ok, so I understand what the two are...
my question is, do I need them?

why or why not? i do have a heavy foot, so i figured ill need one or the other, prob the sway bar.

but while looking around, i noticed tanabe makes a front strut tower bar, so im asking do people make rear ones? do we need just the front? just the rear?or both?

 

first off, i am not highly educated on suspension components but i will share with you what i DO know.

sway bars link opposite ends of your suspension from underneath, therefore they are more useful than tower bars (i say this per things i have read on here). whereas tower bars do the same, but they are on top of the suspension meaning they provide less use. i know that the tc has a rear tower bar, maybe even the xb. as for the xd? no idea. google it, you might find one or two.
(EDIT: ^^ i don't know exactly how they work, i just have an idea as to what they do)

i would imagine getting front and rear sways as well as at least the front tower bar would tighten your ish up pretty well. it should eliminate most body roll and provide much better handling.

if you are lowered, sways are pretty much a must. the stock sways are not designed to support a lower center of gravity, therefore producing more body roll than normal.

if i am wrong, fill me in.

 

sway bars, is there only one? or is there a rear and a front sway bar?

 

For the xD there is only a front strut tower and a rear sway bar a good combo for our cars is tanabe strut tower and trd sway bar on the rear if u lower the car and put a nice set of tires on this upgrade will give u the full feel. what these items do is when u go around a corner the body of your vehicle, tho not much, flex's and this causes the car to get sloppy in a corner. these two items delete that slop and force the car to stay stiff in the corner and will make the car turn sharp and flat when making a hard turn. its a good investment easy to install the front tower bar the sway bar can be a little harder but not to bad and its a cheap performance part that will make a big difference that u will notice.

 

front strut bar=waste unless you have coilovers.

the sway bar will definatly be a better piece of the 2, youll actually feel that unlike the strut bar

 

During hard(and I mean HARD) cornering the body deforms a little and the wheels start to lean. The strut bar connects the top of the struts adding rigidity to the body eliminating this effect. However this is so small that you won't feel it unless you have a massively upgraded suspension and are hard core autoxing(and even then I have my doubts).

Sway bars are good. They connect the left and right suspensions and keep the car level in turns which makes it feel better. I have 2, one in front and one in the back, but you only have the one in front because you have a tortion beam rear suspension(WIKI!) as opposed to the tc's double wishbone. What they call a swaybar for the xD is really just a reinforcement for the beam but it works the same way. It is really easy to install, Just reach under the car and bolt it in place. Trdsparks has them(and instructions free to download)(along with many other toyota parts.

I suggest you read the stickys in all of the tC forums on this site. There is some good info for beginners. Also this.

 

thanks everyone, this helps alot,
thanks to mixd for important info for my future shopping needs lol
special thanks to to vlad for showing those posts, major help