1995 Thunderbird 4.6

So if one doesn't have a torque wrench, is it safe to assume that I fasten the bolt pretty tight.

Not going crazy on it either I guess. But this is not one where we're afraid to strip the thread, correct?
 
:rofl:

One of the guys I worked with at Siemens worked with tocata airbags in Knoxville, at the time they started using ammonium Nitrate in their mix. The whole problem is that an soaks up water like a sponge, from the air, and TN is noted for humidity.
The problem with using an, is that when it takes part in the explosion, the water becomes steam, and adds a shitload of volume to the airbag as it detonates, which blows the hell out of the housing, filling you with shrapnel. (!)
Chernobyl was a steam explosion. If it hadn't been inside a reactor, people still would have died.
1997ThunderbirdLXV6 said:
So if one doesn't have a torque wrench, is it safe to assume that I fasten the bolt pretty tight.

Not going crazy on it either I guess. But this is not one where we're afraid to strip the thread, correct?
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You're unlikely to strip it, but use a big ratchet, and make sure it's tight, with no wiggle l/r. I use locktite, but's that's probably overkill. Make sure there's no static on your hands when you plug the connector back in. :) I heard a story from a jy guy about finding a guy stealing an airbag. The next day. The eddie baur leather-clad airbag put his head in the 4th row seats, lol. Dude had his head beside it apparently.
The wheel is on splines, so make sure it's in the correct one. I don't think ours will go on but one way, but most cars are not that way.
 
I just put it in with about the same effort it took to bust it loose. I don't use Loctite on it, when you fasten it down the steering wheel essectially is a light press fit into the column stub anyway
 
@Grog6

Wait, so are you saying our airbags are unsafe?! Due to whatever is used during manufacture?

I did use blue loctite and a large ratchet. Just feels weird as you're sort of tightening against the steering wheel lock. I did it to a point where it felt very tight, but I didn't put my full force into it. When I get access to a torque wrench, I can always double check. And no, there's absolutely no play in it. Steering wheel and hub have small markings on them; I suppose it only goes on that way.

20231117_152716_resized.jpg
 
1997ThunderbirdLXV6 said:
Wait, so are you saying our airbags are unsafe?!
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Gen 1 airbags pack a significant one-size-fits-all punch. If you've ever been in a crash with one, you can attest to that. They hurt everything they catch, but they are still safer than the alternative in ideal conditions. In any pre-1998 vehicle with airbags, you should sit as far away from the airbag as safely possible.

In 1997, 53 people were killed and 264 were injured by the frontal airbag. When door-mounted side airbags were first introduced, broken arms and wrists were common. Many people were having their airbags disabled, especially those who for whatever reason had to sit close to the steering wheel.

This of course led to new legislation and industry changes. The de-powered airbags that came out for MY1998 were much safer but still just as effective at stopping your face from hitting the windshield. Airbag deactivation switches were introduced in cars and trucks that couldn't fit a child seat in the rear. MY1998 was also when the AIRBAG warning decals were standardized across the nation to the white and yellow visor decals we've grown accustomed to seeing.

Nowadays we have multi-stage airbags that can inflate to different sizes at different rates based on impact speed and occupant size/weight/seating position. Ford was one of the early pioneers of these systems with their Personal Safety System that was introduced in the 2000 Taurus. With the introduction of new technologies, airbag deaths reached zero per year in the year 2005.

Fun fact, US airbags are significantly larger than EU/ROW airbags because we still have one state that does not mandate compulsory seat belt use. Because of this, automakers are still required to develop airbags for our market that will restrain an unbelted occupant.
 
I don't think I ever mentioned what happened to my old 94 Cougar after I got rid of it. The current conversation is relevant, so...

I decided to get rid of it in 2014 because it was starting to get too rusty for my level of comfort. I maintained it meticulously and it ran like a champ, but I knew I needed to move on.

When I got my 96 Mark VIII, instead of junking the Cougar I decided to give it to my mom. At the time she was starting to have reliability problems with her primary vehicle (an 02 Explorer that constantly had wheel bearing and transmission issues until I convinced her to junk it a few years ago due to not moving in years). I wasn't comfortable with the progression of rust in the Cougar for myself, but with my mom never taking the car on highways both my parents and I were comfortable with her using it for in-town trips until a more permanent solution could be had.

Anyway, the Cougar went to my mom. She was driving it for a few months and all was well until one day, she got distracted and rear-ended someone with it pretty hard during a traffic short-stop situation. The air bags went off. The force of the air bag going off ripped open the steering wheel airbag cover with tremendous force and it caught her right forearm, which was (right above it due to trying to turn the car off the road to avoid a collision at the time) hit pretty hard, and it messed it up pretty badly (lacerated skin due to protruding bones, anyone?).

My mom has a nasty habit of not wearing her seat belt (she's diabetic and with her size, she's "uncomfortable" wearing them :roll:), so the air bag going off was probably lifesaving, despite the complications.

She was in a cast and a sling for a while, and there's some fancy scarring on her forearm now but everything healed well. But she walked away.
 
Ericv8thunderbird said:
How is the trim in the front and back above the windows?
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I didn't look specifically, but the outside of this car was very dirty. The green Thunderbird I posted had perfect trim.

I know that those pieces are sought after, but I haven't really looked at how to remove them without bending them.

I can look for you next time.
 
1997ThunderbirdLXV6 said:
I didn't look specifically, but the outside of this car was very dirty. The green Thunderbird I posted had perfect trim.

I know that those pieces are sought after, but I haven't really looked at how to remove them without bending them.

I can look for you next time.
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Shipping them may be awkward/costly just due to the size of the box you may need.
 
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