Aftermarket Seats

[Curt]

I hope this is the right forum for this question. If not, mods please move it where it should be.
With all of the seat belt and airbag sensors cars have these days, what sort of electrical hornets nest do we run into when replacing the stock seats with aftermarket ones (without disabling the airbags)?

[civicmarc]

its just two clips you pop off.

[k20sdn]

what kind of seats are you planing on getting?

[cderalow]

well you'll automatically disable at least two of your airbags by removing the stock seats, since I've yet to see an aftermarket one with Side airbags.

Other than that, you might have issues with the front passenger bag since you'll also be removing the OPDS sensor.

[Curt]

So far, not very helpful information.
Question: How do I configure whatever it is I need to configure so that I retain airbag functionality. I'm fully aware that I can just unplug things and live with some sort of warning light on the dash. I can also drive without my seatbelt on. But that's not what I want. I've managed to survive enough decades to realize that I'm not immortal, that chit happens - sometimes happens to me. And if/when it does and I need those airbags, I'd want to have them work.
I would presume that any sensors which have the function of signalling that there's someone actually sitting in the seat, that there ought to be a way of using some sort of jumper wire to fool them into thinking that.

[cderalow]

Originally Posted by Curt

So far, not very helpful information.
Question: How do I configure whatever it is I need to configure so that I retain airbag functionality. I'm fully aware that I can just unplug things and live with some sort of warning light on the dash. I can also drive without my seatbelt on. But that's not what I want. I've managed to survive enough decades to realize that I'm not immortal, that chit happens - sometimes happens to me. And if/when it does and I need those airbags, I'd want to have them work.
I would presume that any sensors which have the function of signalling that there's someone actually sitting in the seat, that there ought to be a way of using some sort of jumper wire to fool them into thinking that.

Jumpering or bypassing the sensors will send incorrect info to the SRS control unit, which may result in your airbag not deploying properly in a crash.

The sensors don't just say something is there, it determines how large the object is, and if it's appropriate to deploy the airbags.

Unless there's a really good reason to run anything other than the stock seats (say you're tracking it regularly), then I'd suggest just keeping the normal ones. Aftermarket seats generally don't look well in combo with the regular rear seats, and insurance will 100% deny any injury claims that arise because you've removed a safety feature.

If you are tracking semi-regularly, I'd suggest just getting the aftermarket seat, and swapping it the night before going to the track.

[jemje2006]

Originally Posted by cderalow

insurance will 100% deny any injury claims that arise because you've removed a safety feature.

do you have any proof??? any insurance policy says that???

[Curt]

Originally Posted by cderalow

Jumpering or bypassing the sensors will send incorrect info to the SRS control unit, which may result in your airbag not deploying properly in a crash.

The sensors don't just say something is there, it determines how large the object is, and if it's appropriate to deploy the airbags.

Unless there's a really good reason to run anything other than the stock seats (say you're tracking it regularly), then I'd suggest just keeping the normal ones. Aftermarket seats generally don't look well in combo with the regular rear seats, and insurance will 100% deny any injury claims that arise because you've removed a safety feature.

If you are tracking semi-regularly, I'd suggest just getting the aftermarket seat, and swapping it the night before going to the track.

Now we're starting to get somewhere: hearing about the "what" but still wanting to learn "how."
I just received my factory service manual, and it looks like there's about 250 pages on the SRS, so........got to do some serious reading.
I appreciate your concerns for my safety, but I've always considered OEM seating, with very few exceptions, to be crap when upgrading the handling of a car. Probably one of the best enhancements you can buy to make the driver "at one with the car." And as for the insurance, auto insurance for covering medical injuries in a crash is a joke - it runs out about the 3rd day of a hospital stay. Medical insurance will take care of that - and with the Pres planning to enroll the Postal Service to run out nations government-provided health care, what's to worry! What an Obamanation (no, I didn't mispell the word abomination).
As for the aesthetics, as they say, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." Put another way, "There's no accounting for taste."

[bossman]

There is no way to have full airbag functionality unless you plan on removing the airbags that are in the seats and attaching them to your aftermarket seats.If it's a matter of being "one with the car" then simply buy one seat and switch seats during tracks days,I know,i have both seats replaced and I wish sometime I had'nt gotten both.

[Ayodog]

Well if it helps, i was in a front impact collision 5 weeks back and i have a sparco seat. I also didnt have a passenger seat at the time. My front air bagged deployed just fine as did my passenger side air bag though there wasnt a seat there. Kind of made me wonder -_-

And the seat held up fine, i was going 40mph and went underneath an fj cruiser and made impact with the rear drivers side tire.

Main point, i had air bag sensors on but they went off just fine w/o a problem. But i also am 6'4 and sit wayyy far back and didnt even make any contact with my air bag aside from a burnt thumb.

[PrEgO CaNe]

sorry but that little added performance the seats might give you is in no way worth possibly dieing over. yeah it worked sorta fine with a head on collision, but what about a side collision. i'm sure if you really wanted to make it work you could take apart your passenger seat, remove the sensors and install them in your aftermarket seat allowing the ability to tell if someone is sitting there and how close they are to the dash and how much they weigh

[stig]

bump, i also would like to know a solution to make the front air bags deploy with aftermarket seats. need to figure out what to replace that "weight sensor" on the passenger side with