Airbag Timeline: Pickup Trucks, 1993-1999

NOTE: the full size trucks on this list are the standard half-ton versions.

Pickup trucks were late to get air bags, relative to cars; the first pickup to get an air bag, the Dodge Ram, went on sale in fall 1993 as a '94 model.

In that same 1994 model year, Dodge also equipped their Dakota midsize truck with a standard driver air bag. The Ford F-150 (the best selling vehicle in America) as well as the Toyota T-100 also got a driver air bag standard starting with the '94 models.

1995 was the most common model year to make the switch. 5 of 12 models had their first driver air bag this year. General Motors equipped both their full-size and compact (Chevy S10/GMC Sonoma) trucks with standard driver air bags this year. The Ford Ranger and similar Mazda B-Series also came standard with a driver air bag. Later in the model year (March 1995) Toyota replaced its Pickup with the all-new Tacoma. which came standard with a driver air bag. Since Toyota produced both the Pickup and Tacoma for 1995, I have marked the square "optional" (standard on the Tacoma, and not available on the Pickup)

For 1996, the Nissan Hardbody Pickup got a driver air bag, and the Isuzu Pickup was replaced by the Chevy S-10 based Hombre, gaining a standard driver air bag in the process. The Ford Ranger and related Mazda B-Series began offering an optional passenger air bag this year. The Mitsubishi Mighty Max was the lone air bag holdout; it bit the dust after this year.

For 1997, the completely redesigned all-new Ford F-150 became the first truck to make dual air bags standard when it was introduced in January 1996*. Several months later, the Chevy/GMC full size truck made dual air bags standard, as well as the Dodge Dakota, also redesigned for 1997.

For 1998, all of the remaining trucks made dual air bags standard, with the exception of the Toyota T-100, which was discontinued this year.

*The 1997 F-150 was introduced so early in the 1997 model year that most of the "traditional" 1996 model year (Sept '95 - Aug '96) hadn't happened yet.