Adding a Passenger Airbag Disable Switch to an F250

Fast Mopar wrote:
The safest plan is to keep the young kids out of the front row.

Yup.

The safest plan is to keep the young kids out of the front row. I would not trust the deactivation sensors to always work. I've had too many issues with those types of things over the years.

Our family of 5 is much more comfortable traveling in 3-rows of seats. We towed our TT with 3 kids in child seats for two seasons before getting 3-rows. If your trips are under say 2h each way, just take two vehicles. Way cheaper than a new(er) tow vehicle.

You can find a lot newer 1-ton passenger van than pickup or SUV for the same $. I highly recommend a 2010+ GM van 6.0L/6-spd. I'd recommend our Suburban as well, but I don't think you'll find much for 2008+ 3/4 tons under $15k. But the only way to get over 10k RV tow capability with 3+ rows of seats is -05 Excursion or -06 Suburban/Yukon XL 2500 with 8.1L.

If the truck has the two-stage airbags, it will have the afore-mentioned seat sensor. I'm not entirely sure that the Super Duties do (yet). I'd have to read a few more manuals to find out for sure...

Wish I had a solution for you... Short of moving up to a monster like a Kodiak or an F-650+, I'm not sure how you're going to be able to seat six and pull a trailer that heavy without having to deal with a passenger side airbag (and if a used Excursion is out of your price range, an F650 probably is too!)

But at the core of the issue, I don't think that deactivation is necessary for forward-facing occupants though, only rear-facing.

The LeRoys wrote:
I was really under the impression that if a child was in the front seat, the air bag needed to be disabled.

You are correct and this is done automatically. If the seat sensor senses something in the passenger seat that weighs less than 75 lbs, if automatically turns off the passenger airbag and lights a warning light on the dash telling you its disabled.

Your problem is that there is no seat sensor for the middle position, and the passenger airbag is designed to protect both the passenger and middle seat occupants. To disable the passenger airbag you would need kids in both passenger and middle seats and let Mama sit in the back.

If Mama sits in the front, the passenger airbag will be on, as it should be.

I was really under the impression that if a child was in the front seat, the air bag needed to be disabled. I guess I will have to do more research.

We would really a vehicle capable of towing in the 10-14K range so when we inevitably go shopping for the next unti we're not limited by weight. Unfortuantely this leaves us with pickup trucks or excursions as our only tow options.

I've been searching for a used Excursion for quite a while, but have yet to find one in the condition or price that I'm looking.

You may be able to pick up a 2WD Excursion cheap from this guy/ :B

I'm confused: Why would you want to disable the passenger side airbag just because the occupants are under the age of 12?

In the Ford owner's manual, there are several places where it says When possible, children under 12 should be in the rear seats...

But, there is an entire paragraph which says,

WARNING: Front seat positions only: If seating two adults and a child, Ford recommends properly restraining the child in the center front seating position, but only if doing so will not interfere with driving the vehicle. This arrangement provides lap and shoulder belt and airbag protectionfor an adult occupant and an attachment method for a child restraint. If the child seat interferes with driving the vehicle and the child restraint is forward-facing, the child may be restrained in the passenger seat. Move the seat as far rearward as possible to minimize the likelihood of interaction with the front passenger airbag. Never place a rear-facing child seat in front of an active airbag. Always properly restrain all occupants, including the child in an appropriate child seat or booster.

But personally, as one of six kids, I can't imagine being crammed into a pickup three-across for a long trip. I grew up with full size vans from the time we had my third sibling through sibling number five. Vans are IMHO the way to go for long-distance trips.

Have you thought about a full size van like an E350? You don't say what ages the kids are but they grow fast, and 3 in the front gets old quick on a long trip. A van with the right drivetrain will tow as much as a pickup. If you're buying used, another option would be an Excursion. Let mama sit up front and have two rear rows for the kids.

The LeRoys wrote:
We are now a family of 6 and our current truck has only 5 seats so we are on the search for a new truck. We have determined we need a ford as that is the only manufacturer who makes 3/4 and 1 ton trucks with a bench seat in the front where the center seat has a shoulder belt.

However In searching for a F250/F350 from 2011 - 2015 we have found that no crew cabs seem to have a switch to disable a passenger airbag. They only seem to have it on regular and super cabs. All of our kids are under 12 so we need to turn it off. Does anyone know if it can be added? And at what cost? Anyone done it?

Every vehicle manufactured since 2006 is supposed to have a passenger airbag that will automatically turn off if there is insufficient weight in the passenger seat. However this means your wife will have to ride in the back seat, since the passenger airbag covers both the right most front passenger and the center passenger. There is a light somewhere that will indicate when the passenger airbag has been deactivated via weight sensor.