1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Seat cushion straps and airbags

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Technical Discussion' started by Bob Allen, Jul 24, 2007.

  1. Bob Allen

    Bob Allen Captainbaba

    Joined:
    Jan 16, 2004
    1,273
    11
    0
    Location:
    Seattle, WA
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    I'd like to get one of those seat cushions that are held in place by a strap around the upper part of the seat, and by two straps that are fed through the slot between the seat and back. Does this type of cushion compromise the operation of the seat airbag? I can't see that the two straps running under the seat would be an issue, but the strap running around the upper part of the seat back might be. Thoughts?
     
    #1 Bob Allen, Jul 24, 2007
  2. dogfriend

    dogfriend Human - Animal Hybrid

    Joined:
    Feb 26, 2007
    7,512
    1,188
    0
    Location:
    Carmichael, CA
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    The seat air bag deploys thru the outer edge of the seat back where the stitching is designed to break away.

    I would think that it would compromise the deployment of the side air bag if it deflects the air bag from the intended path.

    Here's a photo I grabbed from the Toyota web site showing the air bag deployed. I added the red outline around the bag:


    [attachmentid=10099]
     

    Attached Files:

    #2 dogfriend, Jul 25, 2007
  3. Bob Allen

    Bob Allen Captainbaba

    Joined:
    Jan 16, 2004
    1,273
    11
    0
    Location:
    Seattle, WA
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dogfriend @ Jul 25 2007, 02:00 PM) [snapback]484561[/snapback]</div>
    Thank you. Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for the great photo, too. I think there may be a lot of drivers out there with slip on seat covers who are losing some airbag protection.
     
    #3 Bob Allen, Jul 25, 2007
  4. dogfriend

    dogfriend Human - Animal Hybrid

    Joined:
    Feb 26, 2007
    7,512
    1,188
    0
    Location:
    Carmichael, CA
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Before I bought my Prius, I was considering a base model with the cloth seats. My GF was against the cloth seats because she thought that they wouldn't hold up well with our two dogs. I was thinking about using seat covers, but thought that it probably wasn't a good idea with the side air bags. I know now that some companies do offer seat covers that are supposed to be compatible with the side air bags, but I'm skeptical that they have done any testing to see how they really work.

    I ended up with the factory leather seats. No complaints, except I would really like to be able to lower the seat for visibility reasons.
     
    #4 dogfriend, Jul 25, 2007
  5. aaf709

    aaf709 Ravenpaw of ThunderClan

    Joined:
    Apr 23, 2005
    3,862
    18
    0
    Location:
    San Diego, CA
    Vehicle:
    2022 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Limited
    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dogfriend @ Jul 25 2007, 12:20 PM) [snapback]484865[/snapback]</div>
    If you look at Wet Okole's website you can see that they did testing.
     
    #5 aaf709, Jul 25, 2007
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)