Hi, I was wondering if it would be possible to change a stock 97 max steering wheel with a sentra ser's. The ser's steering wheel is much smaller and has thicker leather padding. If this is possible anyone know the estimated cost to do this? Some ppl may think this is stupid, but hey it's original, well atleast I think it is. Thanks for any feedback.

 

Your airbag controller wouldnt know what to do with the bag in that wheel. It could be a dangerous combo.

Other than that, go for it.

 

Thanks. If the airbag is a problem then I'll probably just keep it disconnected.

 

I hope you are joking? I would never comprimise saftey just for a different steering wheel. My brother got hit in his 95 maxima a few years ago by a drunk driver and prolly would have been killed if it wasnt for the air bag. I would really reconsider this steering wheel idea, I dont like seeing a post about a .org members death.

 

After the last post I did some research about airbags and seatbelts. So far 300+ people have been killed or injured because of an airbag. For the airbag to work properly, ie no resulting injury or death from airbag, you must be 10-15 inches away from the steering wheel. Only 50 lives would be saved anually, if everyone wore seatbelts everytime they drove their car. Remember there are about 20,000 accidents every year. The cost to replace an airbag is $300-$800USD, and the air bag on most cars must be replaced every 10 years, regardless if it has been used or not. The airbag deploys in a head on and rear collsions, which is only 10% of all collisions. Airbags offer a 10%-15% chance of reducing an injury or fatal accident, but the airbag only applies to 10% of accidents, so it does help but not much. Most offten then not, airbags just help prevent facial and spinal injuries. My parernts drove a K-Car for 10 years and they are fine. I think I'll take my chances. Thanks for your concern though.

 

You gotta be kidding me?! Granted, the first 5 years of air bags or so weren't all that great. It was just like any other new car technology. Even if I accept all your statistics, any problems with airbags will no doubt be the result of the older designs, as opposed to the latest, smarter designs.

No one here is going to make you, or even tell you with a stern voice, to keep the air bag. Just know that by removing your air bag, you are basically guarunteeing death with frontal impacts at much lower speeds.

 

The airbag was made for semi-high speed collions, like 30-45mph, any higher then that, you will be lucky to survive with or without the airbag. Obviously you have not done any research at all, because the injuries and deaths from airbags occur at low speeds. Here is a quote from an article "airbags have killed about 160 people in relatively low-severity crashes in which serious injuries otherwise would have been unlikely." An airbag won't go off unless you hit the front of the car at no more then a 15 degree angle. The smart bags that you are talking about are on new Lexus, Merc, BMW, Jags, and Volvos, not in our 4th gen maxs. So, I think I'll still take my chances, remember before the 90s there were no airbags unless you owned a Benz or Volvo, and I don't think fatal injuries have decreased that much with the introduction of the airbag otherwise there wouldn't be so much controversy around it. So all your points that you have given are all false execpt the one about how the old airbag designs had all the problems, which most cars still have.

 

So tell me this, in an accident at 30-45mph, would you rather be in your car with the airbag it has right now, or without? I thought so.

I haven't done research? So my position as a technical writer for the Canadian Volvo Club and my letters of recognition from the CAA regarding my articles doesn't reflect my research huh?

A 30-45mph crash is VERY VERY SEVERE. Impact with a stationary object of equal mass at that speed is guarunteed fatal without an airbag. With an airbag, you are more than likely to walk away. Gee, the difference is death and walking away. Yup, airbags are the spawn of Satan definetly. Let's ban them all.

Airbag deployment at low speeds has not been a problem on new model cars (excluding a few domestic models) since the early 90's. Regardless, low speed airbag deployment fatalities are only an issue with people sitting too close to the steering wheel. Do you sit up to the wheel like an old granny? Well then you won't be affected by a low speed air bag deployment. The air bag shouldn't even touch you if you are sitting properly, unless you are being decelerated at an extreme force. Why do you think more and more cars are coming with adjustable pedals and steering wheel positions? It's not merely for convenience, it's to allow shorter people (the people most often involved with low speed airbag deployment fatalities) to get all the benefits of having an airbag.

Smart bags, or gen 2 airbags are across the board on GM and Ford, so nice try thinking that only luxury marks have them, and have had them since about 99'-00'. Japanese and euro imports have had them starting in about 94', and went across the board in about 96'. So please, tell me any car made in the last 3-4 years that doesn't have gen 2 airbags.

If you wish to believe air bags don't increase safety, so be it. Your ignorance will hurt no one but you and your loved ones. And if you don't care about yourself and those that love you, maybe us orgers trying to convince you of the risk you are taking, shouldn't either.

Honestly, I wish you no harm, but should you EVER be in a frontal accident where you are hurt or even killed, I'll be the first one there to give your due tsk tsk.

 

Let me tell you something. I've had 2 friends and my dad walk away with accidents because of the airbag, all of which would have been fatal (these are total car accidents). The cars? A 2k Geo Tracker, a 95 SHO and a 94 Volvo 850. Don't tell me you're going to take your chances. I'm sorry, but no mod, but especially an interior looks mod, is worth that much of an increase in danger. Please dont do this! It's not the smart thing to do.

 

Honestly, this guy just is ridiculous. It's one thing to put in the mod knowing full well the sacrifice he is making. It's another to try and defend his position by essentially lying to himself over just how dumb an action this really is.

 

Yes, I would like to be using an airbag for a crash 30-45mph, but what is the chance of that type of crash happening to a person. Only 10% of accidents are frontal, but it must be within a 15 degree angle of the front. The odds are pretty low, plus sometimes even with the airbag ppl can still die.

Most accidents are not with a stationary or fixed object. If you hit a car travelling at 28mph, it will be like hitting a fixed object at 14mph because of all the crumple zones and stuff.

To prove that you are wrong about the smart bags, here is an article from www.edmunds.com http://www.edmunds.com/ownership/saf...3/article.html ;go to the very bottom.

I don't know when I ever said ban them all. I'm just stating the fact that I would take the chance of having a SER steering wheel over an airbag, and with the facts I provide, I'm hoping ppl won't think it's a stupid decsion.

I like the part where you say, "decelerated at an extreme force", isn't that what everyone does when they might be in an accident, hence ABS.

If airbags were really good, then the government wouldn't allow ppl to deactivate them. I know this applies really to pregnant women and small children, but there are ppl that have deactivated them that are neither of these.

 

Yes, I would like to be using an airbag for a crash 30-45mph, but what is the chance of that type of crash happening to a person. Only 10% of accidents are frontal, but it must be within a 15 degree angle of the front."

All you need to know in deciding whether this is a good idea is to read this part over again. Airbags have limitations, they can't protect you from everything. Think about it, how's it supposed to help you from other directions? It would have to move, or to be multiple ones right? Exactly! That's why cars are now coming out with other forms of protection. Volvo and Saab now have seats to protect the two front passengers from whiplash. And MANY MANY car companies now have side or curtain airbags.

Regardless of the limitations of a front air bag, there is no possible justification for no air bag over air bag.

"Most accidents are not with a stationary or fixed object. If you hit a car travelling at 28mph, it will be like hitting a fixed object at 14mph because of all the crumple zones and stuff."

This is even more reason to have an airbag. Most accidents have an additive affect in terms of approach velocity. And let's not forget the physics of force. For every doubling of velocity, there is factor of four increase in energy. Just that much more reason to have an airbag.

"To prove that you are wrong about the smart bags, here is an article from www.edmunds.com http://www.edmunds.com/ownership/saf...3/article.html ;go to the very bottom.

Exactly, all cars listed have them, and those that don't have them, have them as options. You can still get cars without airbags. But all cars that do, have the new generation.

"I would take the chance of having a SER steering wheel over an airbag, and with the facts I provide, I'm hoping ppl won't think it's a stupid decsion."

Well obviously people do think it's a stupid decision.

"I like the part where you say, "decelerated at an extreme force", isn't that what everyone does when they might be in an accident, hence ABS."

When I said extreme, as in an impact. That's all an impact is, extreme deceleration. Think about it, when you REALLY reaf on the brakes, how much closer do you really get to the airbag? The deceleration rate of an impact is often 20-30 times greater than that possible through braking.

"If airbags were really good, then the government wouldn't allow ppl to deactivate them. I know this applies really to pregnant women and small children, but there are ppl that have deactivated them that are neither of these"

Don't try to tell half truths here. The only airbags to deactivate are the front passenger airbags, because idiot parents are allowing their young children to sit up front. There is no driver air bag that is deactivatable as a function.

 

"If you don't wear seat belts, air bags do a great deal to reduce you risk of dying in a head-on crash. But if your are conscientious about wearing a proper seat- and lap-belt, then airbags make only a small additional contribution (3 to 4 percent)." The Book of Risks - Larry Laudan, 1994 http://www.skyaid.org/Skyaid%20Org/Medical/risks.htm that is the link. The odds of dying in a car are 1 in 18,752. You have worse odds of "Intentional self-harm by firearm" (1 in 16,436). This information can be gotten from http://www.nsc.org/lrs/statinfo/odds.htm . I have given you the facts, if you choose to ignore them then who is ignorant? I appriciate your concern, but obviously you should have a greater concern of me intentionally killing myself with a firearm.

 

These facts you are providing are ridiculous. An airbag not only does not help if you are not wearing a seatbelt, it is practically fatal in a frontal accident.

If you choose to provide ridiculous "facts" how can I accept them?

You find some quote that believes air bags are beneficial with airbags, and mis quote articles regarding the availability of gen-2 airbags. I'm not ignoring, I'm comparing your "facts" with national institutes of automotive safety as part of my work with the Canadian Volvo Club. And guess what, you're misquotes, and obviously false "facts" aren't going to make me dismiss physics, and testing from national institutes of safety.

 

Did you even read my quote? It said that you only get a 3-4% greater chance of surviving a fatal accident with an airbag if you are already wearing a seatbelt. And read the odds of getting into a fatal accident. 1 in 20,728 are the odds of dying an falling. All from the same site I provided you with. I agree about being wrong about decelerating; I interpreted that the wrong way. What I think I'm trying to say, is wearing a seatbelt is good enough. If I don't have to worry about falling or killing myself with a firearm, then why should I worry if my car as a driver side airbag. I know they are making great advancements, but I drive a 97 Maxima, which doesn't have any of those advancements, so they don't apply to me.

 

Forget it. You're a waste of my time. If you want to be reckless with your own life, I'm not going to stop you.