Thread: Air bag life D1

Originally Posted by Old Farang

Anybody have the correct information on the SAFE life of airbag propellent? The local dealer says 15 years, but for a D1 it is no longer listed on Topix, only D2, and they admit that they do not know! This is the same LR dealer that let my car out of their shop with #3 and #5 plug leads transposed!

I thought it was 10 yrs the D1 SRS was supposed to be checked, but can't find any info on this to verify,

Just googled up this post and the Op also read somewhere 10 yrs.

Airbag Replacement - Discovery Forum - LR4x4 - The Land Rover Forum

It was originally 10 years - but when that time frame was up, as highlighted in that link, to replace the bags was essentially writing the vehicle off - especially if twin airbags were fitted - they were optional when new. This was causing a problem for LR resale so I believe that as the 10 year limit was set arbitrarily, LR investigated and found the airbags were actually OK at 10 years and their service life extended. 15 years does come to mind but I cannot recall.

The same applied to the first Freelanders which were fitted with twin airbags.

According to LR maintainance data sheet front air bags is 10 years and 15 years is for side air bags.

Lucky airbag expiry dates aren't checked for Roadworthies or the entire fleet would be at the scrappers now.

Originally Posted by Roverlord off road spares

Lucky airbag expiry dates aren't checked for Roadworthies or the entire fleet would be at the scrappers now.

You would think that they would make a decent affordable replacement for them.
I never quite understood that with the RWC, I guess in their eyes it's the light that tells the story.
And what would the person installing them at the factory stamp an installation date on them? Or would it be from the date of manufacturing?
I've always known it to be 10 years but I was told on here they changed it and to get with it..... lol

I guess in their eyes it's the light that tells the story.

Yes, that was the first thing that I was asked by the dealer!
After looking into it a bit further, I seems to me that the propellent used is not the problem, which is what I asked about.

Surely, the life of the actual bag cannot be accurately determined. I guess heat would be a big concern depending on the material used. Cars parked all day out in the sun with the windows up, are going to get a lot hotter inside than mine that is rarely parked in the sun. The air con is always on when I am driving, so the bags are subject to temperature changes, which will affect any material.

The time set by Land Rover is probably more of a CYA arbitrary time, rather than based on any facts!

interesting post, l was going to post something about Airbags, as I had a question / topic to raise. From what I know, the airbags were an option in the D1. There are many out there without them fitted. So If my D1 has airbags that were fitted an an option, can they be legally removed? If you have seen the Fifth Gear video on Youtube, where they do a head on test with a Renault Escape of the same era, you’ll see they don’t actually do much to protect you.

From a Google search .....

Airbags were first introduced to cars in the 1970s. No one was quite sure how they would age. In 1992, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety conducted one of the first tests of the technology, driving a rusty 1972 Chevrolet Impala into a barrier at 25 miles per hour. The car had no working clock, no working radio and more than 100,000 miles on its odometer. It was one of the first 1,000 cars equipped with an airbag that General Motors had produced.

The airbags worked.

They "might have been the most reliable part of this old car," said Brian O'Neill, who was then president of IIHS.