I was hoping to put seat covers in the front seat of my 95' 850t, but then I realized that the SIPS are in the sides of the seats... Is it possible to put covers on the seats? or do the SIPS make it impossible.

 

What do you mean? Like after market seat covers? Of course you can, a dinky seat cover is going to stop that airbag, besides, IPD sells seat covers for the car. Or are you talking about the seat skins?

 

I mean like http://www.brookstone.com/sheepskin-...:referralID=NA

Not those in particular, but I'm looking into sheepskin.

The sips will protect through that?

 

SIPS will rip right through the stitching on seats, I think it could handle those. Besides, it's not like because it's covered up it will be ineffective. The dash air bags rip through the dash without a problem.

 

All airbags are designed specifically for their environment; i.e. if you start putting stuff over them that wasn't designed to be there you will impact their effectiveness!

Google "seat covers + side impact airbags" and do some research; apparently there are seat cover manufacturers out there who design their covers for SIPs; ck them out.

Gilber: Airbags don't "rip through the dash"; the compartment they deploy from is designed to be "ripped through". I wouldn't sew a denim cover over my dash if I wanted my airbags to actually work when I needed them... Same with SIPs; the seat covers are designed to be "ripped through".

 

Well duh I wouldn't put denim over the dash, and obviously there is a weak spot in the dash where they deploy, I'm not a complete moron. If I were you, ditch seat covers, they're tacky, just get new skins for the seats if the leather is worn out.

 

I just picked up both leather seats for mine at a junk yard for $50 I think those seat covers look tacky also, they fit too loose.

This is the first I've heard of those SIPs...how do I know if my seats have that feature?

 

All 850's have them to my knowledge, open your door and there should be part of the door sill that rises up in the corner and says SIPS on it.

 

SIPS bags became available on the 850 in 1994 as an option, and became standard equipment in either 1995 or 1996, I don't remember which. My 1994 doesn't have them, though if I find a pair of front seats in better condition that have them, mine WILL have them. I'll also have to get the parts inside the door that enable the bags to fire quicker- there's actually a honeycomb panel and some "blocking" inside the door on SIPS bag equipped cars that reduce the amount that the door needs to crumple before the side airbag deploys. The side airbags on 850s and 1998 S70s are non- electronic, fired by a firing pin mounted in the plastic trim on the seat bottom.

And yes, seat covers can impede the operation of them- no, they won't stop the bags from deploying, but they will slow it down, and airbags are timed precisely. Also, if the seat cover is really elastic, the airbag might not break through, and instead be re- directed by the seat cover, or not fully extend, or otherwise not work the way they should. There are seat covers that are designed to work with side airbags, typically they have weaker stitching in the area airbags deploy from, so if you HAVE to get seat covers, get this type.

 

I had a set of Sheep Skins for my 740 back in the day. They were great unless I had to recline the seat a little. Then they pooched out at the bottom which made it impossible to sit comfortable in the seat. I had to send them back but boy I wanted to keep them.

As we all know, the 740 did not have SIRS, so that was not an issue. Personally I think the sheep skins would be to much maintenance in the long run and I do NOT think the air bag would make it through them, unless they were designed to or you modified them to. I don't imagine that many seat cover manufacturers make them for SIRS seats. I don't think many cars have that system in the seats like the Volvo's do.

 

Hmm, well I haven't seen anything about SIPS on mine...I have my seats apart right now, trying to make one good seat out of the two I got Is there anything on the seats themselves that would indacate wether or not they are equiped with airbags?

 

Yeah, the giant airbag on the side of it. There would also be a silver disc on the side of the bottom of the seat that would face the door. If there is one, don't touch it, or the air bag will deploy. If you do have sips there should be a red plastic piece tucked away somewhere on the bottom side of the seat to place in the air bag sensor to protect it from deploying.