So wassup fellas. We all know that woodgrain steering wheels are the ish. its just so troublesome for 98-00 guys to swap because they are afraid of messing around with the airbag system. Well worry no more. I came up with a solution that could be useful. lets begine

so you bought urself a woodgrain lexus steering wheel but u dont wanna use ur ugly old 98-00 airbag. go ahead and purchase a 01+ airbag from any car year lexus that matches and take apart the explosive unit/bomb that blows up the airbag in a collsion.
turn to the back of the airbag unit and u will see it





there are 4 8mm nuts that hold on the unit. take them off



heres the dual stage bomb


see the difference?


take your single stage and bolt it back up



BAM! heres your end product. a nice woodgrain steering wheel with the nice 01+ design airbag. you can now look fly and no more worries


i am going to install the steering wheel tomorrow. if anyone is interested, i will make a write-up for it

enjoy!

 

I dont get it? Its well known that 98-00 GS need to buy the 01+ bag for the wood wheel. Has nothing to do with it being ugly, its has to do with the fact that the 98-01 bag doesnt fit the 01+ GS wood wheel. 2 different bags. BTW, how much did the 01+ bag cost from the dealer?

 

the 98-00 bag does fit but it doesnt fit quite right. i got the bag off a wrecking yard so it wasnt much. 200 bones

 

It will work if the holes are the same distance apart. Be careful because there are two different sizes. I think its like 2.75" & 3" or something like that. I did the same thing and mentioned it here https://www.clublexus.com/forums/2ge...ta-airbag.html

Again, if you do this make sure you measure the distance between the bolt holes. There are two different styles of single stage bags with two different measurements between the bolt holes.

 

wow you actually found an '01+ GS in the junk yard! man, I need to go check MY local yards!

 

i took a look at my 2000 airbag and the bomb unit on there fits perfectly with my dual stage airbag. seems like its great way for people that upgrade to not worry about looking for 01-03 rx300 bags. i looked at it and they seem to be the same sizes

bomb unit from my 2000 gs

bomb unit from 01 rx300






they were easily swap-able so its a good solution for others since 98-00 airbag looks ugly on the 01+ wheels


final product looks tight now

 

good job man....and also kipod on doing this awhile ago. steering wheel looks good in your car sir although is it just me or is the bag more sun faded than the steering wheel leather?

 

well yea, the leather on the wheel is very shiny compared to the airbag. maybe i should take some armorall stuff and clean the airbag with it. might make it match

if anyone wants to have a go at this, i do have a black/wood steering wheel for sale in the FS section

 

This is one of the easiest ways to do the swap without having to find an over priced RX airbag. Just please make sure you check the measurements between each hole for the mounting studs. I have worked with over a dozen different airbags for the GS and trust me, there are different sizes. Some will look different but will still work others look the same but are off by 1/4" or so. I included a picture of one 98-00 GS airbag that is different. You have to check what you have first to see if it will even bolt up to the RX airbag. See the difference in shape and size. I just dont want someone buying a dual stage, taking everything apart, and finding out it won't work. You know, measure twice, mod once.

 

i know i been eyeballing it

 

so wait. this is a conversion from a dual stage airbag to single stage.... right?

 

yes
msg123

 

where were u able to find the gray wood grain?

 

its not grey. its tan colored.

 

a lot of ebay steering wheels will say gray in the description but are actually tan in color. Pictures are really deceiving when you take them close up, and if you're color blind even worse. lol.

Btw does everyone have the volume buttons on the left side of their steering wheel? I have them since I'm an 01 430, but I've always wondered if you didn't have them can you buy the buttons and plug them into an existing connector inside the steering column? just curious....