Sway Bar busted!! Fixed, I think

[heryrg]

.:UPDATE:.

I replaced the sway bar, refitted with a good pair of used bushings; rockauto don't have any sway to control bushings neither do alot of other places as i guess you all know
I also ended up lifting the front. The car drives pretty good, it doesn't pull either way, the steering wheel is a bit crooked, i think because i messed with the axe so much.

There is a problem though, i can feel and hear a small knocking noise from the front passenger wheel. Starts at about 25mph or so, and is hard to hear.
I was wondering if this could be a bad strut? when i inspected the strut, after compressing the strut, it didn't decompress like the other one. Is this a sign that it's bad?
But I don't think it's the strut though because the sound is not heard when im cruising in neutral.
I think it might be coming from the outer shaft joint, the ball one closer to the tire might be not great.
Do you guys think lifting adds too much extra stress on the shaft because of the increased angle?? Will the joints go bad faster now?? Unless i reduce that angle by dropping the engine a bit?
Also, i need to adjust my camber now, i figured out how to do it, with the adjusting washer but i'm just not sure if i want a proper wheel angle or do i want a bit positive camber but then the shaft angle is not as high.

Hey guys,
As the title suggests; sway bar broke, right where it connects to the control arm bushing. Weird, i didn't know sway bars could break
This all happened while i was driving so the cv boot split and its time to take apart the drive shaft....awesome
Any tricks you guys know or good-to-know info before doing such a job??
I'm thinking about getting a sway bar from the junk yard instead of paying $110 for a new one. Anybody think this is a bad idea?
While i'm at it what should i inspect/replace besides the bushings?
I'm also thinking about lifting the car using pathfinder/camry springs and thunderbird shocks. If i do the lift will it cause problems down the road if i just lift it without doing anything else??

[ARCHINSTL]

Do a Search for swaybar broke - it's broken with some dramatic effects for at least one member - photos included. It's in a spot that just pleads for rust-through.
It is the Achilles Heel (no pun intended) of our little guys. Well, that and the trans. But - the former can kill you whereas the latter will only strand you...
I don't see anything wrong with using a rust-free used one. But be cautious and maybe invest a few bucks to have it Magnafluxed (or whatever process is popular nowadays).
Do use new bushings! See the Parts Forum for OE and AM Numbers.
Member Bluebelle's Mom recently did this and there are a number of posts on her thread with info.
Tom M.

[dlb]

nothing wrong with using a used sway bar as long as it's in good shape. clean the remains of the metal collar off of the new (used) one and make sure that the ends are not worn thin where they contact the control arm. this is what happened to your old one. new collars and bushings are expensive but your life is probably worth more than the $150 for new bushings and collars.

like tom said, just search for the sway bar threads. there are several good threads on this.

i have my terc lifted with the the combo you mention. the back end is great and the front feels good but i too have found the same problem that many other members have with the front lift: if you get any air time, like from going over a speed bump too quickly, you'll hear a bang in the front end. it's the shock (aka strut insert) extending too quickly and this can blow it. i just drive carefully and it's not an issue but it is something that i would like to fix eventually. try using corolla all-trac springs in the front instead, user synth design has them and swears by them.

[toughtercel]

My wife's FWD car make cluck noise on very tiny bumps , going to replace as ( what I thought lower ball joint) , when I remove complete front sway bar include controll arm and ball joint , the rubber bushing at "right where it connects to the control arm bushing." that one side the rubber/plastic fall apart in peices and other side the rubber/plastic is cracks in half, really loose . So if keep driving then metal to metal banging each other will likely cause break

[heryrg]

bump, i got some new ?'s, please look at the 1st post

[dlb]

lifting the front end does wear out CVs faster due to the increased angle that they have to rotate at. what springs did you use and did you also use spacers? i would take it in to get the camber adjusted, along with the alignment while they're doing it.

new swaybar bushings are only available through toyota. expensive too.

[ARCHINSTL]

As to new bushings - did you heed the info in my post about sourcing them?
A number of dealers (all?) either have them in stock or can get them from Toy's warehouses. They ARE available.

The "clunk" from the passenger side front wheel is sort of endemic to our cars for ? reason. I stopped it by tightening the strut mount bolts to proper torque. These are the bolts that hold the strut to the steering knuckle.
You might also check the rack mounting bolts.
There are some threads on this in the Repair Guides and Repair Questions forums.

When you have resolved a situation, instead of adding to the initial post, I would suggest making a new post rather than adding to the first one; it makes for easier reading.
Tom M.

[dlb]

As to new bushings - did you heed the info in my post about sourcing them?
A number of dealers (all?) either have them in stock or can get them from Toy's warehouses. They ARE available.

sorry tom, i didn't realize this. i've never been able to get them from anywhere else besides toyota but maybe that's just the good ol' parts places in my region.

[ARCHINSTL]

dlb - I did not mean that all of the bushings were available AM - some AM houses list the bar-to-X-member bushings but not the ones to the control arm.
Tom M.

[heryrg]

Thanks for the input guys.
Arch, I did a search for swaybar broke and i couldn't find much, i found BB's mom, but did not see anything info on how to do the sway bay or boots. I might have overseen the right post though

I didn't even know that dealers have parts for cars older then 25yrs old. The reason for putting old bushings was i needed the car, they weren't too bad(ones from junkyard) and i couldn't find any locally, but i will call the toyo dealer monday.
I also tried villagetoyotaparts, they list the bushings as "cushions" pn 48817. They say that the inner and outer bushing are the same, but on the car, the inner bushing (one closer to the front of the car) is the skinny one ~3/4" and the outer one is fat 1-1/2" or so. I also looked in toyheadauto.com, they have these ($41 for set) bushings but not stock, which i guess are not very common. I will get new ones monday hopefully from the dealer otherwise toyheadauto.

Now about the knocking problem. As you know the sway bar broke while i was driving, once broke i drove home about 10min while fighting with the steering wheel.
Do you guys think driving without the sway bar connected to one tire will kill the ball joint??
Because i think thats whats going on, the strut insert is bad too, but the knocking only happens when i'm accelerating so doesn't seem right to blame the strut.
Otherwise i think i'm going to put the old springs back on and see if the knocking is still there. If it is then i damaged something while driving home. Any ideas what it could be?? Ball Joint??

Thanks guys appreciate all the help!!!

[dlb]

i don't think the knocking on acceleration is a ball joint. typically they will affect your steering. if you really want though, you can check the ball joint super quick. only takes a few minutes to pull the wheel and hub off, check it and make sure it is snug and moves smoothly. is the clunking worse in corners? if so, i would definitely say CV. you didn't mention what springs you used to lift it or if you used spacers. too much of an angle will kill CVs fast.

[ARCHINSTL]

heryrg -
To reiterate...did you look at the OE part numbers in the OE and AM Parts Forum? The OE numbers are there...

The thread(s) on replacing the sway bar are there.

And - look at the prices mentioned in my posts therein as well as the addendum by member SweetwaterJoe.
You may be shocked by your local Toy dealer's pricing; check out Butler Toy or Conicelli Toy. Best prices around - unless your friendly local Toy dealer will match them.
Tom M.

[heryrg]

Springs and spring hats are from 86 camry.
I'll give more info in a bit, gotta go play paintball

[heryrg]

Hey guys,
Sorry for the incommunicado, had to take my brother paintballin for his b-day; had a blast.

SO back to the car. I'm pretty sure my cv joint is f*cked. Drove around today, the knocking sound is worst when i turn right and accelerate.
Some more info which makes me think the cv joint. If it was the lift, then the left wheel would also make noise; i know my right strut is bad, that could be why left wheel makes no noise but noise is evident only when accelerating so i don't think its the strut, btw the acceleration has to be from engine not from downhill.
When i drive down the hill and accel, there is no sound.

I was just looking for shafts on rockauto and read some stuff on cardone which got me thinking. It was a tech bulletin about not reusing the axle nut. It also said that reusing the nut can cause the shaft to move back and forth. Now about my shaft srry couldn't resist; it does move a bit back and forth, epecially at the inner joint. Before replacing the boots i noticed that the shaft went back and forth a bit on the inner joint.

I feel that, by design(our 4x4 frankenstein design), this half shaft should move ?? Right
Can reusing the nut really be such a no no?

Thanks guys!

[ARCHINSTL]

My reply to your prior post was lost also...
ANYway, the FSM mentions nothing about a new nut being needed, whereas AutoZone's XLNT Repair Guide site emphasizes the use of a new one.
The GSP new axles come with a new nut as I would presume all axles do. Dunno if the Cardone REMANS do, but if not, maybe it is a ploy to sell axle nuts...
Frankly, as a non-metallurgist, it sounds odd to me - unless the axle nuts deform under the 137 ft-lbs of torque required for tightening them. If this is the case, then when I had the leaking probs back in 2009, I should have bought at least a half-dozen new nuts, as I was removing and replacing and removing and replacing and (etc.)...

It is common for the inner joint to move in and out a bit; dunno if endemic to our cars or to all FWD cars.
Tom M.