Shelf Life of Airbags

Does any one know what is the expected life of an airbag?

No, but I believe they have one AND I think this information can be found either marked on the air bag and/or in the air bag documentation.

A quick search produced this

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbag

Does this have a bearing on how long one can keep a car - assuming everything else works?

For example Skoda say 14 years, others say "airbags do not require replacement during the lifetime of the vehicle"

So there you go, designed for the expected lifetime of the product.

If there was a reference to anything akin to useful life period in the Wiki article, I missed it. I hesitate to use the term 'shelf life', since to me that implies the time the device can be stored in a warehouse before installation, not the useful lifetime after installation.

Clearly, there must be a limited life of the bag itself. Virtually all plastics deteriorate over time. Fortunately, the bag itself is protected from direct sunlight/UV, so the cover will likely deteriorate before the bag itself.

I too would like a definitive answer to the original question...

"Do airbags deteriorate with time?"

Yes, they tend to complain about the same things over and over until it blows up in your face through no fault of your own and then you must find a replacement, if you can.

You must be talking about spouses.

A few years ago my home state (NJ USA) was talking about inspecting air bags after 10 years and "re-certifying" them if they "passed" - whatever that means. One thing I would expect is that airbags that are in cars in some of the really hot climates would have a shorter life than ones in cooler areas. Just as the various plastics and synthetics used in car interiors do. Edmund

Dear Edmund:

This is not the Answer To the Question, but rather a Comment prompted from your Statement: " I've lived 75yrs, where the Summer Temp. High was 103 deg.F & Winter Temp. Low was -57 deg.F. What would 160 degree variation do for AIR BAG MATERIAL DETERIATION OVER THE LIFE OF A CAR? (Scarry Thought, All our CITY POLICE CARS/EMS EMERGENCY VEHICLES, etc., HAVE AIR BAGS, don't they?)

Another inerested reader ! ! !

Fairly recently a car magazine here in Germany decided to put this to the test. They bought several old Mercedes (they were the first to fit them generally to their upper end cars) probably at least 20 years ago.

All were tested under crash conditions. All deployed as planned - no failures.....

Fairly recently a car magazine here in Germany decided to put this to the test. They bought several old Mercedes (they were the first to fit them generally to their upper end cars) probably at least 20 years ago

Which brings up another question: Are all airbags created equal or are Mercedes airbags superior?

My longest personal experience with airbags is a 1997 Ford Taurus station wagon which was sold in 2009 after 240,000 miles

No idea....sorry.

I'm sure there is some value at which they are unusable/dangerous, and I am not exactly sure what that number is but I would expect high heat (as down here in Texas) would be a factor. The three issues will be the fabric of the bag, the explosive charge, and it's detonating system. Of the three, the explosive charge and detonator stability are the two I'd be most concerned with. explosives are not stable, especially in high temperature storage conditions. The explosive base will weep out of the binder, and/or the explosive will react with the oxygen in the air and lose potency. Very old dynamite will "sweat" nitroglycerine and become very shock sensitive as a result for instance. If we knew what explosive was used in most of the assemblies we might be able to try to put a number to the issue. Some explosives are far more stable than others, and I'm sure that one of the more stable ones was chosen for this application.

There is no single answer to the question of airbag longevity.

A question was asked whether Mercedes bags are "better". This also cannot be answered simply.

1 - There are a limited number of airbag manufacturers (of which the company I work for is one of the largest). These manufacturers all make airbags for many different OEM's.

2 - Every vehicle (or platform) has a unique airbag. Shapes, sizes, materials in the fabric and inflators, deployment sensors and algorithms. The design of each bag involves much collaboration between airbag manufacturer and OEM engineering.

3 - As with everything in a vehicle, airbag technology constantly evolves. From early simple hot-gas airbags to current cold-gas bags, much has changed.

4 - Every airbag we make goes through extreme heat/cold cycles with full performance testing after. There is some degradation in test values, but not such that an aged airbag should not deploy.

I make it a point to drive in such a way that I will never need one.

Also surviving two-wheeled exploits for 32 years from cultivating an awareness for the bone-headed, electronics addled operators behind the wheel plays a significant part in my never encountering another vehicle in a metal-to-metal transformation of automotive body panels.

You wrote:-

I make it a point to drive in such a way that I will never need one.

The only way to achieve this is to never go in any sort of vehicle again.....

The airbag will deploy and hopefully save you even when you are parked and a runaway vehicle runs into you within say 30° or so of the forward direction.....

I am assured that even when the ignition is off, good systems are still active, but there was some kids in NYC that found this out and had their kicks setting them off in parked cars......

Which may mean that some cars "switch them off", maybe our man who makes them can comment on this point!!!

The only way to achieve this is to never go in any sort of vehicle again.....

I don't really agree. The semantics of 'never' aside, I will concede that there are some cases of frontal collisions that are totally unavoidable, but they are exceedingly rare for most people for the majority of miles driven. I could envision a narrow, winding mountain road with blind corners and no shoulders where someone crosses the line and whammo.

By and large, frontal collisions are avoidable in almost every situation. Situational awareness is absolutely key. I have dodged vehicles coming across the median strip on highways because I was not only watching the vehicles on my side of the road, but I pay attention to what's happening on the other side as well.

Having ridden a motorcylce for decades, I have developed a sense for when things can go wrong. I assume nothing. Most times nothing happens but I prepare for it regardless. Too much speed, making assumptions and/or inattentiveness are usually the root causes for most frontal collisions.

I am sorry, only God (and maybe the Devil!!) can ride with the comfort of never needing an airbag. The rest of the human race must understand that there is a possibility of an accident at some point in time....

Simple commonsense tells us all that we cannot handle EVERY situation as you appear to believe you can.....

So unless you are one of the aforementioned persons, my comment still stands......

"The only way to achieve this is to never go in any sort of vehicle again....."

They all might be avoidable, but not by all parties involved. And unfortunately you do not have control over what the other guy is doing (or not doing as the case may be.). An example:

My nephew was the passenger in a Toyota pickup. He was wearing his seat belt and they were driving under the speed limit on their side of the divided highway with their headlights on, in the early evening (9:30-10:00 pm), on a relatively straight section of a four lane divided interstate in Mississippi a few years ago. Neither one of them were drunk or impaired in any way. A woman who was three sheets to the wind on Xanax and alcohol was driving at over 90 miles an hour on the wrong side of the divided highway with her lights off. She abruptly changed lanes into the right hand lane that they were in. They never had a chance to avoid her because they never saw her until she was upon them. the driver DID make a swerve for the shoulder in the split second before impact but it was too little too late. The Toyota driver was killed instantly and my nephew died after several weeks in ICU. The woman who hit them survived and served a (very) short stint in prison for vehicular manslaughter.

So yes the accident could have been avoided if she had:

Not been drunk

Not been on drugs

Not been on the wrong side of the road.

Not been driving over 90 MPH.

Had turned her headlights on.

Had not abruptly changed lanes into their lane of traffic.

None of these were under the Toyota driver's control.

I suppose they COULD have decided to not drive at night, or to go somewhere else, but they would not have known this was going to happen and it could have just as easily happened somewhere else or at a different time of day (where they MIGHT have had a little more warning.)

And an air bag would not have made a bit of difference, the truck's engine was in his lap and his abdomen and pelvis were crushed.

GA.

Sad about your nephew.

He is sadly, not alone.....

Reality big time!!

By and large, frontal collisions are avoidable in almost every situation. Situational awareness is absolutely key.

I had a high-speed accident 16 months ago that was avoidable. Unfortunately, it required super-human reaction time to avoid it. I was aware of the situation despite the early hour, was traveling below the posted speed limit due to imminent freezing conditions, and had about 0.1 second to react to the construction truck that was bounced into my lane by another driver driving incautiously.

Needless to say, I wasn't able to react in time. (Humans need about .3-.5 seconds to react under ideal conditions, IIRC.)

It was actually a very gentle collision and would've almost been fun aside from totaling my entirely serviceable car and the scariness of the energies involved in highway travel. Unfortunately, my car's air bags deployed. By far, it was the worst part of the experience. Imagine getting hit square in the face by a strong person swinging a large phone book.

My air bag functioned as designed after ten years of life -- too bad for my lovely face.

Airbag fabric does deteriorate over time, but should still inflate with some possible reduction in performance. Most airbags are woven with Nylon yarns and coated with some material (ie: silicone) to reduce permeability of the fabric.

Many types of yarns are used (some manufacturers working with polyester) with different sizes, characteristics and tensile/elongation/elasticity properties. Nylon has long been the standard due to its ability to retain most of its properties after heat aging. Polyester has greater degradation after heat aging.

Inflators come in many shapes, sizes and designs as well. However, they usually contain chemicals or gases in heavy duty metal cylinders that should protect the active ingredients for a long time.

Personally, I would not worry about the long-term performance of airbags based on natural degradation due to time lapse. However, automakers all have their own specifications, criteria, and level of auditing to meet production standards. Some automakers push for the low cost with lower performance requirements, others are willing to pay for very high performance. My personal experience at the plant level suggests that what automakers are generally known for in the industry matches what they focus on when it comes to airbags (whether low cost/performance or high cost/performance).

Regardless of the vehicle age/manufacturer, never let children ride in front seats with active airbags as they deploy with great force! That is a much greater danger than the natural degradation in a given airbag over time.

"never let children ride in front seats with active airbags as they deploy with great force!"

I'm sure that is excellent advice!

Now what about us short people who have to sit very close to the steering wheel in order to reach the pedals?

1) Don't smoke, you get a red hot "end" crushed into your face.

2) Buy a car where the steering column is fully adjustable and can be pulled out/pushed back in.

3) Always wear you seat belt correctly.

Have faith in your God.