Tell me about rear sway bars and towing?

I pulled the trigger and purchased a TRD rear sway bar for my 2019 SR5. I haven't received it yet but I am wondering how well they work, if you like yours and what effect it will have on towing. The reviews on Amazon are mixed as many ppl love them and other say they didn't make a lof of difference. I go through a couple round-abouts on my way to work and I always have to slow way down as the rear feel like it is leaning.

 

Mine definitely helped with stability and leaning in daily driving but not as much as I hoped. I wonder if the Helliwig would be a bit better than the OEM Toyota one as it's a bit beefier.

I bought my travel trailer after I put my RSB on so I can't help you with that part of your question.

 

Big improvement, not just towing but everyday driving. Truck will track better, reduced roll and sway, feel more stable, predictable and planted. It is a great improvement especially considering the low cost and easy install.

 

As long as you've got a long enough breaker bar to get the goddamn frame bolts out. I fought with mine for an hour then had to borrow the right tool from my brother in law.

 

Are you angry about the stuck bolt or that you had to talk to your BIL?

 

No more boat like feeling while rounding turns. It will drive/feel like a truck. Bought my camper after install also, so no comparison.
Best mod for the $ that I have done.

 

The fact that I only get shitty tools for Christmas. BIL is a nice guy and likes working on cars.

 

I have a 3 ft breaker bar / wrench, hopefully that will be enough. I will probably hit the bolts with some pen lube a couple days before. How many beers job is it?

 

I would say no more than 1. Maybe half an hour.

Hard to enjoy a beer laying on your back under your truck, too.

 

I don’t know if it helped or not cause I put it on shortly after I bought the truck. But it looks badass and I had the hardware powder coated black.

 

I would like to get the rear TRD sway bar but it comes with a warning that it will not work with the Toyota accessory hitch. It sounds like many have this installed and have hitches on their rigs. I have a hard time believing something that should help with towing would not work with Toyotas accessory hitch. Just eye balling it, it should be an easy install but I don't want to fork over shipping to Alaska just to have a clearance problem.

 

I think they mean it won't work with an aftermarket hitch. There are literally two sets of instructions: one for if you have the hitch and one if you don't. My truck came with the hitch and I have no issues.

 

Same

 

You’ll like it. Mine went on within a few days after I bought the truck. I towed a small enclosed trailer 400+ miles and I believe it helped. I agree that it does help keep the truck planted and eliminate a lot of the body roll.

 

Update: I installed the sway bar a couple weeks ago and I haven't towed with it but I like what it does for the feel of the truck alone. I might just be overly sensitive but I also think it makes my E rated tires feel more stiff and harsh.

 

When I installed mine, it was no longer “boaty” around turns and drove more like a truck. Not sure what pressure your running in your “E” rated tires. I run 50psi when not towing & 70lbs when towing my 7,000lb camper. Tread has always wore even, no problems. Been through 3 sets of Michelin LTX AT2’s and have run them all to 65k miles and still had usable tread left.
BTW, I think the sway bar was the cheapest mod with the most benefit overall.

 

when you put on the brackets.... watch out for that damn wheel sensor wire.

ill say again

watch out for that damn wheel sensor wire.

 

Don't the instructions specifically talk about that?

 

yes.

yes, they do.

I am not ashamed.....

 

Boaty is a good description, it took that feel away. My tires are TerraGrappers in size 33 and I run then @ 37 lbs non towing. They are wearing fine and ride good on the highway but I can feel every little bump and crack in the road at slower speeds. I only tow a 3500 lobs trailer so I think I am going to drop down to a non E rated tire for my next set and that should take out a bit of the rough ride. The tow bar just stiffened up the rear and made the feel more noticeable.

 

It was one of the installs where it took me a bit to get it on correct but afterwards I was like duh, that was actually easy. I watched a couple vids before hand and it made getting the "U bolts" on much easier.

 

Everyone says the rear does more than the front. I actually found the opposite. The Rear sway bar helps, but the front trd sway does way more in the corners.

for towing I can’t say the rear sway bar did anything. e rated tires changed handling more than the sway bars. Adding tire pressure also did

 

Congrats, been digging mine since installed along with the Valhalla cat shield. 2 must do mods.

 

I can 100% attest to leaning/rolling being massively reduced. Truck feels way better in turns now. I can't speak to the Helwig being better but I doubt a 5-10% improvement would be super noticeable.

 

The hellwig is considerably stiffer in turns than trd