Feasibility of retrofitting passenger airbag in 95-97
Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2023 2:24 am
Hi,
I have searched as much as I can without luck so it was time to finally make an account and ask the experts.
I am in Oregon, USA and am hoping to import a SGL5 Bongo sometime before the summer. They are pretty rare here (especially compared to Delicas) and obviously stand out a bit since we drive on the other side of the road. I am working with an exporter and constantly monitoring the Japanese exports.
My big issue (aside from finding vans without rust) is that my partner really would like to have an airbag in front of her. I mean, I can't fault her, but it seems to limit me to 1998+ cars (I haven't seen any 97's with airbags but it wouldn't surprise me if a few Nov or Dec models might have them). Maybe this wouldn't be such a big problem, but to legally import into the US, the vehicle must be 25+ years old. That means that it has to be manufactured by the month of import 1998. So once you factor in shipping time, I'm limited to model year 1998 but only manufactured before say June-ish. And, since I would like an AFT and 4x4, it's extremely thin pickings. I've almost given up and started bidding on Delicas.
It's probably not feasible, especially with parts availability and language barriers but does anyone have any idea how difficult it might be to retrofit a passenger side airbag?
The dashes appear to be the same but for airbag. So if I bought a dash from a 98+ and swapped it in, obviously I would need to hook the airbag up to the airbag control module, but do the modules in 97's have the capacity to have another bag hooked up? Or, if not, will a module from a 98 accept the harness from the driver's airbag in a 97? I assume whatever shock/crash sensors exist wouldn't need altering.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Best,
Peter
I have searched as much as I can without luck so it was time to finally make an account and ask the experts.
I am in Oregon, USA and am hoping to import a SGL5 Bongo sometime before the summer. They are pretty rare here (especially compared to Delicas) and obviously stand out a bit since we drive on the other side of the road. I am working with an exporter and constantly monitoring the Japanese exports.
My big issue (aside from finding vans without rust) is that my partner really would like to have an airbag in front of her. I mean, I can't fault her, but it seems to limit me to 1998+ cars (I haven't seen any 97's with airbags but it wouldn't surprise me if a few Nov or Dec models might have them). Maybe this wouldn't be such a big problem, but to legally import into the US, the vehicle must be 25+ years old. That means that it has to be manufactured by the month of import 1998. So once you factor in shipping time, I'm limited to model year 1998 but only manufactured before say June-ish. And, since I would like an AFT and 4x4, it's extremely thin pickings. I've almost given up and started bidding on Delicas.
It's probably not feasible, especially with parts availability and language barriers but does anyone have any idea how difficult it might be to retrofit a passenger side airbag?
The dashes appear to be the same but for airbag. So if I bought a dash from a 98+ and swapped it in, obviously I would need to hook the airbag up to the airbag control module, but do the modules in 97's have the capacity to have another bag hooked up? Or, if not, will a module from a 98 accept the harness from the driver's airbag in a 97? I assume whatever shock/crash sensors exist wouldn't need altering.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Best,
Peter