Disabling safety features for off-road use. Questions?

[Thoos]

I you've "laid over or rolled more than a few trucks doing silly stuff over the years"... you might get called out by Jeff Foxworthy soon.

Seriously though, they better have an easy way to shut off that damn beeping/warning every time you come up close to an obstacle. I heard it too many times in all the demo ride-along videos.

Right!! When I did my ride along in Moab at JEEPWEEK I asked the guy that very question and he had no idea how/if it could be shut off. That's exactly the type of shit i want out of my truck day one!

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[timhood]

Now, I have laid over or rolled more than a few trucks doing silly stuff over the years and often its no worse than rolling it back over and doing a quick bumper/fender field repair and kicking out some glass before we are on our way again.

Before I read any replies, I'm just gonna say more power to you if you can afford to roll over your brand new $30-$65K Bronco, kick out the busted glass and be on your way! I'll be doing some fun off-roading, but nothing that might end up with that outcome, certainly not until it's a much more well-worn vehicle.

 

[timhood]

I'm actually more interested in the front impact sensors and the like. If I slide and impact a tree or boulder and crunch a quarter panel is the impact sensor going to give me problems? Things like that....

The airbags don't deploy unless the accident is surprisingly hard. I've been involved in two accidents where I would have thought airbags would deploy. Once being rear-ended and the tailgate of my vehicle was smashed in pretty substantially, and once when I T-boned someone who turned left directly in front of me and I hardly had a chance to even hit the brakes. I estimated impact was about 25mph. Could possibly have been only slightly slower.

Sow, unless you are trying to win the Baja 1000, a little mishap with a boulder or whatever isn't going to do anything. One would hope you would be able to see the trees. If not, use your other insurance and visit the optometrist.

Quarter panels aren't connected to sensors to deploy airbags. Basically, the vehicle needs to register a substantial impact, front, side or rear, to deploy airbags, primarily because they aren't necessary to improve safety in collisions below a certain speed.

 

[Thoos]

Before I read any replies, I'm just gonna say more power to you if you can afford to roll over your brand new $30-$65K Bronco, kick out the busted glass and be on your way! I'll be doing some fun off-roading, but nothing that might end up with that outcome, certainly not until it's a much more well-worn vehicle.

To be fair the trucks I have rolled are the same two trucks I keep rolling!

I'm not trying to flip my new pony but I have recently seen a new model vehicles go caput on the trail after minor damage that should of kept it rolling and it got me thinking about what level of control will the operator have over the integration of "safety systems" on the Bronco. Those systems may be perfectly suited to urban road conditions but could be potentially dangerous and deadly in an emergency off road scenario.

 

[Thoos]

The airbags don't deploy unless the accident is surprisingly hard. I've been involved in two accidents where I would have thought airbags would deploy. Once being rear-ended and the tailgate of my vehicle was smashed in pretty decent, and once when I T-boned someone who turned left directly in front of me and I hardly had a chance to even hit the brakes. I estimated impact was about 25mph. Could possibly have been only slightly slower.

Sow, unless you are trying to win the Baja 1000, a little mishap with a boulder or whatever isn't going to do anything. One would hope you would be able to see the trees. If not, use your other insurance and visit the optometrist.

Quarter panels aren't connected to sensors to deploy airbags. Basically, the vehicle needs to register a substantial impact, front, side or rear, to deploy airbags, primarily because they aren't necessary to improve safety in collisions below a certain speed.

Thanks for the input.

 

[Tor148]

Was this you @Thoos

https://www.motor1.com/news/512545/ford-bronco-sport-roll-hill/amp/

 

[Thoos]

Was this you @Thoos

https://www.motor1.com/news/512545/ford-bronco-sport-roll-hill/amp/

I was waiting for this!

No, thankfully we stayed on a minimum of three wheels last weekend.

 

[HBTFD]

For the front airbags to deploy the vehicle needs to hit a solid object at 27 mph or the equivalent -example - If the vehicle decels from 55 to 20 in fractions of a second the front bags will deploy. The side impact bags are similar logic but I am not sure of the mph conversion. I got out of the airbag business before rollover bags became common, I’m not sure how the sensors/ deploy module works.

 

[timhood]

Was this you @Thoos

https://www.motor1.com/news/512545/ford-bronco-sport-roll-hill/amp/

I got two reactions for this.

and

 

[Thoos]

For the front airbags to deploy the vehicle needs to hit a solid object at 27 mph or the equivalent -example - If the vehicle decels from 55 to 20 in fractions of a second the front bags will deploy. The side impact bags are similar logic but I am not sure of the mph conversion. I got out of the airbag business before rollover bags became common, I’m not sure how the sensors/ deploy module works.

Okay, that's reasonable. Thanks for the information.
Would you say that the vehicle is still capable of driving to civilization after an air bag deployment assuming all other systems are functioning normal?

 

[Thoos]

I have a CJ so never had much advanced safety features. Just a Beefy roll Bar and 4 point harness. I have heard of a story of the airbags deploying in some ones TJ while hitting a rock feature to hard.. I take it easy on the right pedal so I think I’ll be ok with the Bronco. If your one of those balls to the walls kinda person maybe pull the Airbag fuse?

Yea, I know the airbag fuse trick. Good call.

I was hoping Ford had more purposeful design elements where this is concerned...

 

[DLJohnson]

Okay, that's reasonable. Thanks for the information.
Would you say that the vehicle is still capable of driving to civilization after an air bag deployment assuming all other systems are functioning normal?

Not sure about the Bronco but I've known someone who had his airbags go off in a minor accident and was able to cut them out and drive home (not at all recommending this and everyone involved was uninjured, just saying that the vehicle was still 100% operable after the fact)

 

[HBTFD]

All the airbag systems I dealt with were independent of driving the vehicle. You could pop every one of them and drive the car another 100,000 miles. The one I would worry about is the module/programming that shuts off the fuel, it took the place of the old inertia switch. If it’s in the PCM disconnecting the battery might remove the code and your back in business. Probably going to take an engineer or a shop tech that understands the sensor input and programming logic as to what resets the fuel pump after a collision.

 

[Thoos]

All the airbag systems I dealt with were independent of driving the vehicle. You could pop every one of them and drive the car another 100,000 miles. The one I would worry about is the module/programming that shuts off the fuel, it took the place of the old inertia switch. If it’s in the PCM disconnecting the battery might remove the code and your back in business. Probably going to take an engineer or a shop tech that understands the sensor input and programming logic as to what resets the fuel pump after a collision.

Okay, this is what I am talking about. That sets me on the hunt. What else do I need to know about these systems? My most recent new car is a 2005 and I was able to disable, disconnect, or bypass those systems. Are there similar options to bypass/remove for a raptor or f150 currently?

 

[HBTFD]

I imagine the bronco specific training is being distributed to ford dealers and body shops. I’d find someone who repairs collisions and ask them.

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