When & how to replace stabilizer bar, bushings, cushions & links (AKA sway bar) (1 Viewer)

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2001LC

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Would you say I waited to long to change my bushings!
01LC @ 167K.JPG


But link breaking is not the only reason why I say to long. I found not only did Link rust through, but I also removed a ~1/16" of rust off top & bottom of stabilizer bar recess that the cushions sets in. I then found the stabilizer bar recess have tapered into a knifes edge cutting the link. The holes may have also enlarged, if so, by how much I don't know?
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Anyone know the size of the hole in a new OEM bar that link fit through?
Or put another way how much lager is the hole than the link bolt or should new link shaft fit tight in hole?
 
Removing & installing is a :banana: two hour job for front & rear. Stabilizer bar is not generally needed, links often are.
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This is Dealer OEM. I've seen after market link kits (link, cushions, retainers & lock nut) for $11. Some go with poly aftermarket complete kits, which I've not priced.

Stabilizer Bar Front

2 48820-60032 Stabilizer link, w/lower bushing $18.06ea, $36.12

2 94184-61001 Stabilizer link lock nut. $0.84ea, $1.68

4 90948-02180 Stabilizer link retainer. $5.43ea, $21.72

4 90948-01003 Stabilizer link upper bushing. $1.79ea, $7.16

2 48815-60111 Stabilizer bar Bushing $10.26ea, $20.52 = Total $87.20

1 48811-60180 Stabilizer bar, Not generally needed $130.00ea, $130.00 = Total $217.20

Stabilizer Bar Rear

4 48817-30010 Cushion $2.72ea, $10.88

2 90179-08062 Nut, link shaft thread $0.76ea, $1.52

2 90385-11021 Cushion, stabilizer $1.66ea, $3.32

2 90560-10275 Collar, stabilizer $?.??ea,

2 48815-60140 Bushing, stabilizer bar W/O AHC $11.55ea, $23.10

4 90948-02126 Retainer, Cushion top/bottom $4.12ea, $16.48

2 90948-02127 Retainer, Cushion center $3.21ea, $6.42

2 48802-60090 Link, $22.71ea, $45.42 = Total $107.14
 
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I have a new swaybar in the shop- I'll measure the holes in the morning and post up.
 
New OEM form Toyota Dealer link shaft, measures 9.95mm diameter.

The damage to these metal parts is from rust much more than wear. I'm thinking of coating link shaft & stabilizer bar cushion pocket recess with marine grease. What do you think; will grease cause excess movement of the cushion or damage rubber?

Old vs. new front link cushions .

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I replaced these link ends on my truck last year. I used Napa because we were getting a delivery at work from them so it was easier and alot cheaper. I do agree OEM is the best and I am waiting for these to break. No lift so they may hold up.

I did wire wheel my rod and spray paint a few coats. I had alot more rust than yours. Also for these I DID use greese on the new shafts. Curious to what others say about it. I figured it wouldn't hurt.

You probably know this but be careful of the bolts that hold the sway bar on the truck on picture from above. The a/c condenser tends to drip on this area. I havent replaced these yet on mine but I have replaced on previous trucks. I did put a small amount of grease in these rubbers as well on previous trucks.

As with all suspension and brakes I always use blue locktite with the exception of the sway bar mount to the frame. Here I used anti seize.

If I remember correctly I think I got some of these bushings (sway bar to frame) from energy suspension for a previous truck and it came with a tube of some sort of lube to apply on the rubbers.

Very old trucks had grease fittings on these bushings.
 
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I do not think grease on the rubber is a good practice. Petroleum based products used on rubber is not a good combo for composition longevity.

Talking about the front swaybar- on a new swaybar the size of the hole the link fits through is 13mm (12.98mm to be exact)

I found that the holes in my old swaybar were elongated-oblong from wear. The links were worn 1/2 way through. The recessed surface that the rubber cushions sit on is fairly thin- not a great design. I wonder if whiteline or EMU aftermarket options are are different. The hole IMO is slightly too large for the link- having a stainless sleeve over the link would take up the slop- and support the link more effectively.

On lifted rigs, I think extending the front links equal to the amount of lift applied(25-50mm) would help keep the links from leaning over. I think RobRed did this.
 
I have read about petroleum products are not good for rubber but my concern here was I was trying to prevent rust. I figured my rubbers will need to be replaced again before the grease destroys it. Maybe a different case in other climates. What do you think the lifespan on these ends are as originally asked by 2001LC. I know my tires only last about 10 years before some dryrotting. I do remember the ends having alot of slop like you mentioned.

On another note about grease and rubber I have been playing around with sealed bearings and they have rubber seals on the outside keeping grease in and this confuses me. Maybe a different kind of grease in sealed bearings. IDK?

On really sensitive rubber o rings we have begun using gold seal silicone o ring lubricant purchased from Napa.
 
Thanks @abuck99 you just saved me $130.00 this morning. This means the new links shaft at 9.95mm are designed to fit loose in the bar at 12.98mm. So it's the link cushions' job to keep it sung it the recess pocket. So as long as recessed pocket of stabilizer bar has a good 90 degree angle to hold cushion. So my old stabilizer bar with holes ~14mm should be fine.

@sean2202 some rubbers are made to handle grease and oils. Brake systems have special rubber for brake fluid, whereas steering or engine seals have another. So I'm betting stabilizer bushing and cushion will withstand grease somewhat. If greased cushion slip in the pocket, well that is another thing. We need a go-pro camera experiment, wish I had one:cry:

Broken link pictured in the OP is the DS, this picture is from the PS. When I went to remove the nut off the link it just snapped. Once I removed the rust from the cushion the hole was very large, and the link shaft itself was a fraction of it's original size.
01LC 167K rust free 007.JPG

The rear link is also pictured above with the front. The shaft was rusty, so I wire brushed it, giving it that black appearance. As you can see it's heavily pitted and smaller then when new. I'll be ordering some new one's in a few minutes.

Here what I find interesting with my 01 LC 167K, that I've had for 13 years, it's rust free with a clean undercarriage. In Colorado they use either salt or mag chloride on winter roads. So I've always pressure washed the undercarriage including the wheel wells, after each snow storm to clean off the road salts for that matter every wash.

I found the #1 under engine shield (AKA skid plate) rusty years ago. I've long held that the old vibration damper (foam strip) holds in moisture from weather & my washings, causing excess rust. I guess the same is true of the cushion of these stabilizer links.

IMHO; washing undercarriage is very import, but does have it's bad side I suppose. So this is why I'm thinking of coat with marine grease. It should buy me time and increase reliability. I'm also going to schedule bushing replacement at 7 year for front and rear links.

But really the stabilizer was still doing it's job as the rust inside the cushion keep it tight on the links. Rust just reduced reliability and made it difficult to determine they where shot.
 
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I've updated the #2 post with FSM instruction and parts list & cost from dealer on OEM. Let me know if you see any errors.
 
Can anyone decipher the manufacture of each?
Looks like TOYO on front link cushion:
Front stabilizer link cushion (TOYO).jpg
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Here's a front link:
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Stabilizer bar bushing:
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I did these a couple weeks ago at my friend's shop. The retainer cushions that held the front swaybar to the the frame were by far the most destroyed and the links were not in good shape (though not as bad as some I've seen). Be sure to hit everything with penetrating oil a few times a couple days before you dig into this! Luckily, my passenger side bracket unbolted without a fight even though they have a tendency to rust solid from the AC drain.

We checked for wear in the bars and none was found, the rubber bits took the hit, but the link cushions were in better shape than I thought they'd be. I definitely notice a difference going around turns and over bumps!

I bought all new OEM parts and hardware, the only thing I didn't use was the rear link brackets that attach directly to the frame. Parts total was around $265 or so.
 
I did these a couple weeks ago at my friend's shop. The retainer cushions that held the front swaybar to the the frame were by far the most destroyed and the links were not in good shape (though not as bad as some I've seen). Be sure to hit everything with penetrating oil a few times a couple days before you dig into this! Luckily, my passenger side bracket unbolted without a fight even though they have a tendency to rust solid from the AC drain.

We checked for wear in the bars and none was found, the rubber bits took the hit, but the link cushions were in better shape than I thought they'd be. I definitely notice a difference going around turns and over bumps!

I bought all new OEM parts and hardware, the only thing I didn't use was the rear link brackets that attach directly to the frame. Parts total was around $265 or so.
I also hit with penetrating oil the night before. Even tried hitting threads of rear bolts of bracket that go into frame form holes in frame, those were the worst. Other than the front link breaking, bolts weren't that bad.

At $265, that didn't included stabilizer bars correct?
 
On the front link bushings you could switch to poly where they sandwich on the swaybar ends. Little less deformation than rubber and would stand up to moly if you wanted to coat the link.
 
At $265, that didn't included stabilizer bars correct?

No stabilizer bars, just the links, and all the required and optional hardware/parts.

Without the rear brackets 48825-60100 and 48825-60050 the price would have been around $235 as those both are $15 a piece. Me being the person I am just ordered everything out of paranoia just to be on the safe side, plus I prefer to have all new hardware installed.

My technician friend was able to get the link nuts out of the rear brackets fine so there was no need for the new brackets.

Edit: added pics from another thread I posted in.

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Stabilizer Bar Front

2 48820-60032 Stabilizer link, w/lower bushing $18.06ea, $36.12

2 94184-61001 Stabilizer link lock nut. $0.84ea, $1.68

4 90948-02180 Stabilizer link retainer. $5.43ea, $21.72

4 90948-01003 Stabilizer link upper bushing. $1.79ea, $7.16

2 48815-60111 Stabilizer bar Bushing $10.26ea, $20.52 = Total $87.20

1 48811-60180 Stabilizer bar, Not generally needed $130.00ea, $130.00 = Total $217.20

Stabilizer Bar Rear

4 48817-30010 Cushion $2.72ea, $10.88

2 90179-08062 Nut, link shaft thread $0.76ea, $1.52

2 90385-11021 Cushion, stabilizer $1.66ea, $3.32

2 90560-10275 Collar, stabilizer $?.??ea,

2 48815-60140 Bushing, stabilizer bar W/O AHC $11.55ea, $23.10

4 90948-02126 Retainer, Cushion top/bottom $4.12ea, $16.48

2 90948-02127 Retainer, Cushion center $3.21ea, $6.42

2 48802-60090 Link, $22.71ea, $45.42 = Total $107.14

I’m doing the front now and I’ll add the two ‘D’ brackets:

48824-60100 Stabilizer Bracket, right
48824-60110 Stabilizer Bracket, left

Maybe they’re the same but seem to have different part numbers.

Also:

FSM shows the four bolts holding on the two D brackets as non-reusable. Does anyone know part numbers for these? I can’t find them.
 

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