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De-Activating a Passenger Airbag ?

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  • 01-07-2005 4:34pm
    #1
    iMax
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,489 ✭✭✭


    Hoping someone can help me. Is it possible to de-activate the passenger airbag on a 2002 Ford Focus or does it have to be brought to Ford to do ?

    It's for a baby car-seat in case anyone's wondering why it's in here


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    #2
    Kernel32
    Registered Users Posts: 640 ✭✭✭Kernel32


    I am pretty sure you need the dealership to do it.

    Just out of interest, why not use the backseat? I think its been shown to be safer.


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    #3
    Hobbes
    Registered Users Posts: 21,264 ✭✭✭✭Hobbes


    yea use the backseat and have it facing backwards, at least until the child is old enough for a forward facing. Mothercare are supposed to assist you with this sort of stuff. Spoke to Brittax about it and they told me they did but when I went to MC they acted all like it wasn't something they did.


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    #4
    causal
    Registered Users Posts: 1,184 ✭✭✭causal


    imho the front seat is preferable if there's no one in the back to mind the infant;
    - with a rear-facing child seat in the back seat it's impossible to keep proper care of the infant and the car.

    iMax you should check with an authorised Ford dealer* - also consider if there are other air-bags that may pose a danger to a rear-facing child seat in the front e.g. side-airbags, curtain airbags etc.

    *mind you if they're anything like the two Toyota garages I went to the salesmen didn't even know what ISOFIX was until I pointed it out :rolleyes:

    causal


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    #5
    Hagar
    Closed Accounts Posts: 16,793 ✭✭✭✭Hagar


    I'm watching this thread with interest as I often have to drive my Mother-in-Law about.
    A de-activated airbag would soon de-activate the old windbag. ;)


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    #6
    Kernel32
    Registered Users Posts: 640 ✭✭✭Kernel32


    causal wrote:
    imho the front seat is preferable if there's no one in the back to mind the infant;
    - with a rear-facing child seat in the back seat it's impossible to keep proper care of the infant and the car.

    It's a choice you make in the end. We had our baby in the back rear facing on his own. We also got a mirror you strapped to the seat so we could see him through the rear view mirror all the time.


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    #7
    causal
    Registered Users Posts: 1,184 ✭✭✭causal


    I hope you had a little toy steering wheel attached to his seat so he could play like he was driving - a bit like the start of the Simpsons :)

    On the serious note - is it true that it's been shown to be safer for the kids in the back of the car? I'd be interested in any references anyone has, thx.
    I suppose it makes sense if most impacts are frontal - but with one kid already in the back I'm constantly tormented by tailgaters :mad:

    causal


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    #8
    iMax
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,489 ✭✭✭iMax


    Thanks for all the replies. The car seat will be in my wife's car so she will be driving on her own primarily. Word from Ford is that the Airbag cannot be deactivated at all, so it looks like it's going to have to go in the back seat. Kernal32 - Where did you get the mirror ?


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    #9
    parsi
    Site Banned Posts: 5,904 ✭✭✭parsi


    It doesn't help but...I have a Scenic (previously a 307 and a Xsara) and they all had switches to de-activate the front passenger airbags. Very handy. From what we read at the time if the car doesn't have a deactivator switch which is visible to the enduser then its a dealer jobby to do the deactivation and its a more-or-less permanent job and a lot of them don't like doing it in case something happens subsequently..


    Rock-a-tot type seats seem to fit much better in the front seat than the back.


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    #10
    Sleipnir
    Registered Users Posts: 5,514 ✭✭✭Sleipnir


    Hobbes wrote:
    yea use the backseat and have it facing backwards, at least until the child is old enough for a forward facing. Mothercare are supposed to assist you with this sort of stuff. Spoke to Brittax about it and they told me they did but when I went to MC they acted all like it wasn't something they did.

    My Girlfriend used to work in Mama's and Papa's and while they can advise you how it is fitted, they can't actually do it for you for insurance reasons. As in, if your child was injured they could be liable.

    You'll get one of those mirrors in M&P's, mothercare or any decent baby shop.


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    #11
    the airbag man
    Registered Users Posts: 17 ✭the airbag man


    I'm a mechanical engineer by trade though self employed as an airbag specialist since '97. website airbagsireland.com. any airbag can be deactivated if the appropriate switch is fitted to the vehicle, despite what the manufacturer says and it is a common practice, though my own view is that a young child in a child seat should be in the rear where it is safer (less flying glass, more padding/material objects to protect them in a collision). The switch should be fitted by an electrical engineer - your local mechanic/garage should be able to point you in the right direction. the switch can be turned on and off as and when it is needed. I strongly advise you to stay away from the many many rogues who operate in this country fitting dummy airbags and electrical resistors to vehicles instead of the appropriate devices which the manufacturers have spent millions of euros designing in our best interests. Feel free to contact me if I can be of any more assistance

    Keith


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