Yotatech has been a great source of information for me as I am modifying my 2002 4Runner. Following your leads, I have installed an oil pressure gauge, addco sway bars, and a bypass oil filter system to name a few. Your concerns w.r.t. the addco bushings, bracket breakage, bracket alignment, etc. put me on guard when I began this mod. My truck is 2wd and a street runner, so it will not see the heavy movement of the sway bars that offroad will cause.

I came up with what I hope is a solution to the bolt/hole location problem that I think caused all your problems. No one ever really says it, but the whole thing stems from the fact there is a RH and a LH bracket. The holes in the brackets and the mounts on the truck are not on the bracket centerline.
Using any of the aftermarket brackets that have holes on the centerline puts the brackets at an angle that is not perpendicular to the bar. Hence, when the bar articulates, it wobbles in the bracket and stresses it.

I used larger bolts than oem and in doing so enlarged the holes in the frame mounts and the aftermarket brackets in opposing directions to center them back up. As a result, my brackets are perpendicular to the bar. I did the mod about 4 or 5 months ago and have seen no ill effects yet.

By the way, the greasable brackets have elongated holes in them that are so extreme there is nothing left for the bolts and washers to bear against. I had both, but stayed with the addco brackets because the holes were not so large.

If anyone wants more information, I'd be glad to discuss...

 

Parrothead !!!
I am glad things are working out for you. As you may have noticed, I have been off this digest for a long time. I have been just too busy with life.

Speedy has been in touch with me and I can blame him for getting my juices going again. My truck is running great and I am very happy, but you guys have gone so much further and the level of sophistication work like Speedy's has demonstrated really impresses me.

My swaybar setup works great, but not to long ago I had this epiphany when I realized that my poly bushings were causing the sway bar movement to bind. I thought that I could lubricate the bushings with WD-40. Yes, I'm a late bloomer -- I am sure you guys have been lubing the bushings for ever. So I told Speedy and he said a better lube for that was motorcycle chain lube, because the WD-40 has alcohol in it -- which evaporates. Makes sense to me, but I have not tried it yet. After lubing the polybushings the movement of the truck is much better. Anyway, life is good and as long as we are all happy and having fun driving our 4R's we'll just keep rolling.

 

I suppose that motorcycle chain lube is waterproof.
Isn't it?
If not, a better lube would be something like the infamous "Green Grease".
That's what I use.

 

not sure if this is the proper place for this post, but seeing how it relates
to the topic, why not?

anyway, being that my 4runner has suffered from this same problem, i got
in touch w/ my neighbor who is a machinist. i went to him and explained
my issue and asked for some advice. yesterday, he got back to me w/
his suggestion. he informed me that he can machine brackets for me using
304 stainless steel. i gave him the bracket and he drew it up and priced it
out for me. being that this is a common issue w/ the addco front swaybars,
i thought i'd see if anyone else would be interested in a set. naturally, the
more order, the less expensive the brackets. let me know....

 

interested ..pending cost

thanks

 

Just thought I'd share what I found this morning

I've was hearing some "clinking" all day yesterday and crawled under the truck to see this:


I was doing some heavy 4WD this weekend so I assume that caused it. Not tight enough? Lock washer broke? I dunno, but I got another lock washer with a nylon nut this time and torqued it down good.

So just a reminder; 51ft/lbs on the bottom bolt and 14 ft/lbs on the long endlink bolt.

FWIW, the bolt will not fall out as the long bolt going through the endlink will hold it in.

 

This has to do with lubricating areas like the problematic hood latch cable and the endlink bushings. I was reading an article in Popular Mechanics and they were lauding the virtues of a product called MaxFilm as a lubricant that does not wear off easily. I was speaking to the very responsive tech rep at RP and he said he uses MaxChain when he wants a slightly dryer film. I am going to get that product because I think it might be better than MaxFilm, especially under dusty conditions. I will also try it with a motorcycle cable oiler to see if it helps to free the movement of the hood latch cable.

Here's the contact info for the rep.
David Canitz
Tech Services
Royal Purple Inc.
1 Royal Purple lane
Porter, TX 77365
281.354.8600
713.725.7207 cell
dcanitz@royalpurple.com

 

Thought I'd add some more carnage to this thread...

I was out on some OHV roads this weekend. Going uphill on a turn, there was a loud BANG!

I was greeted under the truck by this:
(Yes, I know my steering boot is torn, thanks)



The source of the bang:


Note the grease zerk; these are the Energy Suspension brackets, not the original Addco ones (those were victim to a similar fate as well).