Do airbags have enough force to lift the weight of a car off its wheels? Well I deployed the two airbags from my lowly Corolla convertible to find out just if it could:
The Victim: My 2001 Toyota Corolla Convertible.
Started with the driver’s side airbag, behind the wheel where the pinch welds are, since those are the jack points, it should have the most punch at lifting the car.
I placed my brother’s toothbrush alongside the front wheel to see if it will even budge, then I deployed the airbag.
I went off with a startling bang that sent my neighbors over visiting.
The car did not lift up, nor did the toothbrush even move. Saddening.
But the passenger side airbag is bigger, right? I set it even closer to the body.
And the result is a flying toothbrush, but not exactly a flying Corolla…
The airbag has so much force, its own housing is warped from the explosion!
While the car did not lift, but I did find later that it punched a giant dent under the car and ripped the straight weld along the floor pan seem. A lot of force!
I conclude that its because the airbags are so large, and expand out sideways, that not all of its energy can be dissipated upward to launch the car.
I’m a little bit disappointed, since I swapped that heavy 1ZZ-FE engine for a much lighter 2JZ-GTE engine…but still no takeoff.
The Victim: My 2001 Toyota Corolla Convertible.
Started with the driver’s side airbag, behind the wheel where the pinch welds are, since those are the jack points, it should have the most punch at lifting the car.
I placed my brother’s toothbrush alongside the front wheel to see if it will even budge, then I deployed the airbag.
I went off with a startling bang that sent my neighbors over visiting.
The car did not lift up, nor did the toothbrush even move. Saddening.
But the passenger side airbag is bigger, right? I set it even closer to the body.
And the result is a flying toothbrush, but not exactly a flying Corolla…
The airbag has so much force, its own housing is warped from the explosion!
While the car did not lift, but I did find later that it punched a giant dent under the car and ripped the straight weld along the floor pan seem. A lot of force!
I conclude that its because the airbags are so large, and expand out sideways, that not all of its energy can be dissipated upward to launch the car.
I’m a little bit disappointed, since I swapped that heavy 1ZZ-FE engine for a much lighter 2JZ-GTE engine…but still no takeoff.
