spacers will cause the tire to move farther forward and back when turned. A 1.25” spacer will put you equivalent to around a -6mm wheel offset when may cause some issues.

 

No I did not remove the bolt.

I took the correct size torx bit with a 6” extension and pushed on the bolt while simultaneously heating all the plastics around the bolt until they softened. I then sprayed all the heated plastics with a spray bottle full of water and flash cooled them before releasing the pressure on the bolt. I have plenty of clearance even at full compression:




i checked with opposite tires on ramps. This put the front suspension on the bump stop.

 

Oh, also, I am 90% sure that I will be able to fit the 285/70R17 spare underneath with some KDSS spacers.

Since the sway bar connects to the axle with bolts, it pivots around the axle points. If you install the spacers it will swing the swaybar down and forward away from the tire. I test the theory by putting some hydraulic jack stands under the sway bar and dropped it down ~1.5” and this was enough to move the bar off the tire.







i made sure my hitch was pushed back as far as possible. I loosened all the bolts, but some ratchet straps on the safety chain loops and pulled, while whacking it back front underneath with a deadblow hammer. It once it was shifted back I retightened it

 

Nicely done. How much room do you think your hitch adjustment gave you? Thinking of doing this to squeeze a 32" wheel under there.

 

I originally installed the hitch about a year ago and it probably moved back 1/8th to 1/4 of an inch from where it naturally landed when I first installed it. Not a ton but everything counts

 

Hey so did you end up getting sway bar extensions?

 

i bought them from Treaty Oak Offroad but have not seen a shipping notification yet.

 

Is your truck lifted? I'm curious how the angle of the bar with the spacers effect KDSS performance when extended as well as other driving dynamics.

 

no, and i don't care if it slightly softens the sway bar, i’d rather be able to fit the spare than have to buy some $1000+ spare carrier for the rear door or hitch.

The thing is, people have run lifted KDSS trucks without spacers for forever. Its the same thing. If I lift the truck 1.5” with no spacer, or run no lift with a 1.5” spacer, im effectively doing the same exact thing with regards to the sway angle.

and if I do end up running a lift at some point, I would probably remove the spacers. Running a lift and spacers will push the bar back to its original location.

 

Was it with aired down?

 

Just an FYI that I went looking for a replacement bolt for the 'notorious bolt' located at the rear of the front wheel arches. I found that a #14 x 3/4 'pan philips' sheet metal screw from Lowes hardware fits that hole perfectly. Since the screw head is pretty wide, I didn't use a washer which shaved off a little more space. Haven't replaced any screws on the front of the wheel arch yet, will see if I need to after my lift and bigger tire install later this week. Didn't really save much space, maybe 1/8" at most, but I do like that a rounder screw head would catch less on a tire in case it rubbed. Will go for the heat gun approach if I need to recess further.

Also, I'm over 100 posts, woohoo! what a milestone!


Rear of passenger side, front wheel arch

 

Happy 100th! lol

And thank you for this info. I knew I had to face this bolt at some point and now you've given me dummy-proof info to get 'er done. Thanks again!

 

Isnt the bolt already a round head TORX?

 

no, it's same as the bolt in the foreground of the photo, hex head, philips screw

 

Weird. Both the inner and outer bolt on my 2011 is a button head TORX. I bought the truck used but bone stock and had been serviced by lexus its entire life.