1996 Ford F150 Owner's Manual - Page 30

The air bag system is designed to stay out of sight until it is activated. The air bag system is designed to deploy in frontal and front-angled collisions more severe than hitting a parked vehicle of similar size and weight head-on at about 28 mph (45 km/h). Because the system senses the crash severity rather than vehicle speed, some frontal collisions at speeds above 28 mph (45 km/h) will not inflate the air bag. The system activates when the sensors detect a forward deceleration equal to or greater than the deceleration experienced if you would drive your vehicle into a solid wall at 14 mph. In some side impacts, the forward deceleration of your vehicle can be great enough to deploy your air bag. The following four steps show how the air bag system works: 1. Sensors in the vehicle will detect the degree of severity of a frontal impact. When the sensor system is activated, electric current flows to the inflator and the system ignites the gas generant. The propellant then rapidly burns in the metal container. The rapid burning produces nitrogen gas and small amounts of dust. The nitrogen gas and dust are cooled and filtered during inflation of the air bag. The inflating supplemental air bag splits open the trim cover. The supplemental air bag then rapidly unfolds and inflates in front of the driver. 2. 3. NOTE: STEPS 1-3 TAKE PLACE IN A FRACTION OF A SECOND. 27