PHML

iTrader: (33)

Nope...no need to remove endlink at all. Keeping the endlink secured actually helps keep the OEM sway bars moving around when you try to get the bushings on. You need to twist the bushings enough so that the slit opening fits the bar. Yah...use all the supplied grease. Its kinda a messy job cuz you gonna get grease on your hands, but simple and well worth the $30.

I upgraded to the full Daizen Sway kit a few months later....so in essense...I had to do this twice (once on OEM bar, and again on Daizen bars).

PS...don't forget to use threadlockers and to torque the bolts.

Pete

SeattleGS400

iTrader: (1)

Just got the Daizen polyurethane sway bar bushings from TM Engineering. See the attached pic of the kit contents:

1. (2) Front sway bar bushings.
2. (2) Rear sway bar bushings.
3. (3) Grease tubes
4. Installation instructions

I paid $38.80 for it shipped to my door from:

www.tmengineering.net

Anyways, to try to reduce my car's lean on corners, I thought I'd go this relatively cheap route first before I fork out ~$500 for enhanced sway bars (either Daizen or TRD Sportivos). I'm not a hardcore driver, but I definitely don't like the OEM sway in the car--FYI, my '99 GS400 has 80k miles on it (so the OEM rubber bushings could very well be worn). I'll put these on next week when I get a chance and will report back on my findings on this $39 experiment. . .

PHML

iTrader: (33)

I bet them stock cheapo bushings are gonna be worn out to da max....mines were unrecognizable at 28K miles.

Take pics of old bushings next to the new Daizen bushings.

Pete

SeattleGS400

iTrader: (1)

Will take a pic of the OEM rubber bushings when I pull them off the car next week. Also, I'll try to get the Daizen bushings installed and running for a couple days before I put on the newly ordered 235/45R17 Michelin Pilot Sport A/S on, as to not bias the results.

Will report back on the results with the polyurethane bushing replacement next week. . .

PHML

iTrader: (33)

Great choice of tires....but I kinda bias!!

Pete

SeattleGS400

iTrader: (1)

Daizen Polyurethane Sway Bar Bushing Installation

Total time: 2 hours total.

Tools required: 10mm and 12mm socket, torque wrench, large screwdriver, jack stands and jack, rubber gloves (to keep your fingers clean), wheel lug wrench (21mm socket?)

FRONT SWAY BUSHING INSTALLATION

Jack up the front of the car. Remove the plastic underbody cover (1 main piece—about 7 bolts) and 1 left and 1 right plastic underbody/wheel well cover (2 bolts each). Pics will come later to help clarify, as I’m on a trip.

Remove the mounting bolts (2 per side) on the left and right sway bar mounting brackets. FYI, you do NOT need to remove the sway bar end links bolts to the front suspension arm. After the brackets come off (exposing the OEM rubber bushings), the sway bar will swing down due to gravity. Just slide out the OEM bushings (there is a slit in the front of the bushing to allow this). Prep the large Daizen polyurethane bushing by first spreading the bushing open to loosen it up a bit (only 1 end is cut open so that you can do this). Next, with 7/8 whole tube of grease—apply the supplied heavy grease all over the inside of the bushing evenly (this is where it’s helpful have a plastic glove to wear). Open up the bushing and slide the bushing onto the sway bar. Repeat for the other side.

Apply some grease onto the inside of the mounting brackets. Put the mounting brackets back on and tighten the bolts 21 ft-lbs. Replace the plastic underbody covers. Remove the jack stands.

REAR SWAY BUSHING INSTALLATION

Loosen the lug nuts of the rear tires. Jack up the rear of the car and remove all of the lugs and the rear tires. Remove the mounting bolts (2 per side) to the left and right mounting brackets to the rear sway bar (do NOT remove the rear end link bolts, however). The rear sway bar will swing down due to gravity. Slide out the rear OEM rubber bushings. Prep the small Daizen polyurethane bushing by first spreading it open using a large flathead screwdriver (put it in flat, then spin the screwdriver to give leverage to spread open the bushing at a few points—you MUST do this or you will not be able to get it open). Next, with ½ a tube of grease, apply the supplied heavy grease all over the inside of the rear polyurethane bushing. Open up the bushing with the screwdriver, and while its held open with the screwdriver, slide it onto the rear sway bar. Repeat for the other side.

Rotate the bushing so that the polygonal part is on the top. Apply some grease onto the inside of the mounting brackets. Put the mounting brackets back on and tighten the bolts 13 ft-lbs. Reinstall the wheels (76 ft-lbs), and remove the jack stands. Retorque the rear wheels.

MISC. INSTALLATION NOTES

An alignment with this modification is absolutely not required, or even necessary. The sway bar is secured onto the chassis by 2 mounting brackets, and the bar can slide a little bit to the left and right of the car, depending on the sway bar's current state of twist and steering wheel angle position. Removing and reinstalling the sway bar mounting brackets does not affect the alignment whatsover.

Rubber vs. Polyurethane Background Info: OEM rubber bushings have some cushioning before the sway bars twist, but the hard polyurethane makes the sway bars twist right away. As the OEM sway bars twist rather easily, having the OEM rubber bushings just makes the ride that much softer. Upgrading to the polyurethane bushings just takes out one softness factor into it, and contributes to better cornering handling with the OEM sway bars.

Daizen Polyurethane Sway Bushing Driving Impressions: Compared to OEM, these Daizen polyurethane bushings are a nice improvement—but nowhere near what a full aftermarket sway bar set would do with a stiffer bar. I would say that the Daizen polyurethane bushings give about 20-30% improvement over stock corner handling (Tom from TM Engineering has mentioned to me the same thing).

There is 20-30% less sway around corners than OEM, but the car does still sway. With the Daizen bushings, when you hit some bumps on corners, it oscillates left-to-right less and feels a bit more “composed.” The straight freeway ride is a bit more “planted” as well (due to less floaty side-to-side oscillation). There is no ride penalty, and no undue harshness from this upgrade. So far, there are no noise issues from this install, nor do I anticipate any (lots of heavy grease inside the threaded bushing openings, which help retain the grease) and the exterior of the bushings are coated with a slick surface.

Summary: Without hesitation, if you are still running the OEM sway bars with OEM rubber bushings and are not planning on spending big money on TRD sway bars or the Daizen sway bar set, buy this $30 Daizen polyurethane sway bushing upgrade set. This is an easy install, requires very minimal tools, and does not require a follow-up alignment. There is no impact on ride quality, and you will get 20-30% better corner handling than what the OEM rubber sway bushings offer. You can not go wrong with this inexpensive upgrade.

PHML

iTrader: (33)

wow....great writeup.

koreanpers

hey, this is cool, i think i will try these

SeattleGS400

iTrader: (1)

Thanks. I just edited a couple of typos I originally had in the post. I'll get you those pics of the OEM rubber bushings tomorrow (Monday), when I get a chance. The OEM bushings actually looked fine, but nonehteless are rather soft compared to the Daizen polyurethane bushings. . .

I'll also get some more pics of the front sway bars and rear sway bars to help guide those interested in doing this easy mod.

SeattleGS400

iTrader: (1)

See the attached pictorial of what you should remove for the front sway bar bushing installation: plastic underbody covers (3 total) and the bolts for the 2 mounting brackets.

NOTE: You do NOT need to remove the sway bar end links from the main sway bar whatsoever.

SeattleGS400

iTrader: (1)

See the attached pictorial of what you should remove for the rear sway bar bushing installation: the bolts for the 2 mounting brackets (in addition to the rear wheels for easy access).

NOTE 1: You do NOT need to remove the sway bar end links from the main sway bar whatsoever.

NOTE 2: The trapezoidal edge of the rear bushing must be at the top when installed, while the round edge is at the bottom. Both the Daizen polyurethane and OEM rubber bushings have these 2 shapes on the bushing when viewed from the open tops.

GSX4

So base on all the comments here, no here had any problem with noises? I asked a Lexus technician he had concern about noises. He said it might create grinding noise which I might not be comfortable with. Had anyone here heard of any noise from installing the bushing?

SeattleGS400

iTrader: (1)

The concerns you and your Lexus technician brought up are very valid. Nonetheless, I've had the Daizen polyurethane sway bar bushings on for 1 week, and so far, I have no noise issues. As previously mentioned, I do not anticipate any future noise for the following reasons:

1. I've used lots of the supplied heavy grease inside the threaded polyurethane bushing openings, which help retain the grease between the bushing and the sway bar. The OEM bushings are smooth all over, including the sway bar tunnel. The Daizen polyurethane bushings have a finely-threaded tunnel for the sway bar, and it effectivley holds the grease inside.

2. The exterior of the Daizen polyurethane bushings are coated with a slick outer surface. This helps to minmize any rubbing with the mounting brackets. While probably not required, I put some of the supplied heavy grease between the mounting bracket and the Daizen polyurethane bushing to ensure that any noise does not occur.

Noise was my biggest concern with this install (ride quality was my second concern), and after much research into the Daizen company and talking with others, I figured this $30 modification was very low risk. If it didn't work like it was promised, I could easily swap them back to the OEM bushings. My assessment to this date remains that this is easily the best $30 you can spend to reduce your car's lean by 20-30% on corners--and it does not creat any noise and does not have any ride degradation penalties.

Concerning noise, others with this mod should also chime in with their experiences. Even those with the full Daizen sway bar set should chime in as well on the noise issue. While the full Daizen sway bars are obviously stiffer than the OEM sway bars, they still use the polyurethane bushings--if they don't have noise issues, I think your noise concerns should minimize

Again, it's not a full, stiffer sway bar replacement (i.e. full Daizen sways or TRD sways), but for the price, the Daizen polyurethane sway bushings upgrade has a good return on investment (ROV).

GSX4

SeattleGS400,

Thank you for being very thorough with your writing. I think I'm comfortable enough to do this. You're right, can't really go wrong with $30 + labors. As you can probably tell, I'm no technician. You guy sound very knowledgable about your cars which I commence you. Just want to say "Thank you" for taking your time, and others, helping us (not very knowledgeable about our cars) on our decision by making it so easy to understand. So thanks you again!

GSquicksilver

Bringing this thread back to life since i'm going to put on the daizen bushings this weekend.

question i have is, where did you guys jack up the car in the rear to install the bushings?

for the front, i can place 2 jack stands on the frame near the LCB, but in the rear, i can't find a place to put 2 jack stands. i just don't want to have a single jack holding on the rear differential while i climb down under the car.