Disabling passenger airbag on '97 TJ?

The long term solution bet is to get the cut off switch which looks like this:

and get it wired in properly. As for the link above, it doesn't mention how you get the right one for your key, so I could be careful if you buy one.

Dave Milne, Scotland '91 Grand Wagoneer, '99 TJ

1. Pull the fuse behind the glovebox for offroad adventures...

1. If in 4low the bags are disabled.. (It's in the manual somewhere..)

1. Pull the fuse behind the glovebox for offroad adventures...

1. If in 4low the bags are disabled.. (It's in the manual somewhere..)

You have to visit the NHTSA (National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration) or some such acronym and download an official form. Complete the form and take it to the local dealership for the parts to bypass the passenger side airbag.

As the vehicles owner you can remove or disable the air-bags without getting anyones permission.

I do not believe that is true. That would be akin to saying that because you are the owner, you can cut the seat belts out. The airbag is part of a required safety system, and it can be bypassed with a key if the forms are filled out.

Yes, you can cut the trigger wire to defeat the system, but you are exposed to some serious liability later on. If you can manage the liability, then cut away ...

I agree with your statement that you have the right to disable them as well. However, the point here is that the dealer has to comply with certain rules in order to sell you the equipment to disable it. It's not a matter of restrictions on what YOU do with your vehicle, but on what the DEALER can sell you.

Real Jeeps Don't Have Airbags

:-)

Dave Milne, Scotland '91 Grand Wagoneer, '99 TJ

Tell me you are not safer running a full cage and 5 point belts as opposed to someone in a stock TJ with an airbag and the stock seat belts.

You probably aren't as safe with a roll cage and 5-point seat belts as someone with an airbag and stock seat belts in some kinds of highway accidents, and if you disable the airbag and put in a roll-cage and

5-point seat belts and later sell the vehicle to someone and that person is involved in an accident on the highway and their passenger is injured... then you might be getting a phone call you don't want to get. Seems like the best thing to do would be fill out the forms if needed to make it legal, then disable the airbag after installing the roll-cage and 5-point seat belts, and then when you go to sell the vehicle later, re-enable the air-bag. I don't think anyone would argue with you that a full roll-cage and 5-point seatbelt aren't as safe on the trails as a stock seatbelt and airbag.

good point !

Jeff, offroading with even some major hits isn't going to set the air bag off. To disable the airbags, there are two fuses behind the glove compartment and BOTH of them must be removed. The two fuses are backup to each other, they are not in one particular airbag's circuitry.

Being in 4Low does not disable the TJ's air bag circuitry.

Jerry

He is right on that Jeff....my TJ has gotten rather intimate with a couple of trees along the trails...no problem with air bags going off...just with cheap a$$ stock bumpers bending.

You can do anything you want to your own vehicle. Cut the seat belts, if it makes ya happy. Hell, this is still America.

A dealership won't touch this without that form, however. No repair facility wants to assume the liability of disabling a safety device. The dealerships I have worked at wouldn't disable an airbag system, form or no form.

It comes right back to personal responsibility. If you don't want airbags, then simply disconnect them. They won't go off accidentally.

Juice

What are you talking about Kevin?

The OP is not running a modified Jeep, he is running with stock seat belts and putting a child in the front seat. There is a means by which an owner can have a bypass system installed on the Passenger Side airbag. It is simple, and reasonably cheap, if not completely free. It is such an important safety feature (the bypass switch) that it is installed as standard equipment.

However, to answer your question, on the surface it would seem the full cage and the 5-point would be safer, it's just that the OP had an entirely different question.

You can cut your belts out if you want, but you WILL be cited and fined.

If you disable an airbag, put a passenger in the front seat, then get into an accident where the lack of an airbag made the difference in the level of injury, or contributed to death, you will be seriously screwed.

The bypass switch turns on a light that tells all aboard that the airbag is off. If the passenger wants the bag switched on, he can ask. If he does not ask, he has prior warning and can not sue later. If one simply reaches under the dash and yanks the wires out, theh passenger will not be aware that the important safety feature has been disabled, and he might reasonably expect it to work because there is a large icon on the dash that shows there is an airbag. I suppose one could put an equally large sticker on that informs the workd that there is no airbag equipped for the passenger's safety, then the passenger could elect to drive his own car.