Thoughts on 30 year old airbags and safety

i just saw this notice from AAA - regarding somewhat newer cars than the wagons. The main issue conerns possible serious injury or death from shrapnel from bag deployment.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/aaa-issues-alert-to-drivers-after-do-not-drive-notice-issued_5081802.html

i wonder about the potential risk of the bags in our cars. I know the 93 and earlier are of an even older technology and have thought of putting in a custom wheel in part because of lack of trust over the safety and/or effectiveness of the oem wheel's airbag.

Anyone have some good insight/knowledge into this?

I put an aftermarket wheel on my 91,and 92 OCCs, because the wheels were deteriorating. I had no concerns about the airbags. A 2 ohm 10 watt resistor across the yellow connector to make the system think that the airbag is still there. I can go over the particulars if you decide to swap wheels.

It is definitely on the to do list after other more important repairs/maintenance is taken care of

@Serendipity96 -- good question, but I would not be worried. Here is why:

1. the issue to which the article you cited refers, is linked specifically to Takata airbags. To the best of my knowledge, our B-D bodies are not affected:

https://www.gmtakataairbag.com/product/public/us/en/takata_recall/home.html

2. Edmunds has a 2013 article stating that, while some foreign manufacturers used airbag designs that may have led to lifespan issues (for reasons unrelated to Takata's shoddiness), GM bags on our cars used a different design and were still fine:

https://www.edmunds.com/car-safety/do-car-airbags-expire.html

--> for those two reasons, I am not planning to disable anything in my 1996 RMW or in my 1996 FWB. They both have airbags for the entire front row, and I am happy about that. Is there a non-zero probability that they might not deploy? Maybe. But I am not worried that they will hurt me if they do deploy, and I would prefer that they do so (in the event they are needed).

I'm with Fred on this one I'm replacing my steering wheel with a Grant . When I purchased my wagon the air bag assembly was a different color than the wheel .The older couple who owned the car told me that they had a problem with the bag and took it to their dealer who replaced it with the current set up . Occasionally my air bag warning light will go on for no apparent reason ,shut the car off and restart and it will clear I just don't trust this anymore

Grant wheels are OK, but there are a lot of other options. I have a Motolita wheel on one, and a Momo on the other. Nardi makes nice ones as well as a number of others. You can get slimline quick disconnects for the 6 bolt wheels.

at least the 91-93 don't have the annoying issues the 94-96 wheels do with the horn going off at random times - i ended up doing horn button wiring bypass jobs on a couple of my old roadies

this is a wheel i thought has a nice look https://www.ebay.com/itm/142186346939

Serendipity96 wrote:

at least the 91-93 don't have the annoying issues the 94-96 wheels do with the horn going off at random times - i ended up doing horn button wiring bypass jobs on a couple of my old roadies

this is a wheel i thought has a nice look https://www.ebay.com/itm/142186346939

The 91-93 Roadmasters are notorious for the horn buttons breaking. To avoid breaking them, you must push the center, on the small horn emblem. If you press on the outer edge, it stresses the guides and breaks them, rendering them useless. The Chevy buttons fall apart internally, and stop working. The Olds buttons are the sturdiest.

Fred Kiehl wrote:

A 2 ohm 10 watt resistor across the yellow connector to make the system think that the airbag is still there. I can go over the particulars if you decide to swap wheels.

I'm interested in how you did it.

Not a big deal. Buy a 2 ohm 10 watt resistor, cut the pigtail off of the airbag, put some shrink wrap tubing on the resistor leads, crimp each end to one of the wires, plug the connector in...done. You can do the same to the passenger side bag.

Sounds easy enough. Thanks

Fred Kiehl wrote:

Not a big deal. Buy a 2 ohm 10 watt resistor, cut the pigtail off of the airbag, put some shrink wrap tubing on the resistor leads, crimp each end to one of the wires, plug the connector in...done. You can do the same to the passenger side bag.

with fred's info, I just did this to mine and went with an aftermarket polished billet steering wheel.

Super easy. Take OE wheel off. remove snap ring holding clock spring in. snip the yellow airbag connector off. reach under the column, plain as day right in front of you, disconnect the yellow plug for the wire that runs up the column. pull the wire out. Take it to your work bench and solder the resister in. I used wire loom to make mine hidden and plugged it back in and zip tied it under the dash.

Many years ago I removed the air bag from my 92 Trans Am for a custom wheel. Removing the air bag rendered the system 100% useless. I just pulled the bulb out rather than mess with any wiring to trick something that didn't need tricked because it was 100% useless and would never, ever work.

94Woody wrote:

Many years ago I removed the air bag from my 92 Trans Am for a custom wheel. Removing the air bag rendered the system 100% useless. I just pulled the bulb out rather than mess with any wiring to trick something that didn't need tricked because it was 100% useless and would never, ever work.

I was going to pull my bulb... but the last time i pulled the cluster and trim out of my OCC i really felt like it was going to break. Its easier to put the resister in the exposed wire since its already there... and none of the 5 foot wide GM 30 year old plastic trim was subject to breakage lol