DIY: Passenger Airbag Weight Loss
01-26-13, 10:05 PM
#1
DIY: Passenger Airbag Weight Loss
When I bought my '94, it had previously been in a front end collision. I guess the previous owner wasn't smart enough to look on ebay for the numerous passenger side airbags that are for sale.
So he decided to put some cheap black vinyl on a piece of cardboard and hot glue it to the airbag cavity...and it looked like godawful ****.
I then found an airbag on ebay to replace the old unit and wanted to lose some extra pounds as well.
Now I know people have done this before but I haven't seen a thread on this. BUT...
Total weight for a fully functional airbag is just under 10.5 pounds.
I decided to remove the cartridge and the bag to get the total weight down to 2.55 pounds. Not bad. And it wasn't really that difficult to remove all the nonsense.
I used some big vice grips to remove the nut holding the cartridge in, cut the tab that was tacked to the case, and the cartridge slid right out. That's 6 pounds removed already.
Five 8mm nuts held the front cover on at the top with a shitty little pop rivet holding it in for security. I cut the rivet head off and the cover moved out of the way of the bag. BUT DON'T YANK ON IT TOO MUCH...the rubber flap holding the bottom of the front cover isn't the strongest "hinge" so be careful.
Then there are a total of 11 security bolts holding the bag itself in. 6 on top and 5 on the bottom. I didn't have a security bit set so I cut a slot in the heads with a rotary tool and took them out with a flathead screwdriver. After that, the bag slides right out of the case. Another 2 pounds removed.
Lastly, just flop the front cover back on and install the 8 mm nuts and you're done!
Sorry for no pics on the actual DIY but I was too excited to get the task done. lol
http://www.flickr.com/photos/47438613@N03/8419131416/http://www.flickr.com/photos/47438613@N03/8419131416/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/47438613@N03/, on Flickr
So he decided to put some cheap black vinyl on a piece of cardboard and hot glue it to the airbag cavity...and it looked like godawful ****.
I then found an airbag on ebay to replace the old unit and wanted to lose some extra pounds as well.
Now I know people have done this before but I haven't seen a thread on this. BUT...
Total weight for a fully functional airbag is just under 10.5 pounds.
I decided to remove the cartridge and the bag to get the total weight down to 2.55 pounds. Not bad. And it wasn't really that difficult to remove all the nonsense.
I used some big vice grips to remove the nut holding the cartridge in, cut the tab that was tacked to the case, and the cartridge slid right out. That's 6 pounds removed already.
Five 8mm nuts held the front cover on at the top with a shitty little pop rivet holding it in for security. I cut the rivet head off and the cover moved out of the way of the bag. BUT DON'T YANK ON IT TOO MUCH...the rubber flap holding the bottom of the front cover isn't the strongest "hinge" so be careful.
Then there are a total of 11 security bolts holding the bag itself in. 6 on top and 5 on the bottom. I didn't have a security bit set so I cut a slot in the heads with a rotary tool and took them out with a flathead screwdriver. After that, the bag slides right out of the case. Another 2 pounds removed.
Lastly, just flop the front cover back on and install the 8 mm nuts and you're done!
Sorry for no pics on the actual DIY but I was too excited to get the task done. lol
http://www.flickr.com/photos/47438613@N03/8419131416/http://www.flickr.com/photos/47438613@N03/8419131416/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/47438613@N03/, on Flickr
01-27-13, 09:49 AM
#9
RX-7 Bad Ass
iTrader: (55)
Wow! Good writeup! I've been wanting to do something to my passenger air bag as I have the whole airbag system removed from my car, didn't know how to do it 
.
And I have a lot of *****.
Dale
.And I have a lot of *****.
Dale
01-27-13, 03:19 PM
#11
this can also be very easily done to the 99+ nardi steering wheel... the explosive cartridge is so easy to remove and weighs quite a bit for its size... the bag itself is a bit more energy to remove .. I kept the bag section in so when I go to hit the horn the whole center section does not collapse on in...
edit: my car never airbags to start with, that's why I removed the cartridge from my wheel
J.
edit: my car never airbags to start with, that's why I removed the cartridge from my wheel
J.
02-10-13, 10:31 AM
#13
RX-7 Bad Ass
iTrader: (55)
Did this on my car yesterday, SO EASY. Big thanks to OP for taking the time to find this out!
I have all my airbag stuff removed and it just bugged me that I was lugging around a 20 pound dead weight that served no purpose.
I did just as stated - used the vice grips to remove the security nut on the end of the cartridge, cut the mounting tabs that hold the cartridge in then removed. Then, slotted all the security bolts and removed the airbag itself. I was worried that slotting them would be tricky, they slotted VERY easily with a cutoff wheel on the Dremel and a flat head screwdriver bit easily and removed them easily.
Looking at the airbag, it's not at first obvious how it goes together and how it can be gutted. Really glad the OP bought a spare one and got to tinkerin'!
Dale
I have all my airbag stuff removed and it just bugged me that I was lugging around a 20 pound dead weight that served no purpose.
I did just as stated - used the vice grips to remove the security nut on the end of the cartridge, cut the mounting tabs that hold the cartridge in then removed. Then, slotted all the security bolts and removed the airbag itself. I was worried that slotting them would be tricky, they slotted VERY easily with a cutoff wheel on the Dremel and a flat head screwdriver bit easily and removed them easily.
Looking at the airbag, it's not at first obvious how it goes together and how it can be gutted. Really glad the OP bought a spare one and got to tinkerin'!
Dale
02-10-13, 03:16 PM
#14
Did this on my car yesterday, SO EASY. Big thanks to OP for taking the time to find this out!
I have all my airbag stuff removed and it just bugged me that I was lugging around a 20 pound dead weight that served no purpose.
I did just as stated - used the vice grips to remove the security nut on the end of the cartridge, cut the mounting tabs that hold the cartridge in then removed. Then, slotted all the security bolts and removed the airbag itself. I was worried that slotting them would be tricky, they slotted VERY easily with a cutoff wheel on the Dremel and a flat head screwdriver bit easily and removed them easily.
Looking at the airbag, it's not at first obvious how it goes together and how it can be gutted. Really glad the OP bought a spare one and got to tinkerin'!
Dale
I have all my airbag stuff removed and it just bugged me that I was lugging around a 20 pound dead weight that served no purpose.
I did just as stated - used the vice grips to remove the security nut on the end of the cartridge, cut the mounting tabs that hold the cartridge in then removed. Then, slotted all the security bolts and removed the airbag itself. I was worried that slotting them would be tricky, they slotted VERY easily with a cutoff wheel on the Dremel and a flat head screwdriver bit easily and removed them easily.
Looking at the airbag, it's not at first obvious how it goes together and how it can be gutted. Really glad the OP bought a spare one and got to tinkerin'!
Dale
Glad I could help!
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