Air Bags on a 1970 Bronco?

[RustyShackelfor]

Anything's possible. Read this:



But you probably won't find a shop that will do it, due to the liability if it fails to deploy, or if it malfunctions & blows unnecessarily. You'll probably have to DIY, or find a pro who'll do it as a side job. Where are you?

Worth is something only you can decide: a lift & big tires aren't worth it to some people - others wouldn't own an eB without them.

If you decide to do it, take LOTS of pics.

That guy did a lot of really stupid stuff. He could have changed rear ends instead of the monstrosity on the driveshaft and could have worked tone rings into his front end.

 

[OX1]

Probably easier than incorporating EFI. Just find a donor vehicle with seat position sensors, occupant classification system, & 2-stage airbags, and transfer it all.

BTW
OCS isn't all that sophisticated, and it's easily "confused", in which case it always defaults to just blowing both stages of all the bags & pretensioners together.If you want to read a LOT more, https://www.fleet.ford.com/truckbbas/topics/bodybuild.html

So if easily confused in the correct vehicle, most likely guaranteed in something else??

I would not want it unless it could be adjusted to not fire @ all, unless it read a situation that was damn near going to kill me anyway. Sounds like the opposite could be true (possibly fire full force, no matter the accident/occupant conditions) and since I personally know someone hurt by an unneeded bag, I'll pass.

 

[Broncobowsher]

That guy did a lot of really stupid stuff. He could have changed rear ends instead of the monstrosity on the driveshaft and could have worked tone rings into his front end.

And even that guy says it is a bad idea to run them. And he retrofitted the whole dash and everything else.

 

[Steve83]

So if easily confused in the correct vehicle, most likely guaranteed in something else??

It wouldn't matter what vehicle it's in, and "confused" still doesn't mean "dangerous" or "unreliable". It just means it won't necessarily use the 2 stages. Full-force is safer than not-enough-force, which is why Ford made it the default.

I would not want it unless it could be adjusted to not fire @ all, unless it read a situation that was damn near going to kill me anyway.

That might be possible by adjusting the angles of the sensors, but I wouldn't try it. If you don't trust it, don't install it.

...I'll pass.

 

[sstlaure]

As someone who works on airbags (engineer) I can't stress enough how you don't want to do this. Each and every airbag is specifically designed for the crash impulses imparted on a specific vehicle. There are numerous sensors that detect the loading imparted from an impact to determine whether or not an airbag should fire.

It is not true that an airbag firing when it doesn't need to is safer than it not deploying. These things deploy at a couple hundred miles per hour and can cause injuries by themselves if not used properly. There is a reason that OEM companies spend MILLIONS of dollars on restraint system development.

I think you'd be making your vehicle more dangerous, not safer by trying to add airbags into it without the proper design/engineering being applied.

Early on in airbag development there were issues with children getting killed by them because they were in the line of fire when they went off (that's why today it is recommended to never put kids in the front seat of your vehicle - regardless of the additional safety content present in the vehicle.)

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-715008.html

Just my 0.02 (I've been doing restraint systems and seating at Ford for 11 years.)

Please don't do this. Your money would be much better spent on a good roll cage and 5-point harnesses.

 

[76 bronco J]

>>>>>> all this talk about airbags & the non-collapsible steering column issue was barely mentioned in this thread...... I personally think that replacing the solid steering shaft on the '66-'75 models should get way more attention than is does.......

 

[Rustytruck]

Wow I think that is a great test no compression into the passenger compartment. If you solve the steering collumn issue that would be great.
A properly mounted roll bar will help greatly. I 've seen rolled hard top Broncos without roll bars and the top just folds up and the truck flattens to the bed rails. I've also seen where a simple roll bar punches through the floor without a hardtop and everything goes to the bed rails. Dont get me wrong a Bronco is a very tough truck and can be made a whole lot tougher for the passengers without spending a fortune. 40 years of evolution and you learn a whole lot.