I've had a pair of airbag codes for a few months now, so I took the car to a shop that was formerly a GM dealership. They said that the B1015 & B1021 codes show high resistance to both airbags, and that both airbags need to be replaced. Other research indicates that airbags that were manufactured in the 90's and later should never go bad. So I'm wondering if this shop performed the full Helms diagnostic or took a shortcut. I may get a second opinion if I can get a shop to follow the complete diagnostic.

My understanding is that if either airbag is measured as being bad, then neither will deploy. If the passenger airbag is bad, well it's just staying installed due to the difficulty of removal, then I'm looking to remove as much of the SRS system I can to save weight and hide any SRS failure indicators.

That leads me to an an aftermarket steering wheel & horn (I don't have radio buttons to worry about). My OEM leather steering wheel cracked years ago and I replaced it with the foam/vinyl version. Of those two materials, I like the looks of the leather better but I didn't like the beating it took in the Florida sun. The foam wheel doesn't get as hot. Outside of that, I guess I want something that's performance oriented. I've seen opinions that the OEM steering wheel diameter is 'too large' for performance. Simply as a comparison, the C8 wheel is 14", my vinyl wheel is 14.5-15". What is a good balance diameter that will work well in daily driver situations as well as being performance oriented?

Speaking of steering, does anyone make an aftermarket steering column that retains all OEM features? Does anyone make a rack and pinion that is more performance oriented that won't have side effects? Does the rack design interact with the steering wheel diameter?

Just my thoughts on everything:

I did some reading and came to the conclusion that airbags older than 15-20 years is unreliable anyways, or at least that's how I justified removing both of mine.

The passenger bag came out pretty easy and without removing the dash. I tried to remove the module under the center console but get the "maintenance required" light and maybe abs too can't remember so I kept that in.

Went with a C6 steering wheel with radio controls and used a PAC module to make it work. Airbag is in but I never bothered hooking it up. It's only a few pounds so I didn't mind. The wheel is a great size balance for street and track. It does require an upper shaft swap from certain years grand prix and some other vehicles. Another bonus is the wheel move about a half inch or more closer to driver.

Also I've had good luck so far with an ac Delco rebuilt rack and pinion.

I have a few things pending in the column, but my steering column guy move out of state, and I'm having difficulty finding someone experienced in rebuilding these columns. I don't recall what type of rack I have at the moment, I think it's ACDelco. My search turned up quicker ratio's for earlier generations but nothing for ours. The tilt fix I had in mind had a modified upper shaft so I don't know if both mods would mesh.

How'd you remove the passenger airbag without removing the dash? I was expecting it to be like this thread, having to remove the entire dash:
https://ls1tech.com/forums/appearance-detai...-bag-cover.html

If you pull the glove box you can get to it, I might have loosened the dash but I know I didn't take it out. Some extensions and u joints and a little sweat should get it done.

As far as the tilt, I'm about tired of the loose column that is so common on these. I'm about ready to do a fixed column and quick release wheel

This post has been edited by mikedamageinc: Jul 24 2021, 12:25 AM