Are aging air bags a concern ?

[rfuerst911sc]

I realized today that my 99 996 C4 is 25 years old . I have been contemplating changing the steering wheel to a different color . That got me thinking OEM vs aftermarket . And finally got me thinking about the air bags .

A Google search found info that said air bags are good for 10-15 years . Other sites said lifetime of the vehicle . But what is the lifetime of a vehicle ??? 20 years ? 30 years ? 50 years ?

Generally speaking the aftermarket wheels eliminate the air bag . And they are less $$$ than OEM . My biggest concern with air bags in general is the possibility of them going off without an accident . Again because of age . So what do you guys say on the subject ?

[A930Rocket]

Good question. I took the factory steering wheel with airbag off my 2005 BMW 330 and installed the same MOMO steering wheel I’ve used on every track car since the late 90s.

That again, I’ve pulled every airbag out of the car

[David]

I think so but so are 25 year old seat belts. It would be nice to know who supplied the Porsche inflators.

[LEAKYSEALS951]

I remember 'back in the day' I would camp out in my 951 turbo. During one 24 hour team mtb race, I was sitting in the front seat of the car, front seat reclined, trying to get some sleep. The sun was coming up and it was morning. After riding all night, I was ready to relax.

All of a sudden, a large hissing sound came from the steering wheel airbag. There was a some smoke and a smell. It was very much like when Mel Gibson fired the bad 12 gauge shells in Road Warrior. Very much like lighting firecrackers only to find out they were ladyfingers. Nothing exploded in my face, it more "fizzled" out. I opened the doors to air the car out and tried to get back to sleep. The air bag was about 20+ years old at that point.


There was a moment of Confusion, WTF? Terror! and "Oh.. That's it?" I swear to this day the airbag crapped out on me, and thankful it didn't explode in my face, I went on about my life knowing it would fizzle no more, and I was no less safe than all the pre-80's cars I had driven until that point.

I do wonder about the airbags in my volvo. They are coming up on 20 years now, but the car has has been much better kept.

[Arizona_928]

You'll just have one hell of a chemical burn if it pops off.

Lifetime of a vehicle I would assume to be 5-10 years due to the soy based wiring, federal emissions standard (8 year/80k miles), ect.

[Chocaholic]

My DD is a 28 year old MB. Not going to worry about it.

[id10t]

Son totaled his 2002 Mitsu Lancer last week. Airbags worked fine. (not a scratch on him or even a bruise or anything)

[stevej37]

My 26 year old Prelude has air bags...Takata's.
A recall in the late 90's replaced them with new. Have had no problem with them.

[speeder]

I saw a bumper sticker recently that said, "Come any closer and I'll inflate your air bags."

[billybek]

I thought this was a thread about flight attendants...

[Gogar]

only on web forums

[osidak]

the 86 300E my dad had had a decal ine the glove box that set an expiration date on the bag. i want to say it was 10 years

[WPOZZZ]

You are correct. My 86 190e had the same decal.

[rfuerst911sc]

Looks like general consensus is nothing to worry about . Good to know . Thanks guys

[Chocaholic]

Just don’t hit anything.

[john70t]

To my understanding the big Takata recall was because a portion of the cars live in the hotter climate states. The chemicals change with extended heat and become more volatile. Over-filling and popping is a possibility. So the bag fills with a bang instead of a controlled fast inflation. Those in colder places not affected, but they went ahead and changed them all.

[911 Rod]

How many cars out there have not had the Takata recall fulfilled?
I received recall letters on multiply BMW's and never had it done (they were backordered) before I sold them.

[john70t]

Strange PP Website observation:
The Main Menu (for me at least) shows the latest post in this thread by Gogar. Post #11.

-Yet Post #11 1:04am is not the last when the thread is clicked.

-Post #17 12:30pm by 911 Rod is displayed as actual last. Which is about half a day later.

The Main Menu doesn't seem to be updating/recompiling/smartgeekstuff....

[john70t]

and...then it works...after reloading the Main Page several times before.
Sorry for the tangent.

edit: and then 911 Rod is shown as last post again.
edit2: and then this post is (presumably) shown as last.

Admin/Administrator/Mods: Server or software issues may be happening.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by john70t

Strange PP Website observation:
The Main Menu (for me at least) shows the latest post in this thread by Gogar. Post #11.

-Yet Post #11 1:04am is not the last when the thread is clicked.

-Post #17 12:30pm by 911 Rod is displayed as actual last. Which is about half a day later.

The Main Menu doesn't seem to be updating/recompiling/smartgeekstuff....

About a year ago, we were having the same problem once every month or two. You could create new threads and post to existing threads, but the thread list never updated. I PMed Seahawk a bit ago, and now it's working. I suspect they already knew when I PMed.