I'm prototyping a transmission-hump mount for some HAM radio equipment that I'd like to install in my newly-acquired 2005 Dakota Club Cab. (I have the 3-person bench/bucket arrangement with the fold-down armrest/console.) Some of the equipment will go UNDER the stationary center section; the rest will mount vertically right in front of the seat.

Removing the seats temporarily would help me to craft this mount. And I might even use the seat mounting bolts to secure my bracket in place -- so that no additional holes or drilling are required. But then I stumbled across THIS:

Does anyone know HOW exactly the seat mounting bolts are "tied into the air bag sensor system"? Is this for real?

 

the bolts are the ground. your supposed to be able to get around it by disconecting the battery for about 30 mins before you take the seat out. if you dont you will wind up like me with all your airbag lights on.... fail..... if you have to get it reset you have to take it to the dealer and they put the sensor into calibrate mode and use weights to calibrate the thing. takes about an hour... prices vary.

 

Thanks for speaking up.

I've started doing a bit of research on my own, and I understand that Bosch made some special bolts that somehow provide weight-sensing feedback to the airbag -- but without having to redesign the entire seat base/mount. I still don't understand it completely.

It allows full-power deployment of the airbag for large adults, mid-power deployment for smaller adults, and bypass for children.

I don't yet understand how all this is built into a mere bolt; but I believe that there's a bit more to it than the seat bolts just being an electrical ground path.

Still researching . . .

 

post results please, i want to change the carpeting on my truck and the whole airbag sensor thing freaks me out.

 

I pulled out the front seats, that is after disconnecting the battery and pulling the fuses (3) for the airbags. Let it sit for a few hours before I started. The airbag lights, both above radio and on dash, came on after I was done. After a few months of the lights, went to the dealer and it cost me $100 to calibrate the sensors and reinitialize the passenger seat weight sensing system.

I'm not sure what the trick is to avoid the lights coming on, or if it's pure luck.

 

I guess the stealership is the only solution for this issue.

 

Anybody know what the torque specs are on the seat weight sensor bolts?