Would rock sliders help in an accident?

[e60ral]

All this brings a question to my mind:
Does anyone know definitively how the airbag sensors (side and front) work in the 5th gen? Are they accelerometers? Impact sensors?
I agree with the fact that bumpers and sliders have varying affect on accident outcome. However, if the airbag sensors are in fact impact based, and not acceleration based, it would be difficult to argue against the idea that adding anything that changes the impact points on the vehicle risks preventing the airbags from deploying. This is something serious to be considered, imo.

Now the real question. Who has a 5th gen with sliders on one side and not on the other, that they want to volunteer to get t-boned (once on each side)?
Come on and take one for the team :hungry:

i was not entirely correct when i assumed accelerometer, it also uses mechanical switched. in the video they used a cam based trigger, there are also ball in tube triggers as well as purely accelerometer based systems. The computer will also take into account vehicle parameters like speed, yaw, pitch etc... to determine if airbags should be triggered, and which ones and how fast they should be triggered.

the common denominator is that they are based on acceleration (negative, or deceleration). Anything that reduces crush zones will increase acceleration which means it's more likely for the airbag to deploy. The a

i don't know to the degree that the computer will mitigate the change in effect on the crash sensor, but anything that reduces crush zones will have the effect of making it more likely for airbags to go off

https://youtu.be/mWSlwhYyOhI

 

[1engineer]

i was not entirely correct when i assumed accelerometer, it also uses mechanical switched. in the video they used a cam based trigger, there are also ball in tube triggers as well as purely accelerometer based systems. The computer will also take into account vehicle parameters like speed, yaw, pitch etc... to determine if airbags should be triggered, and which ones and how fast they should be triggered.

the common denominator is that they are based on acceleration (negative, or deceleration). Anything that reduces crush zones will increase acceleration which means it's more likely for the airbag to deploy. The a

i don't know to the degree that the computer will mitigate the change in effect on the crash sensor, but anything that reduces crush zones will have the effect of making it more likely for airbags to go off

https://youtu.be/mWSlwhYyOhI

Excellent post.

 

[MSRP.]

Was this thread posted?

5th gen, crash tested from a side impact with sliders: (i recall seeing a handful more threads post-slider-impacts, but I have not saved those.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/212412-metaltech-sliders-1-hyundai-sonata-0-a.html

 

[Jetboy]

FWIW - Toyota did make OEM rock sliders for the FJ Cruiser. Possibly they did some crash testing on them. You'll notice that they're build on stamped brackets that would crumple pretty quickly on impact having no sheer structure in one plane on the brackets. It would seem like they'd be easy to bend. But from what I remember they seemed to hold up pretty well.

My personal guess - in most impacts that would cause serious injury to the occupants - the frame will fail if the slider doesn't. The frame rails are pretty thin gauge material and not particularly strong laterally. Sliders bolted to the frame web will probably just punch right through or bend the frame rail.

Whatever Toyota does for airbag sensors - it's pretty darn good. We never hear of accidental airbag discharges - or failure to deploy when necessary.

 

[Swarty]

Always give and take.

i was not entirely correct when i assumed accelerometer, it also uses mechanical switched. in the video they used a cam based trigger, there are also ball in tube triggers as well as purely accelerometer based systems. The computer will also take into account vehicle parameters like speed, yaw, pitch etc... to determine if airbags should be triggered, and which ones and how fast they should be triggered.

the common denominator is that they are based on acceleration (negative, or deceleration). Anything that reduces crush zones will increase acceleration which means it's more likely for the airbag to deploy. The a

i don't know to the degree that the computer will mitigate the change in effect on the crash sensor, but anything that reduces crush zones will have the effect of making it more likely for airbags to go off

https://youtu.be/mWSlwhYyOhI

Sort of, the Toyota/Denso system is a multi sensor system. There are sensors in the crash zones that are switch based as above but in an impact the airbags can be engaged from the main airbag ECU which has 3 accelerometers and 3 gyroscopes and is located under the center console. If enough energy is transferred to the cabin the airbags go off regardless of what the signal is from the contact switches. too fast an angle change or too much acceleration and your airbags blow. This is also how your car knows to engage the airbags before you fully roll the vehicle. As a side note there are sensors in the doors but they sense air pressure changes as that is a faster change than deformation or impact when in a closed volume or near a large flat surface. impact switch sensors are usually located in the pillars. Impact sensors are also sensitive to the constant impacts from shutting the door which is another reason to use pressure switches in that environment.

I agree with what was already mentioned, your vehicle will be more likely to transfer energy with more rigid structures whether they are hitches, bumpers or sliders but less likely to suffer cabin intrusion injuries. Which is the bigger risk is something I haven't seen much real data on but anecdotally I haven't seen a single image of heavy cabin intrusion. 4runners do pretty bad in wheel well intrusion on overlap tests but neither high clearance bumpers or sliders are going to do much to stop that. I'd suspect that they minimize body damage but raise the risk of occupant injuries slightly.

There, now I got in a couple whacks.
:deadhorse:

 

[Jetboy]

[MENTION=88975]Swarty[/MENTION] brought up a very interesting thought - at least to me. The front overlap issue with the tire intrusion into the passenger compartment. Many of us have seen how poorly a Jeep GC does in that test as compared to a 4runner - and recognize that the problematic body mount is there for that very reason.

Sliders may actually offer a significant amount of protection in a front overlap collision by keeping the tire outside of the passenger compartment. As would a lift possibly.
<iframe width="1280" height="720" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pI_hMNDhYiI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Swarty]

Maybe but doubtful

[MENTION=88975]Swarty[/MENTION] brought up a very interesting thought - at least to me. The front overlap issue with the tire intrusion into the passenger compartment. Many of us have seen how poorly a Jeep GC does in that test as compared to a 4runner - and recognize that the problematic body mount is there for that very reason.

Sliders may actually offer a significant amount of protection in a front overlap collision by keeping the tire outside of the passenger compartment. As would a lift possibly.

Nah the intrusion is from the tire and body work getting forced back. Most sliders won't block that since they don't attach to the frame far enough forward.

 

[FrontRange4Runner]

As with so many questions posed on this forum, I believe the correct answer is "it depends". Given the fact that there is basically no data on this subject, you are going to get 5 pages of conjecture and standard internet bro-science.