Front sway bar bracket (1 Viewer)

[TTO5]

Hi, I am a service advisor at a Toyota Dealership and wanted to guage people's feedback on something on my cruiser. I have a 2000 Cruiser, running mint with 205k on it. I changed the front sway bar bushings where they mount onto the extension that comes off the frame and noticed my mounting area for the sway bar to mount to is rusting/ falling apart. Being in the dealership I poke my head under every cruiser that comes in. One of my customer's came in with a 98 cruiser and his sway bar mount was completely broken off (rusted off). the sway bar could be moved up and down a good 3 or 4 inches as it had nothing to secure it to. Anyone else been through this yet? Are you guys taking the sway bar off and leaving it off or having some type of bracket fabricated and welded onto the frame? I know you all are probably wondering why I need to post this on the forum but I figure I could get the largest exposure here. Thanks

 

[hankinid]

Welcome to MUD...

Mine is a 2001 LX470, ~133K miles.

Zero rust on the sway bar frame brackets, but she's been in OR, WA, and ID since the beginning. No salt.

Steve

 

[2000UZJ]

You can remove the ASB, however it will increase body roll quite drastically. If the mounts are rusting/corroding away I would cut them off and weld new tabs on, and make sure you coat them nicely with a rust prohibitor and paint. If you remove the ASB for the customer, and he does not wheel, nor have a lift of any type he/she will be back soon after they go round the first corner fast. I have been running no ASB for a while, I don't mind the additional body roll, however it can be a little unnerving trying to keep up with the flow of traffic on the connector ramps. I'm usually 10-15MPH slower than any other type of SUV.


ASB=Anti-Sway Bar.

 

[Gottagetone]

My passenger side sway bar bracket is in good shape but the bolts holding it in place are rusted. The AC drain constantly drips on em which obviously causes the problem. I have a new set of bushing but am waiting to deal with the problem until I change out my torsion bars.

 

[2000UZJ]

My passenger side sway bar bracket is in good shape but the bolts holding it in place are rusted. The AC drain constantly drips on em which obviously causes the problem. I have a new set of bushing but am waiting to deal with the problem until I change out my torsion bars.

I would start hitting it with PB blaster and wire wheels to slow the rust. Then coat it in a silicone that doesn't fully harden to allow you to remove it later. That is what I have done on mine. I can peel the silicone out in one pull with pliers. I don't have a front ASB, but I did this for safe measures.

 

[TTO5]

we got the bolts out of mine to replace the asb to frame mount bushings (took some heat on those bolts) The mount is still hanging in there but I know it won't be long before it breaks off like my customer's did. I live in central NJ and the truck sees a lot of road salt. I spray all the rusted frame areas every 6 months with spray paint. Maybe I should have my technician undercoat the whole thing like we are doing on tacomas and tundras that are not rusted out enough to warrant a frame replacment (recall throught toyota if anyone is wondering), anyway, I guess I will have to fabricate a new mount and weld it on once it gives way (gives me something to do), this truck runs so amazing it is unreal. Being in the service department and an master certified service consultant with toyota for over 15 years I can tell you this truck is amazing. I go 5000 miles between oil changes running 5w30 full synthetic oil and when I pull the dipstick out before I drain the oil it is still on the full mark (with 205k miles on it). I have 2009 and 2010 cars coming into the dealer that are using a quart every 1000 miles and toyota tells me to tell the customer that this is within normal range. What a joke. Hard for me to tell my customers this when my truck runs so beautifully. Anyway, I am ranting on and on so thanks for the advice to all.

 

[Gottagetone]

I would start hitting it with PB blaster and wire wheels to slow the rust. Then coat it in a silicone that doesn't fully harden to allow you to remove it later. That is what I have done on mine. I can peel the silicone out in one pull with pliers. I don't have a front ASB, but I did this for safe measures.

Solid advice, thanks. I will start that process when I am under there doing my oil change in the few days.

 

[mskidd]

'01 New England Cruiser with 125K

Heard some grinding/squealing over slow bumps on my way home from work Friday. First guess was the D bushings - recently did the end links and knew the others were on their way out. Took a peek under this morning and saw cracking - moved into the garage and jacked up for a good look and there it was.

Anyone know a good LC resource in southern CT?

New England rust got to my sway bar mounts. Pretty sure I need new mounts welded on. Is this going to be big $?

 

[kudra]

Mine is exactly like that. The thing that gets me is I've had this Land Cruiser for only two weeks. The small dealer I bought it from had everything painted up nice so I never saw the bracket was in bad shape. Now I have to figure out how to fix it. I haven't even gotten the registration paperwork yet.

 

[abuck99]

Order another mounting bracket and weld it on to the frame. If its on the passenger side the A/C drain trickles down to that spot and the water pools on top of the bracket, and it corrodes(faster up north)

 

[kudra]

That's something available through Toyota?

 

[TheForger]

Yes, it's #3 in the part diagram below.
Stabilizer Bar Bracket Left: 48824-60110
Stabilizer Bar Bracket Right: 48824-60100

You will also need the bushing that goes inside that bracket (#2)
Stabilizer Bracket Bushing: 48815-60111

 

[kudra]

What mskdd an myself need is the brcket that is welded to the frame rail that number 3 bolts to.

 

[Somebodyelse5]

I would start hitting it with PB blaster and wire wheels to slow the rust. Then coat it in a silicone that doesn't fully harden to allow you to remove it later. That is what I have done on mine. I can peel the silicone out in one pull with pliers. I don't have a front ASB, but I did this for safe measures.

I would use something like BoeShield T9 as a corrosion inhibitor rather than the sillicon. Boeshield will dry into a waxy film and works pretty well, it's what it's designed to do. I 'rust proof' my steel bike frames with the stuff.

I ended up turning that bolt off and had to knock the captive nut and replace with a loose nut and new bolt.

 

[kudra]

is there a trick to sliding the sway bar out after unbolting it? I fiddled around for half an hour trying to get it to turn so I can get it out until I have time to get the broken frame bracket repaired.

 

[superjuice]

I currently have this same issue, I need to weld in a new bracket but the parts @TheForger linked don't include the bracket shown in @mskidd's picture. I need the bracket that's actually welded to the frame that #3 bolts to. I would be surprised if it's even an available part as its part of the frame. Has anyone completed this task? I'm probably just going to buy parts 2, 3 & 4 then drill and tap some angle iron and weld that in. Does that sound reasonable? Maybe add a gusset or two?

 

[Bardiya]

Same thing on my cruiser, the passenger side sway bar bracket is rusted badly. I'm planning on replacing all the sway bar bushings and mounting brackets.

 

[spressomon]

^ do it before you are forced to . The passenger side frame mounted (welded) anti-sway bar bracket on mine broke in the middle of a back-country Utah explore...not pretty.

 

[superjuice]

@spressomon Did you fab a bracket or buy something pre made? Any info/pics would be appreciated!

 

[nsvencer]

I'm going in today to have this looked at, will let you know what they say. NH/MA cruiser...