Driver grab handle design

[superj]

I wonder if somwone who has design experience can design a grab handle for the driver side? Doesnt have to be pretty, but functional, yes.

Or maybe everyone can think of designs and throw their idea up and then maybe we could talk our ranger design guys that make tons of cool stuff, american adventure labs, into making a test batch?

I would take one, for sure. I hate trying to get out of the ranger, and even more since i had hernia surgery thursday. I am going to try today but not having a handle to use my arms to lift may make this a painful experience.

Its not particular to the ranger, i havent driven my mazda either. All we take is the wrangler because it has two easy to use driver side grab handles.

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[ATestBishop]

That would be very awesome but it would take some serious design experience to make it functional

 

[superj]

I bet enough people would be interested.

And we probably have some designers here. There are tons of smart people on this forum.

How do we tag AAL? I tried and it never brings them up. @AdventureLab

I figured it out

 

[ATestBishop]

I think there would be interest as well , I just believe it would be a real challenge to design, AAL could do it if anyone, maybe #AdvetureLab or sending a DM as well would work.

 

[embedded rock]

Would the passenger A-pillar cover and handle fit from the Australian Rangers?

 

[Reddog99]

Would the passenger A-pillar cover and handle fit from the Australian Rangers?

Hey, that's a good idea. I've always wanted a drivers side grab handle like my 2004 had.

 

[danmoochie]

Would the passenger A-pillar cover and handle fit from the Australian Rangers?

been looked at and pretty sure it will indeed fit !

 

[Jason B]

Would the passenger A-pillar cover and handle fit from the Australian Rangers?

Maybe, but someone said there may not be anchor points behind it for the grab handle.
If not, you would just be pulling on the plastic trim.
Somebody would need to remove the trim to verify.

 

[superj]

And then figure out a way to ship for everyone since ford na wont order them for us

 

[ATestBishop]

It would very likely need to be an aftermarket solution, the chance of an OEM solution is non-existent

 

[superj]

Thats how i feel.

 

[joordan]

Discussed thousands of times…you do not have anchor points on the pillar for the grab handle in US. It was specifically removed as it did not pass your crash test in US

here in EU and AU we have them (and they work great although I admit I am not using that often)

 

[embedded rock]

@joordan Does the EU Ranger have an airbag in the left A pillar?

 

[joordan]

@joordan Does the EU Ranger have an airbag in the left A pillar?

yes

 

[jrRaptor]

As a design engineer, the problem I see is the fact there is an airbag and introducing an anchor point that does not break away for the airbag could cause the airbag to not deploy properly. While yes, the EU Rangers have this capability with airbags, it was designed for EU regs, so I would venture the airbags are different and the way they deploy is different. It would be nice to see exactly how the EU version is built and allows the airbags to deploy properly so the US owners could reverse engineer one, but this is a big hurdle and likely not something a reputable aftermarket shop wants to tackle just due to liability alone. I would not want introduce a product into the market that could potentially inhibit the airbag from deploying properly and then be sued after a big car crash resulting in injury or death. I would love to be completely wrong and off base but the Ranger already barely passes with the current side curtain airbag debacle, hence the active recall.

Can it be done? Sure, I think so, if one does not care about the airbag and POTENTIAL risks of modifying the system and is willing to own up to the liability themselves. But I doubt there will be an aftermarket solution you can just buy online. This would have to be a crowdsourced and sharable R&D project where any user accepts the risks and installs themselves.

*Just my thoughts and ramblings, I am not a lawyer of any type, SME on US/EU vehicle regulations or airbags or vehicle safety, and I am also not your dad. Please take the above with the utmost respect as a human being and a hint of humor.

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