Yes, and since one bolt is oriented horizontally, it really shouldn't matter (seems awfully unlikely it would shear unless someone overtorqued it.) So, that leaves exactly half the flex pressure being applied to the vertically oriented bolt. I kind of wonder if the problem really comes down to installation issues -- either overtorquing or under tightening could put the mountings at risk!

Plenty of people seem to overlook the bushing lubricant, what's the liklihood people are installing and tightening the bolts exactly according to instructions (including the shock bolt/nut?) It could be TRD is just trying to render the mounting a little more self-install error proof!

 

I just got a TRD Sway bar from Toyota last weekend and they had it in stock, they did not say it was being redesigned?

This was at Longo Toyota/Scion

 

Well this new bar isn't due in for another 4 weeks or so, so I believe you would have got the old-style bar.

 

do hotchkis have any problems also?

 

NOPE, Hotchkis engineers their isht correctly the 1st time!

 

nice but yet i still haven't install it yet which i should

 

Yes you should! Don't make me come punish you.

 

just found out my sway bar snapped. it snapped at the weld between the eyehole attaching to the strut bolt and the bar. i called TRD and because today is a holiday i didnt really get an answer to whether or not the bar was redesigned.

i dont think i am going to bother claiming it with warranty. with the tanabe DFs i think the dealership might put it on that. plus i ordered the bar online and i dont really have the reciept...

 

Did just the weld break? Can it be fixed with a new weld, or does it look like it's done for?

 

i dont want to repair it.. like why fix a flawed design? i might take advantage of this and get the hotchkis set. ill give TRD a call again and try to confirm the redesign before i buy anything..

 

Keep us posted on what they say about the redesign.

 

i better check mine...

 

The hochkis looked similar in design? i did not notice a difference

 

Yup, I got the same song and dance from sparks when I got my xb. I was going to put only trd parts on my xb, so much for that plan. I then ordered teh hochkis set, like I had for my xa. No problems.

 

This is bigfieroman's response, found it on the Tanabe NF thread...


Here is a PM I sent to HotchkisSusp weeks ago:

*****

HotchkisSusp wrote:
Bigfieroman wrote:
Do you guys have any idea how your rear bar stacks up stiffness wise to the 7/8th" thick solid rear TRD bar? I tried to do the calculations, but I need your rear bar's inner diameter to do it.

The Hotchkis sway bar is 25% stiffer and 90% lighter then the current TRD Rear bar.


I think you misspoke above, I think you meant that the TRD bar weighs 90% more than your bar, not that your bar is 90% lighter...90% lighter means it weighs 1/10th of the TRD bar's weight. If your bar weighs 10 lbs, that means the TRD bar is 100 lbs.

I finally got my swaybars today (Christmas gift) and measured the wall thickness of your rear bar.

Assuming your bar is of similar material properties to the TRD bar (which is listed as SAE 1026 Cold Drawn steel), I did the following calculations.

The equation I used for torsional constant is (pi/2)*(OD^4-ID^4).

The TRD bar is 22mm (they also say 7/8", which is a little bigger, but I will assume it is actually 22mm solid), and I calculated its constant to be 0.8841.

Your bar is 1" OD and 3/4" ID (I measure wall thickness at 1/8", but this is a rough measurement, my calipers are at work), and so I came to 1.0738 as the constant.

0.8841/1.0738 * 100=your bar is about 21.5% stiffer, assuming an identical material, moment arm, shape, etc. You said your bar is 25% stiffer, this is close enough, I assume the difference is just rounding.

On the weight side, assuming that the bars are identical in shape and density, I calculate the TRD bar to be 71.5% heavier (OD^2-ID^2, dropping all identical coeffs). You meant that the TRD bar is 90% heavier...I don't know where the discrepancy comes from.

Could you explain the differences? Perhaps your bars are made out of a stiffer steel and have a thinner wall thickness than what I measured? I am sorry for being a pain in the butt, but they would take away my degree if I wasn't...

Anyway, I cannot wait to install these things, they really seem like they will clean up the handling of my xB!

*****

Anyway, her response was that I was wrong, the rear bar is 25% stiffer and 90% lighter, and gave me her engineer's contact info. I didn't bother because it was obvious that she didn't really understand and I didn't care that she was misinformed.

As far as ride penalty for stiffer bars, it is true that added roll stiffness will make the ride A LITTLE stiffer, but unless you drove the cars back-to-back, you would probably never notice.

One factor that no one mentioned is unsprung weight. Because these bars are lighter than the stock front and TRD rear, the unsprung weight of the suspension is reduced, which improves ride and handling. It basically allows springs and shocks to work more efficiently and filter out more of each disturbance. This works in a different way than the ride penalty for roll stiffness, so they don't cancel each other out, it means that in some situations the Hotchkis setup would ride SLIGHTLY better, and in some it would ride SLIGHTLY worse. The difference from non-progressive springs or 18" wheels will be much more noticeable.

The part about roll stiffness in wet conditions is true as well, but it shouldn't be a huge effect on a street car. A race car goes from "unbelievably stiff" to "stiffer than any street car" for wet conditions, and it drives at the limit ALL THE TIME. As long as you aren't drifting every time it rains, you will never notice the loss of cornering due to the bars.

I think I am going to start charging you guys an hourly fee.

 

my bar broke after 6 months

 

The only couple posts I've seen that mention driving style associated with broken bars has been very "spirited" on twisty-turny roads. How about you other people who mention breaking your bars? I can't help but suspect we're not talking about typical street or highway driving with these failures. I'm guessing the problem is associated with high stress driving.

 

i drive normal but i do make alot of u turns

 

i gave TRD a call again today and instead of being on the line with a TRD rep they transferred me to a scion rep and they told me that the TRD sway bar is on a TBD status and has stopped sale on the old bar. i checked the TRD catalog and there is a different part number for the bar. that plus the march 1 release date posted on the TRDSparks page i think that pretty much confirms that the bar is redesigned.

im probably going to wait it out and order the new TRD. i like the red as opposed to the lame gray of the hotchkis

 

I will re-order the new bar when released. I had one on order for like three months with TRD sparks but he could not give me a release date on the new bar. Come march, I will replace my order