What's the difference between a GL1EF and a GL5EF?

I was looking at the Control Arm TSB, and noticed it seemed to only cover the GL5EF's. And my car is a GL1EF?

The decoder didn't seem to differentiate. Thanks.


7milesout

 

I googled GL5EF and this is what came up -

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...-vs-gl5ef.html

Sorry.

 

That link gives me deja vu.

 

Is your car a LS600hL? As far as I can tell the only 2010 LSes that have a 1 in the sixth position are 600s. I looked at a bunch of 2010 460 VINs (RWD, AWD, SWB, L) and they all had a 5 there.

If your car is a 460, is it a 2010? My 2008 car has a 4 in that spot.

 

Mine - 2010 460L with a 1 in that position.

 

I believe "1" in that position, restraint devices and their locations, means side airbags, all rows; "5" means side airbags in 1st row only. The remainder of the information for restraint devices and their locations is the same.

Source:

ftp://safercar.gov/MfrMail/ORG6800.pdf

It's for the 2011 MY, but other 460 MY's probably have a similar structure in their VIN's.

The 2011 LS600h has some slight differences:

ftp://safercar.gov/MfrMail/ORG6796.pdf

 

Winnah!

And that explains why the "1" is hard to find except for the 600hL. The rear side airbags came only in Comfort Plus cars (SWB) or Rear Seat Upgrade or Executive cars (LWB). Those are not very common options.

For purposes of reading the TSIB, I wouldn't pay attention to the sixth digit -- just look at the last six for your model of LS460L (RWD or AWD).

 

According to the sequence number, I'm covered. But beyond 5 years. I don't have the noise though. But before I resurfaced my rotors I had a noise when slowing, and the speed was down to 25 mph or less. The rotors were warped. But I don't know if it was a noise in the brakes or in the control arms.

Either way, warped rotors put a lot of strain on the parts that have to endure that vibration. I strongly recommend to NOT tolerate warped rotors. They are easy to replace, and cheap to resurface. Probably cheap to replace also. I wouldn't doubt warped rotors have shortened the life of many control arms.


7milesout

 

Gbp - An excellent find, to be sure. I can never seem to find such detailed info on an internet search.

BTW - When I was at Toyota, I knew of Kevin Ro. I don't remember if I met him. But I certainly recall the name, and probably communicated with him on emails. Small world. I don't recall him being in DC at that time. But do recall the DC office existed and I did communicate with them on a rare occasion.

Lastly - I mainly added this reply because when I read Gpb's reply (without looking at the link), I thought the meaning was that a GL5EF only received curtain airbags in the first row, and the GL1EF got them all rows.

But no, all the LS vehicles get the curtain air bags all rows. The differentiation is SEAT SIDE AIRBAGS. I did seat development when I was at Toyota. The seat side airbags deploy approximately from the armpit to about mid stomach (height) or so, along the face of the door trim. They do make a difference in side collisions. However, they do not deter major injuries as substantially as the curtain air bags.

Naturally I participated in crash testing, and watched many high speed camera crash test videos. The curtain air bags do quite a good job in reducing trauma to the head in a side impact.

So all of you who are reading this thread, take a deep breath of relief. You all have curtain air bags all rows ... and they are more important than seat side air bags.


7milesout

 

Thanks, 7milesout! It took me several search attempts to find the link.

I appreciate your pointing out the differences between curtain airbags and side airbags. I'm a bit confused about the term "knee airbags" Do only the driver and front passenger get those, and do they originate from the steering wheel and glove box areas, IIRC?

Finally, it was fascinating to read about your prior connection with Toyota!

 

Wow, i haven't seen an FTP link in ages!

Reminds me of

 

Oh, man... you made me laugh out loud !

 

Yeah, me too. But like I said, it gave me deja vu.