Something to point out here...
IF an inflator does enter a failure condition, there's a possibility that it could rupture the casing. That does not mean every unit will IF it enters a failure condition, it means there's a possibility. More than likely you'll see out of spec burn rates that could result in improper inflation, duration, and effectiveness in the airbag. Airbags can and do injure people under normal operation; broken bones, burns, and bruises are not uncommon in a full deployment. But if the unit is in a failed condition those types of injuries could occur more likely and at a more severe rate, that's before the possibility of the casing rupturing. All that being said, it's still a safety and health issue, but purposefully toting an absolute for the sake of dramatic appeal gets tiresome and only perpetuates misinformation (well in this case inaccurate data really.)
That being said, so far all the ruptured casings I have seen have been mainly Honda units located in the driver's steering wheel, I'm guessing because the casing is a bit thinner there. I saw one or two passenger inflators that did look similar to Toyota's but not a whole lot of them. I also haven't seen a case of a Toyota passenger inflator casing rupturing so far in my research (it's possible I missed it, but the focus mainly seems to be on Honda's units for many of these dramatic failures).
As for what you were saying [MENTION=138935]catrains[/MENTION], so what has the NHTSA set as an appropriate longevity period for airbags? What has the SAE, EPA, and any other body involved in such development determined is an acceptable lifetime for such technology? Because I'm sure with today's vehicles manufacturer's don't care about a model beyond it's warranty period, which for most ends with powertrain at 5yr/60k in most states. I have not seen much in the way of concrete numbers or regulations regarding airbag longevity or expected lifetime, ect. Which to me signals that while the technology is obviously prone to issues (but does that imply that Takata told their manufacturers at the same time and didn't hide it from them as well? I haven't seen a link there that doesn't sound like borderline illuminati-esque tinfoil hat conspiracy theories), there wasn't a strong establishment of how this could hurt the public.
Vehicles have expiration dates, they are products with a finite expected and supported lifetime, after you've exceeded that expected lifetime your on your own. They also happen to be products that can easily outlast their "designed obsolescence", while I agree that this airbag issue is a huge one and needs to be addressed on multiple fronts with multiple points of responsibility taken across the industry. There's also an unfortunate reality that technology is constantly evolving and it seems that between a lack of clarity in how long SRS systems are reasonably expected to operate after warranty expires without service and use of a technology that now seems to be "good enough, sort of" rather than "great" for SRS systems, we're in this awkward point that say, Asbestos saw when it was widely accepted as being bad for humans. I'm not trying to give an excuse to Takata, rather I'm saying the overall big picture here is that while Takata is the big bad face of this issue, people have taken airbags for granted for a long time. There hasn't been any regulation I am aware of or any real guidelines to provide an expectation that SRS systems should last beyond their warranty period without complete replacement, they just happen to do so; which means people attribute a sense of "reliability" to a system that as far as we plebeians know, are only meant to last until the warranty expires.
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This is all my opinion, and yes you can say "easy for you to say you own a 4th gen". But that doesn't mean much really, because as far as I or you know my 4th gen could be involved in the near future. Hell every damn airbag in my vehicle could be potentially a grenade for all we know. Also, you every think about the other explosives in your vehicle? Sure the passenger dashboard airbags are the defective ones, but what about the driver's airbag puck in the steering column, the knee bolster, the one in your seat, the side curtain airbags, the pretensioners in your seatbelts? Do all those use the same faulty propellant technology? Is it only a matter of time until ALL those need to be replaced because they too are deemed dangerous? I mean I doubt that only the passenger airbags use non-desiccated ammonium nitrate, it's a plentiful and relatively affordable propellant and Takata wasn't the only one to use it; just one of the biggest users of it. I see a lot of people following and spouting a lot of the same phrases and hype that the news does with some spattering of data, a lot of anger at Toyota and Takata (how about Ford, or Honda, or anyone else who bought from Takata?), but not a lot of questions regarding how this happened, why is there no process to test for these things or even "how long are SRS systems really supposed to last without service? is it regulated? is it even set in stone?". This entire situation sucks and that's the nice way to put it, because while realistically speaking we're talking about a very small statistical number of potentional deaths and injuries; no one wants to be part of that small number. But that's no where near enough to shut a business down or stop capitalism in it's tracks, I'm sure Mc Donalds gets away with more death and sickness from their slop than Takata/Toyota/Ford/ect. have with theirs. But expecting a company to stop their business entirely is unrealistic. Look at Ford, they have a recall for their Transit vans snapping driveshafts, you know what their fix is? Seriously, because they don't either as of yet. They're just gonna band-aid it every 30k (yes, the customer has to come in every 30k to get this temporary fix done every time for the problem) until they figure out a permanent solution. That's kind of the situation here, the logistical nightmare of some dozen brands, hundreds of inflators, and so on needing to be replaced is huge; that's before they even figure out how to fix the problem. What they're trying to do is exactly what you people want "FIX MY CAR NOW!", far as I understand, all the replacement units will need to be replaced later down the line; hopefully when they've had enough time to design a better unit to use and install. Because shutting down every manufacturer of vehicles for a year or two while they figure it out is just unrealistic.
Meanwhile I get in my car, and everyone else's car every day wondering if some random shit is going to just set off every damn airbag in the car. Or if when I go on a test drive am I going to get sideswiped by a semi and killed? Or even better I have to test drive this customer's beat to hell car with NO airbags because they can't be bothered to fix the SRS warning lamp and hope I don't get in an accident that kills me. Hell, am I going to go do a recall on a customer's car and that's when I'm the unluckiest SOB in the world and I get the one inflator that's on a hair trigger ready to grenade?
I mean I do these thing almost every other day, there's a statistical precedence that I am more likely to encounter a faulty unit just trying to do my job! lol That's before I start thinking about things like, "I wonder how much internal organ damage me installing a full metal bumper is going to cause in an accident, or how safe are my occupants in an accident now that I've jacked my 4Runner up on 35's, chopped the body mount, and made this thing more likely to flip in an accident? Am I going to watch my friend or family member die in my arms because of internal organ damage or injuries I might have increased the probability of because I wanted to play off-road and drive my deathtrap to the movies too? Honestly, with how much hysteria people on this forum put towards this airbag thing, there's a whole lot of ignoring how much we've tampered with the safety of our vehicles. It doesn't make peoples anger to Toyota/Ford/Takata/Honda/ect. any less valid, but as I pointed out earlier, I see the same sales pitch thrown about in every one of these threads and yet not one single person bats an eye at the potential safety issue/health risk they might increase in their own vehicles.
Post Note-
I do apologize for the partial rant there, between the annoying amount of fear mongering, mis-information, and general disregard for reason overshadowing good points in these threads and being slightly stressed from work; I figured I'd throw my un-wanted opinion (I do try keep my opinions technical for the most part, but hey I'm a human meatbag too) into this mess of a thread... Bourbon and Coke may have also been involved in this vomitious of words. lol