Speedy

I installed the ADDCO sway bars on my 2002 4Runner SR5 4x4 this weekend. One thing I noticed was that the rear end links are at a slight angle with the ADDCO bar installed. Is this normal? I tried various ways of tightening everything down, but the end result was always the same. I used the bushings included with the ADDCO rear sway bar. Both sides are at the same angle. I'm guessing the ADDCO bar is slightly longer than stock? I used Energy Suspension greaseable sway bar bushings to mount the bar to the vehicle.

bamachem

looks like it was made for a lift... that could be why it appears to be too long.

MTL_4runner

The bar looks too long to me.
How did the new one match up to the old?

Albuquerque Jim

Did you swap your front end-links to the rear? The end-links themselves look like they are longer than OEM rear end-links. I have my fronts, which are longer, on the rear to compensate for lift.

Speedy

I didn't compare the new bar to the stock one, only verified the part number was correct before installing. It says it's part 483. I've got a call in to ADDCO Tech Support to see what's up. My box was dated October 2006 for this bar. Maybe it's been changed and should have come with new end links?

Speedy

No I did not swap them out. Those are the stock rear end links.

Speedy

I sent some pictures of the bar before and after installation over to ADDCO. Tech support says it looks like there's an error in the bar's design. He's gonna call me back tomorrow.

MTL_4runner

If you still have the old one you might just get under and hold it up against the new one for reference. The endlink hole should match up between the two. If not, you'll definately have an issue like the pic you posted.

RandyÄ

I installed my Addco swaybars (from PP) this weekend on my '02 and have the same situation. Please be sure to post their response.

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

From that pic that swaybar is about 1-2" too long definitely.

Speedy

Will do. My rear bar also came from PP. What did you think of the install? It was a major PITA for me. Took me all day. Not nearly as easy as I thought it would be and I'm no rookie. I did mine all in the garage with hand tools and am sore as hell from laying on the concrete.

Speedy

Update 2/21/07

I've been working with ADDCO the past couple of days. It looks like they may have had some bad bars rear bars go out. He asked me to take a measurement from the endlink bolt hole to the bend in the bar where it goes across the axle. Mine measured around 14 inches. He said the ones they show are 12 7/8". I'm going to measure my stock bar tonight when I get home to compare that 12 7/8" measurement.

gpcollen1

I hope that is not why the price dropped - to get rid of the rest of them...now I have to look at mine again!!

Speedy

Yep, looks like the stock bar measures around 12 1/2". My ADDCO is definitely defective.

ADDCO is going to have one gold plated for me and ship it out to me on Friday. They only offer black now, but I requested gold since my front one's gold and I'm anal.

All in all pretty good guys to deal with, although being somewhat of an engineer type myself I'm a little surprised at the bar length issue.

wjwerdna

I'm somewhat of an engineering type too... in manufacturing, and can completely see how the bar could be screwed up, but in the tier1 auto-supplier industry, I can't see it going out the door with that much of a defect... Of course that is from a standpoint of making tons of these bars at a time each and every day. I am sure they have set patterns and make small runs with minimal set-up times between them, so the opportunities for making test/validation fixtures would be time consuming without laser adjustability and recognition software...

either way, sounds like they are taking care of you, I just installed my front one last weekend and love the difference... MI stinks but a guy at work lent me a warm garage and air tools... please let me know how handling has changed with rear sway-bar, I'm holding out for now.

Also I believe the basic performance of the longer one should be relatively the same as the correct sized one? Yeah it may have more flex due to longer parts adding increased moment around the center of the bar subject to torsion, but surely enough performance increase over stock to tell difference... (and yes, I would still want the right one if I was in your situation, and reimbursement of some sort, in either refund, or substantial product certificate to be applied to another purchase)

Speedy

I ran just the front for a day to see how it felt. I could feel a noticeable tendency for the vehicle to under steer with just the front bar installed. After installing the rear this went away, even with the bar being the wrong length. This should get even better when I have the correct bar installed.

With the bars installed this 4Runner handles better than my girlfriend's V6 Coupe Accord. She's now asking me if we can try to find some for her car.

Speedy

Update: 3/17/2007

ADDCO sent me a replacement rear bar, and it was also the wrong length. I took some detailed pictures and sent them back to ADDCO and they are making some new ones straight off the production line. They've been pretty good to work with, but I'm ready to have this finished. Should know something by Monday or Tuesday and hopefully have the correct bar toward the end of next week.

Speedy

FINAL UPDATE 4/11/07

Everything is finally corrected. I received the correct rear sway bar from ADDCO yesterday and installed it last night. Everything is as it should be. ADDCO's customer support guy was VERY good to work with, although it did take longer than I would have expected to get this straightened out. Part of that is because I wanted the replacement rear bar to be gold like the front, and ADDCO no longer offers these in gold so they had to send one off to a plater for me which took an extra 2 weeks.

I'm happy now, but my advice on this mod would be to double check the bars before installing, to compare them to the stock bar to make sure the eyelets line up. If the rear bar is longer than the stock bar, you got one of the bad ones.

One other thing....I've seen some report that they ride around with NO sway bars. I've been driving without a rear sway bar on the 4Runner for about 4 weeks and it started to affect my brakes. I seem to remember there being a valve on the rear axle that's a safety feature so when you brake hard and the rear of the vehicle rises this valve lessons the rear brake pressure to avoid locking up the rear causing a loss of control. With no rear bar on the car braking would cause the back end to rise quite a bit and I started noticing it taking longer to stop and other weird feelings when braking. With the rear bar now installed this sensation has disappeared completely.

Just something to be aware of.

KZN185W

iTrader: (1)

Glad to know that you had finally had it fixed with ADDCO support.

About the valve in the rear, it's only for those trucks without ABS. For those with ABS, brake proportioning is handled by the ABS computer.

Speedy

Thanks for the info. SOMETHING was making the braking really peculiar. Maybe the ABS has sensors to detect the height of the rear? Now that the bar is on braking feels MUCH more responsive. I mean it was bad enough that a couple of times I thought I was gonna rear end the person in front of me.