How do i protect my rear stabilizer brackets? (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

chris777

TLCA member #12444
Joined
Mar 17, 2005
Threads
128
Messages
745
Location
Dallas, TX
Website
mannphoto.com
Most times that i go off road, with my FJ60, over rocks, i find out that one of the two brackets that holds my rear stabilizer become so beat up from rocks that i have to replace them. And sometimes they start making clanking noises when off road until i do get them replaced. They are mounted to the rear axle housing. If i remove the rear stabilizer before i go off road, the brackets will still be there and are still vulnerable. Damage must occur when i am backing up,

my mechanic harvested them off of an FJ62. They didnt come on Fj60s shipped to the USA for the same reason we didnt get the 5 speeds. Our national speed limit was 55. They really make it a lot more stable at 60+ mph when you hit bad spot in the highway, a semi passes you, when cornering and with a crosswind.

anyone have a solution? I am thinking about bolting a steel pipe 2 inches wide with 2.5 inch diameter around them somehow.
 
Pick better lines?

Just Kidding.

One idea might be to make some extended leaf spring plates that might extend over a little to catch rocks....just not sure if that would put stress on a much more vital item.


or maybe you can make something above the axle work, like this FJ55 conglomeration

 
Last edited:
I had a rear sway bar setup I salvaged off a FJ62 on my 60 for a while, that is...until a trip off 4wd in the rocky area we normally go. Sway bar was hammered and I did not see a way to protect it. Things get caught in it, tree limbs, brush, etc. Rear sway bar came off, and I think unless you only did mild gravel roads or something....the rear sway bar will not last off road. At the time I only saw one solution and that was to remove it.
 
I think the swaybar is at odds with offroad performance. Its there to improve highway handling but does nothing for you offroad where you want the axles to move around. I don't know if there is anything on the market for it but you might get creative and come up with a quick disconnect where you can get to the trail, unhook and move aside the sway bar pieces and reconnect later for the ride home. You might just disconnect the sway bar and see how it handles on the road without it.
 
build a new sway bar mounted on the frame instead of the axle. You are already hitting stuff with rocks, why add more rock targets when you can decrease rock targets?
 
Thanks for the replies. If I lived in the 4 Corners area I would definitely remove it. But I have to drive 900 miles on the highway for each of my trips to that area for some trail riding.

removing the sway bar would leave the axle mounted sway bar brackets. It’s those brackets and their bushings that get damaged , not the away bar. So removing it does help.

I’m thinking of adding some protection to the brackets. A 2.5 inch diameter steel pipe thatI slit, pry open put over the sway bar mounts, bolt in pace and close the slit with a hammer. This would encapsulate the mounts with their own rock slider .
 
I've run 60s for 20 some years and never run a sway bar. Never have I wished I did
well, if you had to drive from Dallas to Utah every year, I think you would notice how much easier it is to drive a 60 WITH rear sway bar. For 30 years, I drove my 60 on highway without swaybars in the rear and every time a big truck passed me, or I hit some rough spots in the road at 65 or 70 mph, it starts to fish tail a little (the rear doesn't track well). Especially on a curve in the road, I really have to concentrate on keeping her calm and straight. The last 4 years I have had the rear swaybars on her and she is much easier to steer on the highway.

Toyota put rear swaybars AND 5 speeds on ALL FJ60 except the ones shipped to the USA. Why? Because our national speed limit was 55. I think if you were to drive a 60 with swaybars at 70mph you would appreciate the difference.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom