Sway bars and Control Arm Mount Weldments

Does anyone know if the front sway bars on these trucks are solid or hollow? Finally got my truck in my garage to catch up on maintenance and noticed the sway bar looks to be like it needs to be replaced. I would normally buy OEM, but I'm wondering if there might be a better option.

Also, the weldment for my lower control arm looks suspect. Are these available anywhere?

 

To my knowledge, AutoRust is the only place to buy replacement frame parts.

I removed my swaybar recently. And I haven't noticed a significant difference in handling over the last few hundo miles. I can tell it's not there from time to time, but it's not overly sway-ish, if that makes sense. Maybe because of the 700lb springs up front on my Toytec COs.

If you want me to check my bar, I can. I'll also poke into the parts system for my '06 to see if Toyota sells those mounts (I'm skeptical).

Looks like you may have a bit of a valve cover leak there...

 

Here's what's in the system for my AC, which will be different from your DC to a degree. Do you see what looks like the mounts in question here? I can click thru and see if it exists (fyi, 51702 is a cab mount):

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Gotcha. I'll check on the weldments from AutoRust. If you didn't mind checking I'd appreciate it.

There is a minor valve cover leak, part of the reason I am working on the truck, but the big reason is it's bleeding ATF from the power steering system pretty badly. I've been busy with a bathroom reno in my house, just finished that up, now it's the truck's turn to get some attention. The control arm mount pictures are from the passenger side, which is where the power steering leak is.

 

Darn! I had looked at that diagram before and thought 51072 was it, but I bet you're right, it's a cab mount. No I don't see what looks to be a control arm weldment.

 

Yeah, I clicked on it myself, then plugged the part number into Google, and it's returning as a body mount up front.

 

The AutoRust section starts just behind the control arm mount and doesn't include it. I guess I'll just clean the rust up and spray it best I can with rust converter and hope for the best. Is the Eastwood converter worth the premium over the Rustoleum?

 

Eastwood, POR 15, Rust Bullet are all great products I've experience with.

I don't have much, if any experience with the Rustoleum converter product.

If it were me, I'd wire brush the hell out of it, Naval Jelly the bare metal, fully rinse out, etch-prime, then repaint OR topcoat with one of the three products I just mentioned, although if you did a proper flashed multi-coat of any exterior paint (I usually use Rustomleum satin black on frames), you should be fine.

The important part (my opinion, but I'm sure someone who does body/chassis work would complain about my hot take here) is getting down to bare metal, acid cleaning to get microscopic corrosion out, then using a self-etch primer not long after it's dry to lock the new paint directly onto the steel.

 

Good suggestion on the Naval Jelly!

Just ordered some etching primer from Eastwood, will give that a try.

 

I would assume that your lack of sway is due to your Toytec coilovers. When my sway bar link snapped, the truck felt like a school bus when going around turns. On my stock and likely worn out springs, the truck felt a lot less stable at highway speed. Like, a lot less stable.

OP- I wouldn't recommend removing your sway bar, I bet you could remove the rust on your sway bar and continue to use it. I think it might be fine if you wire-wheeled the rust, and coated it with some sort of epoxy or coating as was discussed above.

This is just my personal opinion, but the front sway bar has always seemed to me like one of those things that the Toyota engineers put there for a reason. I think unless you're doing some pretty good off-roading, the front sway bar is probably best to stay. I don't know. Just my $0.02

 

Oh I have no intention of removing it. Was considering replacing it. Will have to pull it and see how bad it is after I clean it up.

I just know on a GM I had before the front sway bar was hollow, and of course snapped, and I replaced it with a solid one. That's what made me wonder about the sway bar on the Tundra.

 

I checked my swaybar, it feels solid to me, I don't see clear weld spots where a cap was welded on, but maybe it's thick-wall tubing? I've never cut one in half. I did just recently need to buy new bushings though. I can give you part numbers on that.

I can't give you part numbers for the hardware that holds the bushings and bar up though. I couldn't figure it out, there's a couple different part numbers, but neither myself, nor the dudes at two diff't dealership parts depts could tell me which was which. They told me they could order the parts and we could compare. But I didn't have the ability to commit, since they're so far away I didn't want to come back.

 

Solid afaik.

 

Awesome! Thank you for the info!

 

I agree. I spent some time with no front sway bar attached when I refreshed my suspension as I was waiting for the end links to come in. And going from no front sway bar to having it connected is like going from a school bus to a racecar. (That's an overexaggerating but the difference was significant enough to notice during everyday driving).

Granted I have a sequoia so there may be a bit of top heaviness that benefits from a sway bar more, and I believe the front sway bar on the sequoia is slightly thicker than the one on the tundra, but don't quote me on that...

 

Apples to oranges comparison...the sequoia also has a parallel rear 4 link suspension with a track bar (and a rear sway bar too). It's never going to be a stable as the tundra's rear leaf springs. And yes, you're correct about the sequoia being MUCH more top heavy at the pickup trucks. I removed the swaybar off my 04 tundra last summer. I then torched off the SB mounting brackets off both the lower control arms and frame. My suspension is stock height with old soggy valved Monroe shocks. I live on twisty back roads and haul a fair amount of weight in the bed of my truck (firewood, scrap metal, ect). I didn't notice much of a difference in handling on the road. Lot of the overloading...i mean overlanding guys will remove the front swaybar AND install a rear swaybar on their 1st gen trucks. Take a looksee at this top heavy tundra...front swaybar delete and supposedly a rear Antirock swaybar (that i don't see installed). Basil's Garage Shop Truck | 05' AC Flatbed Baja Expedition Rig | Toyota Tundra Forum (tundras.com)

 

I know something about this...what looks like a rusty separation of the frame may in fact be the cam bolt gusset. It is applied (welded) to the frame as a separate part at the factory, and although Toyota does not offer it a replacement part there is a robust aftermarket for weld on gussets. Example:
https://www.chaosfab.com/lifestyle/blog/toyota-lexus-cam-tab-gussets-do-i-need-them/
If that's your situation you can grind away the rusty material and weld on a replacement

 

There are other solutions, I just grabbed this one for the visual. And oh, BTW, my tundra clearly has a welded on gusset plate

 

All the gussets I'm seeing are for either the Tacoma or the 2007+ Tundra. Do you have a link for a 1st gen one?

 

Try that google thing…
https://teqcustoms.com/products/best-alignment-cam-cam-tab-upgrade-kit

 

My Googlefoo is weak, I tried. Thank you very much for the link!

 

Finally got the sway bar off (I don't get very much time to work on things since kids keep me busy). The sway bar certainly is solid. Noticed someone in the past put one of the bushings on backwards. Also noticed it was pretty rusted under the bushing. After I get that rust cleaned up on the bar it may not be usable (and eat bushings).

 

Did they use black duct tape around that section?

 

Not duct tape. That's the metal and the paint all coming off. I think the bushing held it all together and gave it this look

 

That's just crazy right there. Never seen anything like it. Especially the way it's cracking. It legitimately looks like black duct tape wrapped around that spot.

 

Yeah. I'm going to go ahead and replace the bar and hardware. By the time I remove all that crap it's going to be considerably smaller than the bushing which would cause it's own issues.

I'm going to take my time and pull the upper and lower control arms and replace the bushing (arms and mounts have some slight rust to clean up) and the upper and lower ball joints. I'm also going to swap my soft brake lines, fan clutch, valve cover gaskets, plugs, and power steering lines. Also going to take care of any rust on the front half of the truck (just a few spots not bad).

 

Updating this thread. Finally got the lower control arms off (sleeves were rusted into the control arm bushings. Sucked getting them off). The previous owner had the truck fluid filmed last year. Problem is, they fluid filmed right over rust, so I'm in the process of getting the film off and removing the rust.

Currently working on rust removal on the passenger side. This cam tab doesn't look near as bad as it did before. I'm assuming it's been bent before. Should I try bending it back where the 2 pieces of metal are separating? Obviously I'll need to finish cleaning between the 2 first

 

Got my tab gussets cleaned up, they are all actually ok, no aftermarket tabs needed. I did have to cut the sleeves for my lower control arms though... my new OEM upper and lower control arms came in, and instead of OEM cam alignment bolts for $240 I bought the octagons and bolts from Solo Mororsports. All my original cams were either straight up and down or pretty close, so I intend to install these octogons in the closest position.

I included a few pics of my old cams. Sorry, they aren't great and the frame has been cleaned up since.