inkedlines

Hi All! New member here with a 98 ES300 EX. I love this car! Bought a few months ago and have been driving in style since. Low miles for a 17 year old car @ 150k, great cosmetic and mechanical condition! All stock except for the wheels I just put on. In the future I would like to lower the car for a sportier look, and improve the suspension to improve handling, cornering and body roll. No plans yet just general thoughts. Right now I'm just focusing on putting gas in and driving this thing everywhere. Its been great, but I just ran into a slight problem.

Tires were almost bald, so I set out to get a new set. Ended up getting a slightly used set of wheels and almost new tires for cheap so I went that rout. 18x7.5 +40 w/ 225/40/18. After getting the wheels balanced, and new lug nuts I was rolling in style. Went for a test drive and noticed no issues of rubbing or otherwise. Everything was smooth other than the ride being a bit harsher due to the thinner profile tires. Nothing I can't handle. Next day was driving around town for work, and after about 20 miles on the car that day something happened. Made an easy right hand turn and bang! felt like I hit something on the road and I watched as metal piece tumbled and clanked in the street behind me. Pulled over to check the car and noticed nothing was wrong, no flat or other issues that I could see so I went on my way. Car drove fine, although I did notice a very slight "rotational" metal scrapping sound coming from the front driver wheel. Other wise the drive was the same.

Long story even longer, later on I was able to get under the car and see that the front sway bar had been snapped clean off on the driver side, detached from the end link and fell off the car. The end link is still attached to the strut. I did not see any other damage or broken parts on the car. The ride is a bit sloppier, but honestly barely noticeable. I take it pretty easy when I drive, so I don't go barreling around corners. This just happened 2 days ago.

I plan to replace the sway bar, but will put it off for a bit due to my tight budget. Unless one of the guru's here can offer me sound advice otherwise. The rear sway bar bushings also need to be replaced, as they knock when its bumpy or cornering.

So my questions are:
What would cause this to happen?
- Metal fatigue? Heavier wheels added stress to the suspension? Coincidence?

Recommendations for buying a new sway bar and bushings for front and rear.
- Factory/OEM or stiffer aftermarket part? Lexus factory? Whiteline? Avalon? Other?

Recommendations for other parts to service/repair/replace at the same time as sway bars.

Thanks for reading this novel of a post.

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

Wow I've never heard of this happening. Sounds like metal fatigue. It might have rusted through in that part and finally gave up.

lostape45

Wow that's interesting. I can't believe the sway bar being 1inch of metal could just snap like that. Might've been fractured then rusted into fracture.

ES300NZ

I have no reason to disbelieve you, but .. that's unbelievable.

- I must have seen several thousand cars in wreckers yards over the years I've _never_ seen this.

- my guess is that
(1) there was a flaw in the bar,
(2) it had previously been crashed and cracked or
(3) there was a bubble in there,
(4) or rust
(5) someone had cut it for some reason which I personally cant fathom.

The telling thing is; it didn't bend, it cracked off. That says 'fatigue/crack/flaw/cut' not 'too much force'

LeX2K

Seized end links can cause a sway bar to break.

Oro

Hard to tell exactly, but photo looks to me like it was rusted through. If a cast part (think it is), probably a porosity in the casting let it rust internally over time. I have seen that (rarely) on forks, similar parts. bad luck, basically.

inkedlines

Thanks for your input all. After a second thought, and a second look it might be possible that the sway bar was broken previously and simply was hanging there still attached to the trailing arm. It falling off after putting on the wheels possibly just coincidence. I can see nothing else that would lead me to believe this was caused by the wheels. I will get under the car soon to take a closer look, but can't see any other issues.

I would still appreciate some experienced input on the replacement sway bar. Any recommendations are appreciated as far as stock or upgrading to a aftermarket.

lsiberian

This is why low miles on a used car is not actually a good thing. My question is what else is rusted? I'd start saving for another vehicle at this point. Rust that bad is a very bad sign IMO.

ES300NZ

Stock. IMHO.