[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 49, Volume 5]
[Revised as of October 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 49CFR581.6]

[Page 952]
 
                        TITLE 49--TRANSPORTATION
 
                            OF TRANSPORTATION
 
PART 581--BUMPER STANDARD--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 581.6  Conditions.

    The vehicle shall meet the requirements of Sec. 581.5 under the 
following conditions.
    (a) General. (1) The vehicle is at unloaded vehicle weight.
    (2) The front wheels are in the straight ahead position.
    (3) Tires are inflated to the vehicle manufacturer's recommended 
pressure for the specified loading condition.
    (4) Brakes are disengaged and the transmission is in neutral.
    (5) Trailer hitches, license plate brackets, and headlamp washers 
are removed from the vehicle. Running lights, fog lamps, and equipment 
mounted on the bumper face bar are removed from the vehicle if they are 
optional equipment.
    (b) Pendulum test conditions. The following conditions apply to the 
pendulum test procedures of Sec. 581.7 (a) and (b).
    (1) The test device consists of a block with one side contoured as 
specified in Figure 1 and Figure 2 with the impact ridge made of A1S1 
4130 steel hardened to 34 Rockwell ``C.'' The impact ridge and the 
surfaces in Planes A and B of the test device are finished with a 
surface roughness of 32 as specified by SAE Recommended Practice J449A, 
June 1963. From the point of release of the device until the onset of 
rebound, the pendulum suspension system holds Plane A vertical, with the 
arc described by any point on the impact line lying in a vertical plane 
(for Sec. 581.7(a), longitudinal; for Sec. 581.7(b), at an angle of 
30 deg. to a vertical longitudinal plane) and having a constant radius 
of not less than 11 feet.
    (2) With Plane A vertical, the impact line shown in Figures 1 and 2 
is horizontal at the same height as the test device's center of 
percussion.
    (3) The effective impacting mass of the test device is equal to the 
mass of the tested vehicle.
    (4) When impacted by the test device, the vehicle is at rest on a 
level rigid concrete surface.
    (c) Barrier test condition. At the onset of a barrier impact, the 
vehicle's engine is operating at idling speed in accordance with the 
manufacturer's specifications. Vehicle systems that are not necessary to 
the movement of the vehicle are not operating during impact.

(Authority: Sec. 102, Pub. L. 92-513, 86 Stat. 947 (15 U.S.C. 1912); 
secs. 103, 119, Pub. L. 89-563, 80 Stat. 718 (15 U.S.C. 1392, 1407); 
delegation of authority at 49 CFR 1.50 and 501.7)

[42 FR 24059, May 12, 1977, as amended at 42 FR 38909, Aug. 1, 1977; 48 
FR 43331, Sept. 23, 1983]