TRD Pro front sway bar install

Well, I thought this would be a simple remove and replace kinda job on my 14’ Limited. It turned out to be a mini nightmare but I managed to come out alive.

I started with removing the skid plate, always a pain in the butt. Got both endlink bolts off. Started working on the 4 bolts holding the sway bar bushing brackets to the frame, two bolts on each side. I noticed they were a bit rusty and wouldn’t come off easily, so I started spraying them with PB Blaster and loosening and tightening the bolts with my impact gun. These are bigger bolts and unlike the rear swaybar bolts (I broke one of those off when I did my rear sway bar) I didn’t think these would break. Well they didn’t, but the damn nut inside the frame did…..actually the tack welded spots that held the nut inside the frame broke. Oh I was so pissed! Got the other 3 bolts out ok and luckily, the broken one was at the open end part of the bracket and I was able to slip the bracket off and remove the whole sway bar.
I used my cutoff wheel and cut off the bolt.
I had a bolt/nut in my box of random bolts that would work to secure the bracket but decided I will go to Napa the next morning and get the right sized bolt/nut and lock washers.
There are two openings in the frame on the side that would allow me to access the hole where the bolt would go. My thoughts were to drop a new bolt inside the frame and through the hole with a lock washer and use a nut on the outside to secure the sway bar. It should be easier than trying to get a lock washer and nut in the frame and line it up.
The more I thought about it though, I was uncertain if the lock washers would prevent the bolt from spinning when tightening it and there was no way to get a wrench or socket in there to hold it. I thought maybe somehow I could JB Weld the bolt in place but that started to sound messy the more I thought about it. While I was at Napa I had a revelation to just actually weld the bolt in place with my fairly new flux core welder!
Everything went well. My flux core welder did a great job of putting 2 nice tack welds on the bolt and frame. I replaced the end links and sway bars bushings with new ones from Rockauto. I lubed up the bushings and brackets with white lithium grease and replaced the sway bar. I don’t know what I would have done without the welder. I don’t know how spraying these bolts ahead of time would have helped. It’s hard to even get to the threaded parts of them so you’re just spraying the bolt heads. One thing I did realize is this new sway bar is about 11lbs heavier than the stock bar……..definitely more dense.

 

Nice job JD. The problems you encounter, and solve, are the reasons I don't do some of these upgrades on my 08. You have way more patience (fancy tools and skills) than me.

 

Thanks man! Sometimes I wish I didn’t have all my tools!

 

Lol. No you don't. You've customized, designed and implemented more upgrades than most people I've followed along on FB and tundras.com. most of us pull from the box. I meant to ask you about the latest sway bar. Was yours damaged as much as Jeff L's was? I was hesitant to purchase since all the dealers said, open box. In ur pics it looks like it was delivered in good shape.

 

Lol…..well I appreciate the support and kind words!
Yeah so the bar came and it was like shrink wrapped in bubble wrap and looked ok…..until I unwrapped it. One of the location tabs was cracked and just sort of free floating. All they had to do was wrap these two points with a long strip of cardboard multiple times and tape it! I knew I could get a new one but also thought this should be a pretty easy fix and those tabs aren’t load bearing, they just orient the bushings when you mount it. So I emailed Sparks and sent a pic of it. They apologized and sent a shipping label, stating they’d send another. I told them look maybe we could both come out of this ahead, how about you refund me like 1/2 of the price, about $90 since I’d have to put the work in to fix it, it wouldn’t be new anymore and it’ll save them all the shipping for the return and the new bar. They happily accepted my offer and sent me $90 soon after! I mixed up some JB Weld and clamped the tab back together…….easy peasy!

 

Dude! Nice! Love the potential of possibly saving more on a sway bar, but again, I'd lose it if I started breaking bolts. You see the post in here yesterday/today about the guy with a 2020 who ripped out all the bottom bolts to lube and reinstall before applying undercoat?! WTF...he provided a rationale, which was aligned to some of your experiences, and didn't want to go thru busted bolts on his newest rig

 

Yeah it was a nice bonus for the trouble. Yes, that guy is out of his mind, but I dig it!
I’m not going that crazy but will continue to treat the underside with Fluid Film and attack any areas that are rusting.

 

I just let a local shop install mine for $75 when I took the Sequoia in for routine maintenance. I think they charged for $65 while it was up on the lift.

 

Great write up!

 

Awesome job! Gotta ask how it drives now. How does it compare when driving with both stock, rear TRD, and both TRD?

 

I had no idea that there was that significant of a difference in the weight. I installed a Sequoia bar on my Tundra and still noticed a difference in handling. Now I'm going to have to keep my eyes peeled for a TRD version (probably need a boatload of luck though).

 

Thanks!
I’ve really just had it out around my neighborhood, around a few roundabouts……..it definitely feels flatter in the turns, not as much wanting to roll over. I’ll have to really see how it is on the highway and around town to get a better idea. I’ll say the rear had a more significant amount of change overall but the front bar is doing something for sure as well! I’ve read other people say it’s just a red bar……no way.