SRS/airbag compliant front bumpers

I've been researching front bumpers for awhile and have a few in mind. However, ARB is the only brand I've seen state that their bumper is airbag compliant. To be honest, I hadn't even considered this important feature until I read that. Now I'm wondering about other front bumpers, "sexier" and more 'modern' looking ones.

What have y'all seen out there? Does anyone else know about other bumpers?

 

Not only that but the crush cans will also prevent potential frame damage if you hit something hard while wheeling. Most other bumpers bolt straight to the frame with any impact being transferred straight to the frame.
There are some other australian manufacturers but i dont think they make anything for Tacomas that im aware of. I vouch for ARB

 

Ah yes, good point. I forgot to mention the replaceable crush cans. It's alarming to see how many Taco owners, who care greatly for their rigs and invest a lot of their hard-earned money into it, aren't aware of this or don't understand the implications of the point you just made. The fact that they bolt straight to the frame and thus will directly transfer impact energy onto the frame runs contrary to their very purpose: protection and safety. I wonder how many folks would continue buying these products if they were simply made aware of these irrefutable facts.

A friend of mine just bought CBI's T3 bumper on impulse (he got a pretty good deal). After I told him why I was leaning towards ARB, he called CBI to get the 411 on their front bumper. Their response: "Your airbags will still deploy but will likely require a higher impact force." In other words, "We aren't testing for this and YMMV. Good luck and thank you for buying our product." SMH

 

Your airbags deploy based on a signal from accelerometers mounted on the frame rails inside your engine bay. It has nothing to do with your bumper, crush cans, or anything else.

Actually, your airbags are more likely to go off sooner if you don’t have crush cans or bar, as the induced acceleration will be higher.

 

I'm not sure it's that simple, though.

 

The mesured decceleration and inferred impact severity dictates the timing of the airbag deployment based on the crush rate of a factory front end. Mounting a steel bumper directly against the front end of the frame means the initial post impact deceleration is much more sudden triggering the airbags to deploy sooner in anticipation of an impact more severe and developing faster than is actually the case. This could in theory mean that the timing of the airbag being fully inflated and your face hitting it is not optimal.

The purpose of the crush cans in an ARB is to reintroduce a crush rate similar enough to the stock aluminum impact absorption materials to not effect the timing of the airbag.

 

Read: mounting a non-ARB bumper does change your vehicle's SRS specification.

 

Lol

I think you’re overthinking it a bit. The accelerometer is simply a switch, it is triggered when it sees an acceleration of between about 20g and 400g. The airbags can go off in a 25 mph accident or a 125 mph accident - I think the timing is going to be slightly different in those situations. Likewise, who would the manufacturer time the airbags for? A 90 lb, 4’-11” girl who sits 6” away from the steering wheel, or a 6’-4” guy who is as far away as possible? That’s going to have a much greater effect on airbag timing than a couple of sheetmetal cans on the frame ends.

I’m not saying that an ARB bumper isn’t designed to act exactly like your stock bumper, but I see no reason or evidence that it should. For example, ARBs for 1st gens are all the same, however 98-00 trucks came with crush cans, while 01-04 did not. I would guess that airbag deployment is identical between the two models.

 

The accelerometer send the initial decceleration data to the computer and the computer decides when to inflate the airbag knowing how fast the vehicle is traveling and at what time the point of maximum deceleration is expected sine the airbags have to start the inflation process in advance of that point.

Some good info in here http://kodsiengineering.com/airbag-deployment-decision/

 

I can't speak to any of the predecessors. I am only referring to the ARB summit bar for 3rd gen Tacomas, 5th (?) gen 4-Runners, and others. I can't speak to anything else.

 

That is some good info, however most of it is applicable to state of the art airbag deployment systems. For instance, they're talking about multiple monitors around the perimeter of the vehicle for different types of crashes, sensing occupant weight and size, etc. Most vehicles do not have that kind of technology involved, my truck has two linear accelerometers in the front only.

Again, the timing of the airbag deployment is affected by many factors, as they state here. The largest effect on the airbag deployment timing is probably due to lifting the vehicle or adding weight to the vehicle via other armor, heavy tires, weight in the bed, etc. As I mentioned earlier, the difference between a small driver and a large driver, and how far they are from the steering wheel, will play a huge role as well (maybe 2017 Tacomas have sensors for that, I have no idea).

If you're worried about it, move your seat back one notch from the steering wheel - you just gave yourself more time to hit the airbag than any crush cans or anything else would give you.

 

Air bag removed end of that problem!

Every vehicle I drove till this Tacoma had no Air Bags .