Replacement bumpers and airbags
12-19-2006, 08:30 AM
#21
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Join Date: Nov 2006
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The factory bumper metal under the plastic is super thin. The frame rails and bumper brackets are nice and thick tho.
Check out post #8 - it'll give you an idea of what it loos like under there.
https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/jk-write-ups-39/sway-bar-disco-motor-1253/
Check out post #8 - it'll give you an idea of what it loos like under there.
https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/jk-write-ups-39/sway-bar-disco-motor-1253/
12-21-2006, 03:46 AM
#24
i'd wait a little while to replace your bumpers guys. aev makes some nice stuff, but it's generally much more expensive than it needs to be. the aftermarket will catch up, and with the popularity of the JK, it will do it quickly.
and for airbags, if you disable any part of the system, and get into an accident that you have to report, you won't be covered. even in an accident where the airbags should not have deployed. that being said, i've run over a cadillac, a VW, hit my front axle tube so hard that i tore the control arm mounts off, and rolled at 30mph without deploying my bags. i walked away without a scratch from all of this (it was in my TJ, RIP). if they go off, you'll be glad they did.
and for airbags, if you disable any part of the system, and get into an accident that you have to report, you won't be covered. even in an accident where the airbags should not have deployed. that being said, i've run over a cadillac, a VW, hit my front axle tube so hard that i tore the control arm mounts off, and rolled at 30mph without deploying my bags. i walked away without a scratch from all of this (it was in my TJ, RIP). if they go off, you'll be glad they did.
08-16-2007, 07:00 AM
#25
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Join Date: May 2007
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Okay, I just made a few calls to get me schooled on how the JK airbags work and here's the scoop. The two forward most bump pads on the JK front bumper are the crush cans. There are no electronic sensors or wiring of any kind in them and replacing your front bumper with an aftermarket one will NOT disable your airbag system.
All the crush cans are designed to do is to absorb a certain amount of impact before a collision reaches the frame. If the frame is hit, a gyro sensor in the center of the vehicle will swing forward activating the airbags. In essences, the crush cans help to regulate when to deploy your airbags. BUT... here's the kicker, in order for the crush cans to work, you would have to make direct impact with them. Needless to say, if you hit something like a pole dead on, you will miss the crush cans all together. Do you see where I'm going with this?
Bumpers like AEV's or Mopar's simply have the forward bump pads or crush cans built into them just like the factory bumpers and they will help the airbag system to know not to deploy under certain conditions but only if you hit them directly.
Bottom line is, buying an aftermarket bumper without these crush cans will NOT disable your airbags.
All the crush cans are designed to do is to absorb a certain amount of impact before a collision reaches the frame. If the frame is hit, a gyro sensor in the center of the vehicle will swing forward activating the airbags. In essences, the crush cans help to regulate when to deploy your airbags. BUT... here's the kicker, in order for the crush cans to work, you would have to make direct impact with them. Needless to say, if you hit something like a pole dead on, you will miss the crush cans all together. Do you see where I'm going with this?
Bumpers like AEV's or Mopar's simply have the forward bump pads or crush cans built into them just like the factory bumpers and they will help the airbag system to know not to deploy under certain conditions but only if you hit them directly.
Bottom line is, buying an aftermarket bumper without these crush cans will NOT disable your airbags.
Hitting a pole head on in between the crush cans (if you are that unfortunate) will not effect the deployment of the Airbags as the severity of the impact is what determines Airbag deployment.
As Wayoflife stated - "an aftermarket bumper without these crush cans will NOT disable your airbags."
JK's and TJ's don't use forward crumple zone sensors, they use an accelerometer which is located on the floor pan of the transmission tunnel, these sense the rate of deceleration.
A microprocessor in the ACM (Airbag Control Module) monitors the impact sensor signal, which using a pre-programmed decision algorithm determines when the deceleration rate indicates an impact severe enough to deploy the airbags.
The crush cans on the front of the stock bumper are purely that, designed to crush, i.e. lessen/reduce impact. They are not connected to the air bag sensors.