Takata Airbag recall

[LHirshman]

Apparently Dodge Ram trucks made from 2003 to 2008 used an airbag made by Takata. There have been deaths resulting from this Airbag and there is a worldwide recall. Search on, Takata Airbag Recall. Also here is a link to an article listing affected vehicles, http://autoweek.com/article/car-news/all-takata-airbag-recall-vehicles-one-handy-list, as you can see, many of our trucks are on it.

I have not received any recall notice from Chrysler, has anyone else read/received information on this recall?

 

[Bill Stockard]

According to the linked article, my '03 Dodge Ram 3500 is not included.

Bill

 

[PWong]

https://www.moparownerconnect.com/oc/us/en-us/sub/Pages/RecallsQuery.aspx

Mine is not included in the website yet.

 

[BillDriscoll]

Threes no way this company can make 8 million canisters in a short period of time plus the manufacturer's can install the canisters or new airbags quickly....Hell it takes all day to get your oil changed!
as they say on tv....please stand by!

 

[mwilson]

I was reading an article yesterday and it was mentioned that the liabilty from this episode may result in diminished or no further safety developments.

The risk may not be worth it.

I wonder if airbags will be disabled before it's over, at least on a temporary basis due to a lack of replacement parts.......Lawyers will reap huge rewards either way.

 

[lpennock]

Disconnect the Air bag and wear your seat belt. Air bags are minimal benefit when you have a seat belt on. Without a seat belt they are a life saver.

 

[Prairie Dog]

They said on the news that it will take years to replace them all.

 

[Tuesdak]

Disconnect the Air bag and wear your seat belt. Air bags are minimal benefit when you have a seat belt on. Without a seat belt they are a life saver.

I have had a first class front row seat to watch a family member recover from a near fatal accident with a drunk/asleep Alien who hit them head on. The ONLY reason they are on this side of the grass is due to the airbag in combo with the seat belt. When it matters most you need every chance you can get. Today's gov't CAFE small coffin cars and MPG are #1 on my S#it list even though they were driving a mid/full size car. MPG doesn't matter when you get all the medical bills that far exceed 6 MPG for 1 million miles. Then you look at the GM, and other models, vehicles that shut the air bags off with the ignition switch and the fact that without the air bags the cars are simply death traps. The design of vehicles are depending on air bags too much.

Sadly the risk of defective design or production of the air bags is also taking lives.

 

[seafish]

Disconnect the Air bag and wear your seat belt. Air bags are minimal benefit when you have a seat belt on. Without a seat belt they are a life saver.

his statement goes against everything that anybody has ever told me about airbags and seatbelts!!!

Even in emt training, we learned that the seatbelt and airbag are designed to work TOGETHER to prevent and/or lessen fatal injuries.

Unless you can provide stats which back you up, I have say that this is definitely WRONG advice.

 

[brods]

Around a year ago we had a PLC programmer tell us stories about working in the air bag plants in Mexico. He said there was one that was using the same lot number from when they started producing air bags years ago. He pointed out that if their air bags were recalled they would have to recall every single one ever made at that plant since there was only one lot number. He had mentioned problems from shrapnel and felt strongly enough about the dangers of faulty air bags that he traced which plant and which assembly line the bags in his car were manufactured on so he could feel less concerned about them being defective. At the time it seemed like he was overreacting a bit, but now it appears he had valid reasons to be concerned.

The problem has resulted in an alarming scenario: the propellant in Takata's airbag inflators can degrade and cause them to "tear loose from their brackets, blowing pieces of their housings — shrapnel, in effect — into the faces and chests of occupants,"

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/here...ag-recall-is-terrifying-2014-10#ixzz3H5NB6zuV

 

[lpennock]

his statement goes against everything that anybody has ever told me about airbags and seatbelts!!!

Even in emt training, we learned that the seatbelt and airbag are designed to work TOGETHER to prevent and/or lessen fatal injuries.

Unless you can provide stats which back you up, I have say that this is definitely WRONG advice.

I will retract my statement that they are minimal benefit. They do help in mostly head on type impacts about a 25% reduction over no air bag. They do no good for side (unless you have a side impact bag) They also do no good on rear impacts.

Now with that said a device that is suppose to protect you but because of a defect is just as likely to kill you is just as bad or worse than no device. I'm only advocating disconnection until they are repaired, not permanently.

Ref for 25% number.
http://www.chemistry.wustl.edu/~edudev/LabTutorials/Airbags/airbags.html

 

[seafish]

I'm only advocating disconnection until they are repaired, not permanently.

Thanks for clarifying that.

 

[JR]

I posted this in a thread I started yesterday without realizing there was already one going.

Check out the size of the shrapnel they dug out of this girl

http://youtu.be/2xP8frZ4NyU

 

[lpennock]

Roughly 1:45 into the video says it is only a Regional recall. Says the bags are more likely to fail in humid climates. Guess it is a good thing I live in AZ. Makes me feel so much safer.

 

[RBridenbaugh]

I'm doing nothing, until the risk is put into perspective, with actual data.

Last time I looked the risk of dying in an auto crash is 1 in 4,000.

NHTSA shows around 10.5 million accidents a year. From NHTSA data, 175 people died attributed to air bags in the decade from 1990 to 2000, mostly from being too close to the wheel and children in the passenger front seat being too close. A small number out of 100 million accidents and around 300,000 deaths.

The total number for the next decade saw a dramatic decrease to almost zero levels per year according to the "Counts of Frontal-Air-Bag-Related Fatalities and Seriously Injured Persons, January 1, 2009" report from NHTSA. 2 deaths attributed to airbags in 2007, 1 death in 2008.

While a random death by shrapnel from an airbag inflator is tragic, the report I could find with numbers suggests that this has occurred 4 times. Given the recall goes back to 2003, four shrapnel deaths in 100 million accidents, is not a lot. You'd have a greater chance of winning the Megamillions lottery if you believe in this level of risk/reward.

I've never been a fan of 3 pt belts and airbags and much prefer the 6 point harness in my sports car. Short of putting a 5 or 6 point harness and different seat in my truck, the 3 point belt and air bag combination are my best protection at the moment, not a 3 point belt alone. Airbag effectiveness was reported as adding 11% to the chance of survival. Yes, a random deployment with shrapnel is a possibility, it just isn't very probable from the data I've seen.

 

[brods]

I like your approach putting the risk in perspective. To be accurate you need to get numbers for the Takata brand of air bags in question, not for every air bag out there, so your numbers are under representing the risk for cars which have the Takata bags. You also need to factor in any degradation over time which causes the risk to increase. Both of these things will dramatically increase the risks compared to your assessment.

Further complicating the issue it the lack of proper record keeping by Takata. What could actually be a relatively small amount of bad bags with high failure rates has turned into this huge recall since there is no way to identify that bad batch.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/24/b...d-mazda-join-recall-over-faulty-air-bags.html

Last week, Takata said that it had improperly stored chemicals and had mishandled the manufacture of explosive propellants, used in the air bags, at its plant in Mexico. The manufacturer had also failed to keep adequate records of quality control, making it difficult to identify vehicles with potentially defective air bags and prompting a second round of recalls.

In short, even though the risks for air bags in general appear very low, if you have one of the improperly manufactured air bags made by Takata then your risk is relatively high.

 

[Regcabguy]

Threes no way this company can make 8 million canisters in a short period of time plus the manufacturer's can install the canisters or new airbags quickly....Hell it takes all day to get your oil changed!
as they say on tv....please stand by!

My Honda Pilot goes in 10-30. I had it in yesterday for an oil change and they scheduled the appt.
They said they had to order the part which would take two days.

 

[Regcabguy]

his statement goes against everything that anybody has ever told me about airbags and seatbelts!!!

Even in emt training, we learned that the seatbelt and airbag are designed to work TOGETHER to prevent and/or lessen fatal injuries.

Unless you can provide stats which back you up, I have say that this is definitely WRONG advice.

Agreed. The combination of seatbelts,airbags and enhanced structural improvements have worked wonders in reducing injuries/mortality.
A few years back I witnessed a Mazda van crash head on into a wall. The guys walked away from the accident thanks to airbags,seatbelts and a crush zone in the front body.

 

[TGVET]

I have had a first class front row seat to watch a family member recover from a near fatal accident with a drunk/asleep Alien who hit them head on. The ONLY reason they are on this side of the grass is due to the airbag in combo with the seat belt. When it matters most you need every chance you can get. Today's gov't CAFE small coffin cars and MPG are #1 on my S#it list even though they were driving a mid/full size car. MPG doesn't matter when you get all the medical bills that far exceed 6 MPG for 1 million miles. Then you look at the GM, and other models, vehicles that shut the air bags off with the ignition switch and the fact that without the air bags the cars are simply death traps. The design of vehicles are depending on air bags too much.

Sadly the risk of defective design or production of the air bags is also taking lives.

I'm stunned that anyone would suggest deactivating the airbag. I for one will ignore that .02 worth. The FACTS are, lap/shoulder harness in conjunction with AB deployment is the only way the AB will provide the best survivability in the event it must be deployed. Either one used separately has sever physical consequences especially w/o the belt restraints.

As for AB injuries, there are more to the face/forehead due to operators wearing a watch or other heavier wrist attire with hand(s) on wheel at the 11-1:00 position (primarily 12:00) rather than, 10 & 2 or lower due to the explosive force of the AB driving said wrist object with extreme force into the face/forehead causing sever or non-recoverable concussive injury.

 

[bighammer]

I don't understand how/why 03 to 08 Ram 1500 is affected, but 2500 and 3500 models are later years. Would the interior components or accessories be different based on duty/payload rating? I can't picture 2 (or more) different bins of airbags on the assembly line.