Sway Bar End Links + Sway Bar Bushings Advice

I am new to the forum and recently acquired a 2006 Tundra 4WD Double Cab 3" lift with 150k miles. I wanted to replace the sway bar end links as the housings where the end link ball and sockets have broken and dirt has gotten in. While I did this I also wanted to change the sway bar bushings. The truck is on a 3" lift and there's a extended bracket that's been installed where I presume the original sway bar bushing mounts were -- to extend the sway bar down after the lift. I went ahead and bought SuspensionMaxx sway bar end links (stock, not lifted which I accidentally bought at first) and also the black EnergySuspension sway bar bushings. The SuspensionMaxx sway bar end links are too long. When I used the Energy Suspension sway bar bushings they also added about 2cm thus the stock end links could not fit in as well. I wanted to buy the OEM sway bar bushings but they're on back order until May and I'm driving across the country in two weeks. Does anyone have any advice? Should I just buy OEM Sway bar end links? Does anyone know where to buy the OEM sway bar bushings (48815-AF040) where I could get them faster?

 

I bought generic sway bar and links at the Laps and ran them for many miles. If the suspension maxx links are too long, could you remove the sway bar “extended bracket?” I’ve not seen many use that on here. What’s the 3” lift?

 

I've been running whatever the cheapest (Moog, I'm sure) sway bar end links I found on RA for 8 years now. Still good. I have about 2 1/2" lift up front and these are the stock height. Just go cheap and send it.

Some guys don't even run a swaybar.

 

I don't know the lift, I bought it that way. I can't remove the bracket because then the sway bar would be hitting the drivetrain. I attached some pictures -- can you tell from them?

 

Yeah, this thing needs to go away. There is no logical reason for this.

 

Looks like a bracket lift? Tuff Country, or RCD? Need to see it from the front. No reversing it if it's a bracket lift.

 

Also...I use screen filters on my computer so sometimes color comes through weird, but are your lower ball joint dust covers blue? Far as I know, OEM are black. If you've got aftermarket lower ball joints, replace them with OEM immediately.

 

That ain’t no 3” lift. That’s a bracket lift. 4.5” minimum.

Also, those LBJs appear aftermarket. Borrowed time there.

 

That's odd. In the service records the previous owner gave me it says the LBJ's are OEM. One of the reasons I bought this truck was the LBJ's and steering rack were replaced with new OEM. And also Bilstein 5100s.

 

I'd be interested in knowing more about the lift. Where should I take the picture from the front?

 

Blue boot and zerk fittings is definitely NOT OEM. They are lying or were lied to.

 

Looking around, it looks like blue is either movotech, extreme terrain or Napa (which has a moog part number). Does it have a zerk? Assassin is right, OEM is not blue nor has a zerk. I can’t believe I didn’t see it earlier. Good catch MT!

 

Replace LBJs soon and may want to do TB since it appears you can’t rely on POS word.

 

I’ve known dealers to run to NAPA for parts if they don’t have the part immediately in stock. Tends to be a small town thing more than anything. Definitely not OEM LBJ. It happens, and it probably happened here too.

And with the timing belt, always verify with your eyes.

@itsmydecision take pics of the entire knuckle, the top half, I’m looking for a similar spacer.

Also take a pic from the ground, front/center of the truck, of everything between the two wheels. I want to see all the metal bits between the lower control arms in the picture.

I’m heading out to a job that’s a 2.5 hour round trip and need to be on-site for a few hours, so I may not get to it but damn near anyone who already replied is capable of saying whether this is what it is.

Alternately if you Google:
Tuff Country 4.5” Lift 2006 Tundra

Tuff country 5” lift 2006 Tundra

RCD 5” lift 2006 tundra

You will find pics of parts in these kits to compare to yours. The 4.5” lift is unique in that it uses a lame ass spacer at the top of the knuckle that’s a dead ringer to distinguish between the two. Any of the kits I just listed require cutting the truck and permanently altering it so you can never truly lower it back to stock again without extensive surgery. And they typically use pretty tall lift blocks out back that are total bullshit, but about the only way you’re gonna compensate for that much lift in front minus spending $1k on proper leaf pack from Archive or similar.

Sorry dude. I know none of the above is probably what you wanted to hear. It’s probably not as bad as it feels, don’t lose hope. Ppl here are just concerned about your well being and trying to help you understand what you’ve got. Some people would kill to have a bracket lift on their trucks. It can look really good, and it is possible to do it right with some massaging. Clearly someone put a LOT of money into your truck! And now you’re probably only about $1,500-2,000 away from having it “right”.

 

Yeah, feeling like I made a mistake to be honest. I want to be safe on the road while I go across the country and I don't have much time before I leave. I'm really impressed with all the responses I got, everyone is really helpful. I did read your thread on buying first gen tundras before I bought it and thought I knew what I was getting into as the PO put $7000+ in before I got it and had the record list out of items matched the maintenance that should be done.

 

Regret isn't a good feeling, but I urge you to recognize: Sometimes our ideas of "perfection" aren't warranted, nor justified.

You got what you got, it is what it is, and while it may not be exactly what you thought you were getting, know there are plenty of people on here who'd have really loved to've had someone else do the heavy lifting and heavy expenses before they bought in. Previous owner spent $7k, and likely more in reality. I know I've dropped at least $6k into my truck in over the 6-7 years I've had it now, a lot of that in suspension, wheels and tires. I wasn't quite sure what I wanted when I bought it, hindsight 20/20, I wish I'd have bought it from someone who put Bilsteins on it, and maybe some lift blocks or something, knowing how easy it is to remedy things in the rear after-the-fact.

Look, it's not ideal, having the aftermarket LBJ. That's the downside if you're looking at it from the pessimistic lens. Want to look at it from the optimistic lens? Your truck came pre-installed with a bracket lift. The CV and drive line angles associated with that specific lift are far easier, far less stress on the LBJ, LCA, and CV axles. Real talk: My CV axles being at the much-steeper angle than yours with that TC or RCD bracket lift are going to wear out fuckall faster than yours will. If you prefer the realist view versus optimist/pessimist: You got a used truck. It's got a lot of plusses and minuses. Someone else built it up. It's time to make that truck yours, and you've got a really solid platform to run with, my friend.

I just flipped back through because I distinctly remember two or three other people mentioning dealers who sourced parts from NAPA on older vehicles. I came up empty. But things don't get lodged in my brain like that if I don't read it. Don't fault the previous owner for that, you really can't, but do verify anything that was expressly implied during sale. Timing belt is easy enough to check.

If you want the names of some others on here who are running bracket lifts, I can tag them out. If you want some tips on how to mitigate some of it, or as @Hi06silver put it, "unfuck my truck", you may want to check out his thread: https://www.tundras.com/threads/hi06silvers-unf-ck-my-tuff-country-lift-thread.90187/

Granted - we don't know (until you share pics of things requested) exactly which bracket lift you got, Tuff Country or RCD, or which variant it is.

You aren't the first person to express disappointment after buying a 1GT with a bracket lift. Some sold almost immediately. I'm not a quitter, so I'd stick with it. And LBJ are so absurdly simple tto change anyway, that the ~250$ (for most years) parts expense is no big deal to me.

 

From the looks of that sway bar spacer it's not a tuff country. As shifty said, pics of the front of the drop down would help but specifically the spindle and where it mounts to the upper control arm. Would help at least identify what it is not lift wise. When I was searching for what I had I ended up finding a sticker with a part number on it googled the number with some other key words like lift and year/tundra and found out what I had. That sticker.was.actually on that sway bar spacer on my truck.