I know this is a well debated subject but I wanted the community's input on this. I talked to Adam earlier about this and he voted stock.
I want an opinion on whether or not to change out my stock steering wheel for an aftermarket one.
We all know that doing this, it eliminates the airbag, and what it boils down to is my safety if I'm not mistaken..
What do you all think? just replace the old one with a new one? or go aftermarket?
I know that some officers will ticket you for that on the spot, and I know some people don't really care. I'd like some opinions please.
The old one is pretty much sun cooked and ruined. I can go either way on this.
thanks.
go aftermarket. ive been pulled over with mine plenty of times, and never got a ticket. passed NY state inspection with it also. the wheel shown below i actually have for sale if interested
RIP Kasey Burleson, and get well soon Chris Shelly
Why go aftermarket?
Go other car.
There are some cars around with nice looking steering wheels, And if you pick up a GM vehicle, there is a good chance the airbag connections will be the same. I know for the Vibe steering wheel, granted it has a pontiac symbol, Wires up directly but you need to make a piece to bolt it too.
Picking a bagged wheel from another car can end up being worse then aftermarket. Just because you can wire the bag up doesnt mean it will inflate at the proper rate, etc.
Never had a problem with cops & my wheel, nor passing inspection because of it.
Oh & Momo owns
it is in fact my daily driver. by the way.
see i was having the same thoughts awell my wheel is stock the car has almost 400,000kms on it. In miles i have no idea 95km/hr is 55miles/hr State trooper gave me that with 75miles hr is not the speed limit! lol but yeah i have a old looking wheel i'd love to go with a aftermarket wheel for looks but still wanta have a airbag chance of living just in case i guess it depends on what that person has put into the interior and has only that ugly wheel stareing at him or her. if it bugs ya which its starting to with me i say change it
http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/4235/jim25ek.jpg
Not to get into the same old bs arguement about airbags saving lives, but unless you hit head on, the bags most likely will not even deploy. Wearing a seatbelt is the smartest thing to do rather then replying on the airbags. I was just in an accident where the car was totalled, hmm bags didnt even go off after two impacts.
It's all up to you, but airbags are not the greatest saftey feature invented & thus will never be my reason behind keeping or removing a wheel. My Momo has always been more comfortable then any OEM wheel, & this is the second Cav its been in simply for me not the cool factor to others.
It's not just your life at risk. It's your passenger's as well. Removing the driver's side airbag will disable the passenger side as well.
I know there are cases where the passenger one has still worked, but they're the exception rather than the rule.
Stick with the stock airbag. Anyone who uses the argument that because they haven't yet been saved by an airbag, they're not worth having, is just plain ignorant.
If you're going to upgrade your steering wheel, you may want to upgrade to harnesses as well. My car is no longer a daily driver, but I do drive it a lot on nice days. I mounted a roll bar and 4 point harnesses since I took out the air bags.....It just feels safer to me, especially when I have a passenger in the car.....
^^agreed(even though i was in a head on crash a long time ago, and no airbags went off) but to make that statement isnt the best way to look at it.
in my case, i didnt care either way. id prefer not to have them go off, but thats me. flame if you want, but as long as i wear my seatbelt, i feel safe enough.
it basically comes down to wether you want looks instead of safety, or visa versa.
RIP Kasey Burleson, and get well soon Chris Shelly
trm95z wrote:Not to get into the same old bs arguement about airbags saving lives, but unless you hit head on, the bags most likely will not even deploy. Wearing a seatbelt is the smartest thing to do rather then replying on the airbags. I was just in an accident where the car was totalled, hmm bags didnt even go off after two impacts.
It's all up to you, but airbags are not the greatest saftey feature invented & thus will never be my reason behind keeping or removing a wheel. My Momo has always been more comfortable then any OEM wheel, & this is the second Cav its been in simply for me not the cool factor to others.
i once read a story about a guy that jumped out of a plane and his parachute didnt deploy. he hit the ground from around 11,000 foor fall. he lived somehow. but that doesnt mean im going to start jumping out of an airplane without a parachute. just because someone knows someone whos bag didnt deploy and lived doesnt mean they dont work. that just means in those few rare cases it didnt work versus the millions of times its gone off and worked. i just saw some figures a week ago that said on average medical expenses for someone not having their airbag were like 5000$ more per incident versus those that have the airbags. yes u may break your nose or bruise yoru face but i'll take a broken nose to death anyday.
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