Surprising Jeep Damage

[BLK HOLE]

Front factory bumper has plastic on it?
Maybe you mean the bezels or trim that covers the crush cans and goes around the fog lights.. That's not really bumper per se. It's trim on the bumper and it's only a small part of each end of the center section. The ends are fully steel, no plastic.
90 pounds isn't heavy? It is compared to most truck bumpers. I can lift bumpers for Ford and Chevy trucks with one hand. They are thin compared to the stock Jeep steel bumpers.
If you are comparing to 3rd party bumpers - those change how things on the truck work - like the air bag deployment and such. The factory had to engineer their bumpers to meet Federal and DOT requirements, crash ratings and so on.

Looks steel to me -

Yes...I mean the plastic, lol. You know...the cones that extend out further than anything else on the bumper and immediately get damaged and torn off with any real offroading? And once removed the bumper looks...well, stupid.

As for airbags...they're inertia sensors...the bumpers have zero effect on them.

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[IamPro2A]

All this is true. I roll on 495 daily, from McLean around to Springfield. The dumbest drivers in the Western Hemisphere seem to come from this area…

I think it just has something to do with the number.
I drive 495 in MA a few times a week, and the drivers on that highway rival any I've seen on the DC beltway.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Yes...I mean the plastic, lol. You know...the cones that extend out further than anything else on the bumper and immediately get damaged and torn off with any real offroading? And once removed the bumper looks...well, stupid.

As for airbags...they're inertia sensors...the bumpers have zero effect on them.

Actually, those crush cans do have an effect. That's been discussed not only here but in multiple other places "out there". They absorb the force of minor impacts, preventing the air bags from deploying for minor impacts. There's a reason they are there and that they are at the ends of the frames.
Removing those crush cans can mean the air bags go off when they otherwise would not. Someone argued that point with me about a year ago - I did a ton of research on it, spend hours - only to find out THEY were correct. I was saying they had no effect and removing them was no big deal. On a frontal collision, those cans slow the impact and absorb energy, preventing air bag deployment in many cases. The soften the blow to the ends of the frame which would transmit an instant stop to the sensors. They protrude out there and are placed where they are for a reason - and air bags are that reason. Energy absorbing is their task.

 

[BLK HOLE]

Actually, those crush cans do have an effect. That's been discussed not only here but in multiple other places "out there". They absorb the force of minor impacts, preventing the air bags from deploying for minor impacts. There's a reason they are there and that they are at the ends of the frames.
Removing those crush cans can mean the air bags go off when they otherwise would not. Someone argued that point with me about a year ago - I did a ton of research on it, spend hours - only to find out THEY were correct. I was saying they had no effect and removing them was no big deal. On a frontal collision, those cans slow the impact and absorb energy, preventing air bag deployment in many cases. The soften the blow to the ends of the frame which would transmit an instant stop to the sensors. They protrude out there and are placed where they are for a reason - and air bags are that reason. Energy absorbing is their task.

Horse shit...you can literally kick them off the bumper with your foot and they're size of a small shoe. They're useless junk.

 

[Cripton805]

I had a head on collision with my JL. It was relatively low speed, but totalled the Honda Accord. I just replaced the front bumper.

 

[Cripton805]

Horse shit...you can literally kick them off the bumper with your foot and they're size of a small shoe. They're useless junk.

I disagree. I had a head on collision. Only thing damaged was the bumper. I got one on Ebay for $200. The Accord was totalled. My airbags did not deploy.

 

[FLACRACKER]

You can always drive safe however if you have someone who's not paying attention inevitably it will happen. Since the first day I got the Gladiator I put my trailer tow bar in for a little extra added protection.

 

[BLK HOLE]

I disagree. I had a head on collision. Only thing damaged was the bumper. I got one on Ebay for $200. The Accord was totalled. My airbags did not deploy.

What exactly are you disagreeing with?

 

[Cripton805]

What exactly are you disagreeing with?

Those weak little tin can crush stoppers. They are pretty weak, but that's what they're supposed to do.

 

[BLK HOLE]

Those weak little tin can crush stoppers. They are pretty weak, but that's what they're supposed to do.

If thats what you want to believe.

 

[Trickster]

You can always drive safe however if you have someone who's not paying attention inevitably it will happen. Since the first day I got the Gladiator I put my trailer tow bar in for a little extra added protection.

Which is illegal in my neck of the woods.
But it happens all the time and I have never heard or seen anyone given a ticket for it. I take mine off after towing always. Walk into that puppy once, and you will understand why I do.?

 

[kad's_Glad]

...Walk into that puppy once, and you will understand why I do.?

Been there. Done that. Ouch

 

[Cripton805]

If thats what you want to believe.

It's not what I believe. It's fact. It actually happened to my own personal Jeep.

It's not meant to protect it from getting totaled on a high speed collision, but it would absorb a pretty decent hit.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I disagree. I had a head on collision. Only thing damaged was the bumper. I got one on Ebay for $200. The Accord was totalled. My airbags did not deploy.

I've a few links, some I didn't save, unfortunately, when I did the hours of research last time. I have re-found some of the info.

This is from a guy who apparently spoke with designers of a bumper for Tacoma -
The measured decceleration and inferred impact severity dictates the timing of the airbag deployment based on the crush rate of a factory front end. Mounting a steel bumper directly against the front end of the frame means the initial post impact deceleration is much more sudden triggering the airbags to deploy sooner in anticipation of an impact more severe and developing faster than is actually the case. This could in theory mean that the timing of the airbag being fully inflated and your face hitting it is not optimal.

The purpose of the crush cans in an ARB is to reintroduce a crush rate similar enough to the stock aluminum impact absorption materials to not effect the timing of the airbag.

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I've got tech articles on how the air bag black box works, what's in it and other fun stuff but it's a ton of math and physics. These don't work strictly on some sensor on the frame. It takes a whole lot more into account.

 

[TOOBSOCK]

Back when things were sorted by North and South instead of Left and Right, Maryland seemed to be in that state of limbo. A bit of both and none of the other. Drive like a Jersey Jerk or stop in the road to have a conversation.(it's a Southern Thing)

Being from the Southern part of Maryland I have to say that this is a correct observation.

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