Originally Posted by Draggin99Si

I found this disclaimer for the frame locks on their website:

Adversely affect the crash performance of the car, including:

i. Change in the crush of the front-end structure, resulting in increased acceleration and forces exerted to the driver and occupants. This may increase injury or the likelihood of fatality to both driver and passengers.

ii. Air bags deploying at collision speeds less than originally intended by the manufacturer.

iii. False air bag deployment as a result of driving over debris or severe potholes.

Originally Posted by SolidRide

That's a good question. We did test this at a great expense.

In theory this kind of change should not make a difference in air bag
deployment. teh geometry tells a lot. This improves the lateral
stiffness but not the fore aft.

But theory is not good enough.

As responsible engineers we wanted to confirm so we actually tested it
in Santa Cruz. I spoke to an air bag sensing engineer expert and he
instructed me to measure the fore/aft acceleration when the car drives
over a pot hole. We did this in 2 conditions. Frame Locks on and
Frame Locks off. I paid a vibration testing engineer to measured the
acceleration right where the air bag sensor is located in the center
console. It varied by 3 % from Frame Locks on and off which is small
enough to say it is test variation. In addition the accelerations we
measured were in the low 3-4 g's level. Air bag will not deploy until
roughly 12-15 g's. So we're not even close by a long shot.

The laws are such that if a company intentionally sold or negligently
sold an unsafe product, the injured person could go after personal
assets. That's another strong incentive to do this right. Not to
mention the ethical aspects of it.

Even if you signed a disclaimer, if we were negligent and didn't do any
testing. You could sue regardless of the disclaimer. But in this day
of frivolous law suits, we have to cover it with a disclaimer. Today
there is disclaimers everywhere. If we lose sales that is the way it
is. We'd rather be truthful.

In fact your H brace and Traction bar would probably be much more
likely to increase the fore/aft stiffness and response to trigger a
false bag deployment. But it still is probably not significant. But
don't know, but would be significantly more relevant than our small
braces.

Air bags do go off under unusual circumstance. A friend of mine did a
BMW extreme ride skidded to the side where the car chattered and the
air bag went off. False deployments do occur.

Actually many of the after market companies have parts designed by very
good mechanics not degreed engineers like myself. They do not know all
the implications. We did the testing because one, we don't want to
release a unsafe product. Two, we don't want to get sued and lose
personal assets. No matter what, there's always a possibility of a
frivolous law suit winning. That is a risk in business and that's one
reason companies need to make a profit. Other wise, they are risking a
lot with nothing to return.

I believe that this product is engineered better than most products out
there. That's why such a small part makes such a big difference. Also,
you will see that it was designed with a clever method to insure
precision location of the drilled holes. It's also error proofed. The
welded stick nut is also a good innovation.

I am attaching the 1) photo of where the sensor is 2) The scope of
work for the test 3) test results....so you can see what I am saying
is true.

Other crash worthiness issues is a catch all for anything else such as
engine intrusion, side impact etc. The major ones are crush and air
bag deployment. But our attorney said this would be a line of defense.

If you want to talk about it, give me a call 650-464-4162. If you do
not feel comfortable doing this I am okay with it.

Thanks

David