Which is best and why? My 89 toyota truck sees a lot of highway and sand and snow, it has 33/12.5/15 tires, 3.4 v6, auto trans, extra cab, loaded, .

I dont have the problems with bottoming out people seem to have, my truck is pulling hard to the left and everything else in the front suspension is new and the truck has not been wrecked, it is getting worse all by itself and has been to three alignment shops. It drove perfect for 2 years until I had the steering rod replaced by the dealership under recall, been bad since. I figure maybe a torsion bar is sagging, the truck has 350,000 hard miles on the chassis. I dont want a hard ride, it rides good now, torsion bars are at stock height but were cranked up hard when I got the truck (maybe that killed them?) so I wanted to know what you have experienced and what brand I should buy, this truck does not get beat on!!! This is a daily driver truck and dont want any lift out of the bars.

I also cant find a price or part number for ome bars, is the price so bad that they cant post them? Downey and saw are both the same price.

 

Well new t-bars will not in any way solve your pulling issue. However, for a choice I cannot steer you far far away from the Downey and even the SAW. If you insist on new t-bars go buy some OEM bars. Not fancy and they cost about what the Downey set cost but for what you're discribing the best choice. Also isn't Downey's around the $180 price, and the SAW the $110.

If you don't go with the oem bars, the only other reasonable choice is the old man emu. I run a set, but cannont give you a comparative since my front IFS is no longer stock but others seem to like them. They are not much larger than stock and really the only ones needed for a heavy bumper, winch, added hight, or even high speed control. In other words 25/26mm are bull -- really I've tried them all. OME bars cost around the $160 range. Cruiser Outfitters in Utah carries them, the owner Curt is always there and I highly recommend him.

For the pulling, what has the other alingment shops said about it. Pulling is due to bad cross castor. If you went to three shops and they got it in spec and no bad bushings I say check your tires.

 

The Sway a ways and Downey's are thicker bars (compared to stock - I believe 25-26 MM for either) which equals stiffer/firmer ride. The stock bars, which are 22.8 MM, are tough, provide decent ride quality as long as they aren't cranked too high, and pretty strong for what they are and your experieince is a testament to that.

I would say if you're not gonna go stock, and you do have larger tires, the OME bars are probably the best bet. They are 23.4 MM, only slightly thicker than stock, and OME has good reputation for buildling high quality aftermarket suspension parts for Toyota's. The OME's I'm gonna huck a guess out there, are probably slightly thicker than stock to accomodate slightly more weight up front like for light bars, or their ARB Bumper (OME/ARB basically the same company), as well as work with bigger offroad tires and to help/enhance durability off the beaten path.

 

X3 for OME

 

Torsion bars are not the problem.

All of those that you listed are larger diameter than the stock bars and, as such, have a higher spring rate which will cause a stiffer ride.





Fred

 

Sounds like you need a better alignment shop

Most dont realize that the CASTER is in fact adjustable and dont dial enough in...

 

The same shcwabs did my alignment when I bought the truck before, it drove fine even on the very worn and choppy wild country tires that the truck came with. When I took the truck to the dealership I put stock 30 inch street tires on it (they were like new) and it drove in fine, left screwed, then the next morning I bought my current 33's cooper stt's and rims brand new and keep the air pressure in check all the time. I think I will call Toyota on monday and see if I can buy a new set of bars and call schwabs and get the alignment checked again. I have the alignment sheet with all the specs and will see if I can find it.

 

You lost me with "drove fine, left screwed" wtf does that mean?

Also make sure they adjust for 2.5-3* of castor. The Hunter computer calls for only 1.5-2* of castor. You will still be under on castor if you just let them put it into "spec" by their machine.

 

I have a set of fair condition OEM bars off an 86 pickup. If you want them though, let me know ASAP or else they will be scrapped.. I am sure the shipping would be rough, but you could have them for like 20$ plus shipping..

 

what I mean was I am not happy with the Toyota dealership, they took the truck, dragged out a 25 minute long job into a 1 1/2 week job and did not align the truck after changing the part that attaches the entire steering assembly to the truck, they told me that they only have to change the part, nothing else, the trip home from 20 miles away with the left front tire eating itself alive was super, because it drove perfectly straight and nice before toyota touched it. Now I remember why I dont trust other people to touch my rigs, in my 12 years of driving, that is the first and last time another person has ever worked on anything I own. And for the 86 bars, I appreciate the offer, but they are smaller in diameter and with the v6 and the auto it would be not nice on those bars.

 

That is wrong. I work at the dealership here, and when we do that recall we ALWAYS align the truck afterwards. It's part of the recall! How can you replace a STEERING component and not align it? You should call them back and have them fix it. Sorry, but it seems that dealership sucks.