Replacing Seat Belt and Air Bag after Collision

"Scott Dorsey" > wrote in message
...
> hls > wrote:
> >
> >I know what you are saying, but the legal issues that could crop up could
> >make one lose some sleep..."What if's"
> >And I dont know the answer to "what if".
> >
> >I would not let my wife drive anything that I had any doubts about.
>
> Cars went for years without airbags. My wife drives a car without an
> airbag every day, and so do I.
> --scott

I drive a car without an air bag, but it's more like a truck ('91 Explorer).
The Nissan held up just fine with a total impact of about 55 mph. The
bumper, AC condensor, radiator, and fan clutch were all destroyed but the
headlights didn't even break (and still work and are properly aligned) and
so far there is no sign of any damage to the frame or suspension etc. I had
a professional mechanic look at it and his opinion was to go ahead and fix
everything. So, for ME, I would be willing to drive the truck with no air
bag as long as the seat belt worked. But from what I've been reading here
the seat belt and air bag may or may not be on the same circuit controlled
by the air bag module so now my question is: can I replace the seat belt
with a generic retractable seat belt or, if I should do so, will this cause
error codes and prevent the air bag light from going out and possibly
prevent the other (passenger side) seat belt from functioning properly
(locking into position) in case of another collision?

Since my wife will probably continue to be driving I'd rather just replace
the air bag. As someone pointed out, they don't really intend to be
crashing into stuff so a seat belt should be adequate. However, my wife was
in a situation where she could not do ANYTHING to avoid the collision. The
offending (or in this case Avenging) vehicle was going about 55 mph on a
blind 10 mph turn on a dirt road and was on the wrong side of the road and
could not stop. She was as far over as she could get and even if she had
gone off the road she still would have been hit and possibly on the driver's
side. Of course then the front air bag would be rather useless.

I actually found a local Nissan parts dealer--they closed the dealership and
moved across town. Now I just need to find the registration or copy down
the VIN and get some prices. I don't see anything wrong with buying a
salvaged air bag because as far as I understand if it did not deploy (and
there's no corrosion etc as mentioned) then there should be no reason why
the air bag itself should not work as long as the contol module has been
reset and everything is connected to satisify the system.


> --
> "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."