TRD Sway Bar
Here are the front sway bars. The OEM bar is 0.950” DIA and the TRD bar is 1.000” DIA.

Here are the front bars on top of each other so you could see the length difference. The middle corresponds to the OEM length.

Here is the front bar installed from the front.

Here is the front sway bar installed from the rear.

Here is the whole suspension with the wheel at full lock to the left.

Here is the whole suspension with the wheel at full lock to the right.
Do NOT put jack stands on the OEM hard points like I did!!!! You have to take the two chassis bolts out and the whole car collapses down. So DO NOT support the car as shown here!

Since my car collapsed down, I could not get the front swing arm bolt out. The oil pan was in the way.

I had to lift the engine up! Here is the front engine mount. I had to remove the rear transaxle mount too. Oh, and the TRD front Tower brace was in the way of lifting the engine up…I had to remove that too!

Here are the rear bars. The OEM sway bar is 0.875” DIA and the TRD sway bar is 1.125” DIA.

Here it is installed from the rear looking forward, left side.

Here it is installed from the rear looking forward, right side.

The whole job took 4 hours…with the car collapse and lifting the engine. Plus an hour for cleanup.
Here are the front bars on top of each other so you could see the length difference. The middle corresponds to the OEM length.
Here is the front bar installed from the front.
Here is the front sway bar installed from the rear.
Here is the whole suspension with the wheel at full lock to the left.
Here is the whole suspension with the wheel at full lock to the right.
Do NOT put jack stands on the OEM hard points like I did!!!! You have to take the two chassis bolts out and the whole car collapses down. So DO NOT support the car as shown here!
Since my car collapsed down, I could not get the front swing arm bolt out. The oil pan was in the way.
I had to lift the engine up! Here is the front engine mount. I had to remove the rear transaxle mount too. Oh, and the TRD front Tower brace was in the way of lifting the engine up…I had to remove that too!
Here are the rear bars. The OEM sway bar is 0.875” DIA and the TRD sway bar is 1.125” DIA.
Here it is installed from the rear looking forward, left side.
Here it is installed from the rear looking forward, right side.
The whole job took 4 hours…with the car collapse and lifting the engine. Plus an hour for cleanup.
Last edited by 2tCornot2tC; Aug 7, 2011 at 12:20 PM. Reason: added firs picture...was having issues.
Nice, now how do they feel ?where is the review? I can't take this teasing anymore! Hit some mountain roads and give the people what they want!
Last edited by Backinblacktc2; Aug 7, 2011 at 12:28 AM.
Give me a chance to drive it!
Wow...what a big improvement! Made the car much more stable in the transition phase – when changing directions.
The car still needs an alignment and camber adjustments...
That is how I lifted my car. But you still need to set the car on jack stands to do the job. If you follow the structure forward to the two bolts at the forward end of those jacking points (on each side of the car), I think you will be OK. You will need to remove the two bolts at the aft end of that structure.
The bottom line is...I don't know for sure. But be prepared to lift the engine.
Thanks for pioneering the install for the rest of us. And the bars look great. I hope they improve handling as much as we're all hoping they do! Please keep us updated on how you like the feel over the next few weeks.
Hey…don’t get me wrong. The bottom line is; I think you’d be stupid if you didn’t put sway bars on your car. They don’t have to be TRD’s…
Now for the long answer. I’m an engineer and I say things in a very dry, calculating way. After I put on these sway bars, my car felt more stable in a straight line too. That is not supposed to happen with sway bars alone. I was so overwhelmed by that straight line added stability that I was distracted from the main evaluation. And that is why my previous answer was so guarded.
So what happened? I’ve had the suspension off of this car several times already and I have yet to get an alignment! I don’t know where the alignment was before I started on any of these suspension upgrades, nor do I know now and I know what a big difference just an alignment does. So what is holding me back? Camber adjustment…there is none! In a couple of weeks I’ll start designing and building my own camber adjustments links for the rear and plates for the front…I'm tired of waiting for someone to start making them for us all. It just doesn't make sence to me to just adjust the toe when the camber is just as important...I'll live without castor adjustment. So why do it and them have to do it agian?
Now for the long answer. I’m an engineer and I say things in a very dry, calculating way. After I put on these sway bars, my car felt more stable in a straight line too. That is not supposed to happen with sway bars alone. I was so overwhelmed by that straight line added stability that I was distracted from the main evaluation. And that is why my previous answer was so guarded.
So what happened? I’ve had the suspension off of this car several times already and I have yet to get an alignment! I don’t know where the alignment was before I started on any of these suspension upgrades, nor do I know now and I know what a big difference just an alignment does. So what is holding me back? Camber adjustment…there is none! In a couple of weeks I’ll start designing and building my own camber adjustments links for the rear and plates for the front…I'm tired of waiting for someone to start making them for us all. It just doesn't make sence to me to just adjust the toe when the camber is just as important...I'll live without castor adjustment. So why do it and them have to do it agian?
Last edited by 2tCornot2tC; Aug 7, 2011 at 12:33 PM. Reason: spelling
After I put on these sway bars, my car felt more stable in a straight line too. That is not supposed to happen with sway bars alone. I was so overwhelmed by that straight line added stability that I was distracted from the main evaluation. And that is why my previous answer was so guarded.
Your evaluation just sounds more psychological to me than anything. Sorry
Last edited by oblivionlord; Aug 7, 2011 at 01:51 PM.
I'm waiting to hear from someone if either or BOTH of these make a noticeable difference in routine handling. Please let us know. I'm very interested in seeing anyone who has installed either or both write a detailed review. Thanks!
Last edited by Patriot07; Aug 12, 2011 at 03:30 AM. Reason: spelling correction
The instructions didn’t say anything about lift motors, so, I have to deduce that it was a result of the car collapsing down about 2”. Yup…TRD lowering springs.
I’ve already had the TRD front tower brace in for several months now. This sway bar completed the whole TRD suspension upgrade. As you can see from the photos, I did not go with the TRD brakes or the TRD wheels. I chose F-Sport wheels and brakes. I’ve installed the tower brace and the springs at the same time. These two kits require removal of common parts to install, so this turned out great. All TRD suspension upgrades made an incremental improvement on the handling. Now it’s a different car. I still think that this car would benefit from front and rear lower suspension bracing and fender bars too.
I have them installed finally and wrote a quick review...
You can find it here: https://www.scionlife.com/forums/sho...&postcount=274
You can find it here: https://www.scionlife.com/forums/sho...&postcount=274





