Side air bag confusion 98-2000 - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

keenie54 · 08-17-2007, 06:40 PM

Do I have side air bags or not? There is a yellow sticker in door jam and a sticker on the side of the seat that says"SRS Side Airbag". We can find no evidence of actual bags in the car and where they could possibly be located. A car salesperson that was very experienced looked for a long time and could not figure out where they could be. Help? I have a 2000 that is labeled like this and I was just going to buy a 1998 that had the same labels. Neither car looks like it actually has bag modules anywhere. HELP????

Qslim · 08-17-2007, 11:29 PM

The side airbag is in the seat bolster.

keenie54 · 08-17-2007, 11:31 PM

How does the bag get out in an accident? Does it rip through the seam?

Qslim · 08-17-2007, 11:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by keenie54

How does the bag get out in an accident? Does it rip through the seam?

Sure does. Airbag deployments are violent as hell, and certainly have enough energy to rip through a seat and even a dashboard. But when you look at the conditions under which one deploys, the last think you'll worry about is the fact that your seat it torn.
Another thing you can do to set your mind at ease and ensure you are not dealing with something bizarre is look under the seat. Airbag wires are always yellow, and if the seat does indeed have an airbag there will be a yellow plug and wire where the seat connects to the airbag module.

keenie54 · 08-18-2007, 10:23 AM

Thanks! You have been very helpful. I checked under the seat and I am now assured that our 2000 has side air bags!

98CamryLE · 08-19-2007, 10:15 AM

Make sure your insurance company knows that you have side air bags too- it should save you a few bucks a month on your premium!!!

touringcamry · 08-19-2007, 11:41 AM

The seams that the airbag will break may be a bit different to allow the airbag to break through easier.

If you look at the steering wheel and the dash where the front air bags come through, you can see some cut outs that the air bag will break when it deploys.

keenie54 · 08-20-2007, 04:12 PM

It's really amazing how many people are confused by this, other than me! My daughter saw the yellow connection under the seat, so she is assuming she has the side airbags. However, over the weekend she stopped at four different automobile facilities and had mechanics and/or sales people look at her car. Three of the four said they see not evidence of the 2000 Camry having the side airbags, even though there are stickers on the door and on the side of the seat. Why wouldn't they make it more obvious, if it really is inside the seat????