I have a 97 civic ex. Came with SRS Airbag steering wheel of course. Car is clean title never been in a wreck. I want to get an aftermarket steering wheel. I'm concerned that removing the original air bag issues may cause some problems. Can you get a ticket for it? Also if i get in a wreck, would it be possible for my insurance not to pay for injuries because the Airbag is removed?

 

These are all real good question to which i have no answers. All I can say is that my NRG quick realse system and wheel kick major ***. I can care less about an accident. Even though ill probably leave my fron teeth on my wheel..LoL. As far as tickets never heard of it.

 

i have heard of a very times where tickets were issued for removing a air bag from a srs equiped vehicle. but they were very far apart and haveing seen or heard anything about this for 3+ years, several of my friends have there airbags removed and have been pulled over and they were not given tickets.

i wouldnt be suprised if insurance did this, but the only way to be totaly sure is to call your insurance company.

 

Ive been pulled over many times for other dumb things.. And instead of tickets i get compliments.

 

Good question! according to the california Automotive safety laws- removing any safety/restraint system is illegal. But i have yet to hear someone get a ticket for that.
My buddy has a 5point harness and quick release/w wheel. he only got a fix it ticket for the 5 point harness since he dint had the manuf. 3 point belt.
insurance wise- imo, if you let them know about it as "modification", they will consider you a high risk customer, most likely they will not cancel your coverege but it will go up in price. -imo.

 

I have often wondered the same thing.

Won't the SRS light always be on as well?

As with everybody else, I have do not have any answers to these questions.

Aren't you worried about your own safety?

You could always swap your wheel for a different OEM Honda wheel that looks better and also has an airbag in it.

 

Talking technically, unlike seat belts where there are laws requiring their use at all times, there is no federal requirement for every occupant in a vehicle to be covered by an airbag or mandate their 'use' as it were. You can even get a federal waiver which allows an on/off switch, or switches, to be installed for your front airbags. From a legal standpoint, there are laws that prohibit the sale of vehicles which have had their original safety equipment removed or disabled to protect the manufacturers from liabilities resulting from injuries incurred in an accident. This is why they require a federal waiver to disable the front airbags so the VIN is registered and protects the maker of said vehicle from secondary sales.

 

im not really worried about my safety to be honest. Head on collision is gonna **** my up anyway with or without the airbag. If anything I'd feel safer without an airbag cause those things are lethal when they go off, especially at low speeds. Im pretty short too, so it would probably nail me right in the forehead.

Didnt 96-00 civics have some sort of recall on airbags anyways?

 

yea i read somewhere that the airbags were faulty and in some accidents failed to deploy.

 

Airbag disables are for using a child seat in the front passenger seat.

It is illegal to disable or remove an SRS bag in the US. Never heard of anyone actually getting the ticket for it though. States with a safety inspection would probably fail a car with the bag removed though.

Replacing the factory SRS wheel will cause the SRS light to be on, constantly. Pull the bulb to disable it.

Removal of the factory SRS wheel will disable the passenger airbag as well.

If you insurance offers a discount for airbags (mine does), removal of it without informing your insurance could be considered insurance fraud (worst case), or at least provide them reason to deny a claim if something does happen (probably only medical). Something to keep in mind.

 

You should stay with your stock steering wheel. Or swap it with another OEM Honda steering wheel so you still have an airbag.

I have often wondered why people would put up with all of these hassles and safety issues simply so they could run an aftermarket steering wheel. It isn't worth it.

 

hmm when i went under a jeep about 2 years ago and ****ed my car up big time mine airbags didnt go off.. wonder if mine was recalled...

bsmith100-- some people dont care about the risks..... throw a rsx wheel in or s2k and youll still have a air bag,

 

werd!

 

I just want to be one of those guys that walks around the mall with my steering wheel in my hand.... lol

 

I thought about all those questions too. I love my Nardi steering wheel as my interior looks booty to me without it now! In the end, I just overrode the SRS system by installing the 2.2ohm resistor in the SRS plug. This still lets the passenger side airbag fire in the event of an accident and gs rid of the annoying SRS light at the same time. That way, at least my passenger is safer than me.

 

This is so true!!! And according to many top insurance companies. Hondas(90's with Airbags) are well known to have Airbag failure. And its true in my case. I own a 97 civic, and 3 yrs ago my brother got in an accident on the freeway. he got rear ended by a porche that was racing, and he spin-out ending up crashing in the center divider.
results- front end of my car was crushed in and the rear was a crushed a lil over half the trunk area. with this damage the air bags should of deploy right!?

fyi- my bro got out of the car without a cut even after hitting the center divider at about 60ish mph.
Hondas may look like a week car but theyre not!well maybe on side impacts but i dunno about that.

 

oh crap wrong quote^^^ ignore that

 

Where do I get the torx or whatever bit to take the airbag off? Since I changed my steering colum my wheel is almost upside down. Answer ASAP thanx. I just had an alignment and they want to charge me $150 f*** that!

 

I have a '97 ex and I rear ended a dude like 4 yrs back. My SRS light was on at the time and the airbags didnt deploy. I wasnt hurt or anything but I hit the guy hard enough the toolbox in the trunk put a pretty good mark in the back of the back seat. The next year I yanked my factory steering wheel out in favor of a removeable unit and have never had a problem with cops. I also have 5 point harnesses installed in both front seats with no factory restraint system. I guess it just depends on if the cop is in a bad mood that day or not. When I renewed my insurance I just told them that the car no longer has airbags and everything was ok.

 

Heck ya! respect the engineering. Great quote. I remember when we bought our Civic back in 1999 the dealer explaining all the safety engineering behind it showing all the crush zones for the car and how it had dual airbags blablabla. I say safety first and stick w/ an rsx or s2k airbag.

 

Its a t-30 torx bit. You can buy them just about anywhere. Most screw driver bit sets will have them. You can prolly get a set of bits at autozone or whatever your auto part store of choice is for $10. Hope this helps.

 

lmfao...

 

I thought it was great at first but it got old for me real fast...

I don't mind the stares, nor do I mind "well that's one way to keep them from taking your car!" comments (I've gotten that one about 25 times)...but it just becomes a pain in the *** to haul your wheel around everywhere. Especially when you're at the store trying to buy stuff, you have to hold the damn thing like a purse, it just gets in the way.

You do feel a little cooler walking around with a sexy wheel though Not to mention that an aftermarket wheel improves the handling feel of your car immensely.

 

You don't have to take it off every time you park the car.

 

Of course not. There's no law or rule that says you have to do anything with it. The only "advice" I've seen is that NRG says their hub is for "off road use only". But we all ignore that.

But more to the point...why wouldn't I take it off? It's a theft deterrent. The entire reason I got the quick release setup in the first place was so I could take the wheel off as a layer of security! Why the hell would I drive anywhere and just leave it sitting in my car? A quick release means just that...the wheel comes off in one second. Someone could easily break into my car (Hondas are ridiculously easy to open, as anyone who has locked their keys inside can attest), or just smash the window, and steal the wheel and QR (6 allen bolts) in about 30 seconds. No thanks.

You're from Chicago, I would expect you to understand how bad theft can be in urban America, and not give a stupid, asinine remark