or otherwise! They get hurt in your truck in a wreck it will be lawyer city anyway.
 
Never considered removing the fuse.

Seems alomost too simple.............anyone know if this actually would work? Sounds good.

BUCKEYEAV
 
BUCKEYEAV said:
Never considered removing the fuse.

Seems alomost too simple.............anyone know if this actually would work? ?Sounds good.

BUCKEYEAV
Click to expand...
I think that's a really bad idea.

It opens up a whole lot of legal and liability issues. Furthermore, if there were an accident, tampering with the air bags can give the insurance companies a reason to deny any claims.

Yes, removing the fuse, or performing any other modifications (disconnecting plugs, etc.) can be easily interpreted as tampering, even if it is easily reversible.

Do not try to delude yourself that you will replace the fuse before anything happens. You only need to forget it once for there to be a problem.

Lives are at stake here. Please don't do this!

If you truly have a need to disable the front passenger air bag, please go through the necessary legal steps in order to gain authorization for a proper disconnect switch, and then have the switch installed by the dealer. Your life, and the lives of your passengers, are worth the effort.

-- SS
 
Will the front seat air bag hurt a child in a forward facing child seat?

Do the side air bags come out when the front (I know on my old Volvo they did not)?

 
autoxr said:
Do the side air bags come out when the front (I know on my old Volvo they did not)?
Click to expand...
I can't answer your first question.

However, on airbag deployment: there are several impact sensors that control the firing of the airbags. The direction and intensity of the hit determine which air bags do or do not deploy. You could get the fronts only, the sides only, all of them, or none of them. It is impossible to state categorically which air bags should or should not fire for a particular impact.

This has been discussed before, including the number and location of sensors. One such place is here: Rolled Over Avalanche.

I hope this helps.

-- SS
 
ShapeShifter said:
I think that's a really bad idea.

It opens up a whole lot of legal and liability issues. Furthermore, if there were an accident, tampering with the air bags can give the insurance companies a reason to deny any claims.

Yes, removing the fuse, or performing any other modifications (disconnecting plugs, etc.) can be easily interpreted as tampering, even if it is easily reversible.

Do not try to delude yourself that you will replace the fuse before anything happens. You only need to forget it once for there to be a problem.

Lives are at stake here. Please don't do this!

If you truly have a need to disable the front passenger air bag, please go through the necessary legal steps in order to gain authorization for a proper disconnect switch, and then have the switch installed by the dealer. Your life, and the lives of your passengers, are worth the effort.

-- SS
Click to expand...

ShapeShifter,

Thanks for the info! Good thoughts! Never actually intended to pull the fuse, was something I had not thought of.

I will probably just cocntinue to not let me 5 1/2 year old sit up front. I have a couple of times just between my house and the hardware store. (however I realize anythying could happen)

Know what the manual says, just wish I had a little more comfort about how the sensors would react to a 5 year old sitting in the front seat.

Thanks Again!

BUCKEYEAV!
 
In the 03 Avalanche, the passenger airbag is off unless someone is sitting in the seat. Is this new for the 2003? Anyone know what the weight requirements are for this feature?

I have a 16 month old, so we are quite a bit away from her sitting in the front seat, but it's nice to be prepared.

Craig
 
It opens up a whole lot of legal and liability issues. Furthermore, if there were an accident, tampering with the air bags can give the insurance companies a reason to deny any claims.
Click to expand...

Not true...No insurance company can deny any claim because airbags did not function or were not functional. To do so would be illegal. However, if you do disable your airbags and passengers are hurt and they may not have been if they were functioning, it is possible that your insurance company could non-renew your policy.

Otherwise I agree with the poster. The only bag that should be disabled is the passenger bag and then only by an approved switching device.
 
MACGI_98_Z28 said:
Not true...No insurance company can deny any claim because airbags did not function or were not functional. To do so would be illegal. However, if you do disable your airbags and passengers are hurt and they may not have been if they were functioning, it is possible that your insurance company could non-renew your policy.
Click to expand...

I think that it's a bad idea to make this claim unless you are familiar with the tort laws of all 50 states, as well as being up-to-date with all AG opinions issued on the subject, and individual policy terms of coverage. It's just my opinion, but the legality of anything these days is open to the opinion of 12 people.
 
Why do we not have an airbag shutoff on the AV, I have a 4 yr old and if I use my av as a pick up with the midgate down she cannot go in the front seat due to the airbag.
The cab and a halfs can shut off the air bags why not us?
I cannot pick up wood ever if I have my kid with me :7:
 
I know, I was bummed when I found that out too. I used to have a '00 Silverado and it had a shutoff switch. There are some posts someplace on this site about this. I think there is a way to get it installed but you need to sign a disclaimer or something. I don't remember the specifics. I think somebody has also posted a way to install it yourself.

-Mark
 
On my '03 the passenger seat as a sensor that turns on the air bag when there is enough weight on the seat, you might have to contact the dealer to see how you can turn it off when you need to
 
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