Ebay and Craigslist are good places to look for a wheel. Also swap meets. There is a huge swap meet in Arlington and another in Fort Worth down here, and I've seen these wheels at those meets. Also make friends with Pennsylvania folks. Carlisle and Hershey meets are THE BEST, and the Englishtown swap meet in NJ is also always good. Good luck!
My son drives a car without an airbag for two reasons...Personal preference, and he is a short guy (5' 4"). If an airbag were to go off in a car he was driving, he'd be killed; period, dot, if that steering wheel airbag deploys. Airbags DO kill people every day, but you never hear about that from the cops, the press, or Big Brother. Freedom of choice. Acceptance of the consequences of those choices. Unfortunately, the Nanny State and its herds of tort lawyers are out to micromanage every aspect of life.
Fine. Your son's situation is not the norm. Everybody likes to point out the three guys that got killed by an airbag and use that as a reason for disabling them while completely ignoring the three million other guys whose lives were saved. Not everybody is as short as your son, and therefore we should not use his experience as an example to follow. Besides, what about the other people of perhaps more average height who might also have occasion to drive the car? You call it "Big Brother." I call it "common sense."
In Canada if you have a medical condition that requires you to drive 25 centimeters/ten inches or less from the steering wheel you can have the bag deactivated... so buy whatever you want. Nascar race cars have no airbags and those drivers are rarely injured in crashes? Ever notice how close they sit to the steering wheel?
I call it "Big Brother and the Nanny State getting into things that are not their concern, nor their purview"! If you want the government to tell you what to do, great. I, however, do not. The government does NOT offer "common sense" solutions to anything. I do not have a choice whether to buy a new car or truck without airbags; therefore, they limit my right to choose what it right for me and my family, as well as you and yours, and everyone else. Another reason I will not buy a new vehicle that has up to 20 airbags in it. An airbag deployment will result in a totalled car by most insurance companies, regardless of the overall damage to the car or truck. Airbags are one reason we spend MORE, not less, on vehicle insurance. Common sense, eh? When I was a teenager, I rear-ended a pickup with a Datsun 510 sedan at 55 mph. I had a lap belt and shoulder harness, and walked away completely uninjured. A couple of months later, I was a passenger in my friend's '72 Cutlass as we went off a 45' embankment, rolling the car end-over-end five times before coming to rest on the frame of the car. It had lap belts with separate shoulder harnesses in front. Again, we walked away with minor scratches, and my friend sprained his wrist. All without the "benefits" of airbags. I'll pass on them, thanks.
If you want the government to tell you what to do, great. I, however, do not. Nor do I. The government does NOT offer "common sense" solutions to anything. I have lived a long life without the G telling me how to live it. I believe I will continue without their inadequate support.
I've been in the auto insurance claims industry for over 30 years. I've seen lots of vehicles that were involved in very serious collisions. I've come to some conclusions involving 'Supplemental Restraint Systems' 1. I don't need a steering wheel airbag. My 3-point seat belt / shoulder harness should be sufficient in the event of a serious front impact. Same for my front seat passenger. 2. I like having side airbags. There is simply not that much room between me and a car t-boning me at 40 mph. In this case , I want all the protection I can get. If my vehicle gets totalled due to an airbag deployment, at least I'll probably be around to get a replacement vehicle. I think it was a good thing that the government started mandating safety systems for vehicles. I think that eventually we would have had all that stuff, but in this case, I think the government pushed the technology. Without the gov, it would have been an economic incentive that pushed Detroit to consider safety systems. They would have had ever increasing product lawsuits and wrongful death cases. Not meaning to step on anyone's toes here, just throwing in my opinion. Marshall
No problem, KK. If everyone had the same opinion there would be no discussions and, possibly, no forums.
Thank you for your commentary. It's good to hear from someone on the inside. I'd be interested in your answer to another question. You said this: You're basically saying that seat belts give enough protection all by themselves, if there can ever be such a things as "enough" protection. But given that cars nowadays come with front seat airbags on both sides whether we want them or not, would you consider this overall an improvement, or would say that we would actually be better off disabling or removing these airbags if we could? In other, do you think the front seat airbags actually make things worse, or do they provide an additional measure of safety, however modest, when combined with seat belts?
No, I wouldn't say they make things worse. I'm not going to go to the trouble of disabling the air bags in my wife's HHR. If I had an older 90's wagon that I thought would look real good with a regular wheel, like Mike did, I would certainly do that though. I will say though, that my experience is only based on observations.I personally have not been in a crash where an air bag has been deployed.
