I thought I had it fixed but looks like the strut bars are again toasted at about 50K miles. While I was having the tire/wheels balanced, I had Son at Dynamic look over the suspension. Upper and lower CA looked fine but the strut bars showed signs of wear. Son relayed this was a poor design on Toyota's part and they knew it.

So once again, I'll have to go through the routine although I am considering these:
http://www.more-japan.com/Nagisa-Aut...d-p-18368.html

I'm at a toss-up. The car has 124K now and I expect to keep it till 200K. I debate whether these nice strut bars are practical. Your thoughts?

 

man those are expensive. im sure if you take it down to a hot rod shop they would make you something like that for half the price

 

contact carson about getting some polyurethane bushings?

 

Thanks PD...I'll contact them. Didn't know they had a poly replacement.

 

yep, i think this is it
http://www.l-tunedparts.com/product/?id=1902

 

How much does a dealer charge to replace these (labor only)? I bought the strut rods already and tried getting the old ones off, but I can't get enough force on the alignment bolts to break them loose.

 

Sorry to hear you are having trouble - prices for the custom replacements are too high for me to consider versus poly replacements.

Favor - Can you tell me what the symptoms were of your bad strut bar bushings? Was it steering wandering, vibration, tire wear, etc.? I ask because I have over 210,000 miles and I have never changed mine. Thanks....

 

The car wanders at highway speeds.

 

The usual clunk when driving over a speed bump or braking. I also am getting feedback through the steering wheel though it is combined with a slightly warped brake rotor...this also shows the looseness in the front end. There are a multitude if symptoms but those are the obvious ones. The often lousy roads in So. Cal don't help in suspension longevity. You would think I was taking this thing off road on dirt and rut ridden trails.

This is a YMMV issue to so if your roads are nice, you may not have to deal with it.

 

Gotcha - wanders, clunking and vibrations. I can't believe mine are not defective after all those miles - like RA40 says maybe due to roads, driving, etc.

For your specific issue I would go with poly's since they will last longer - too bad there is not an easy way to grease them like the energy suspension sway bar bushings - that way they would not be annoyingly loud.

 

Steve I believe that you can drill and tap for a grease fitting and then install the poly bushings.

Mike if you need help give me a call.

 

dude! why didn't you tell him to SEARCH?!!?!?!?!?

 

so the poly's have any effect on the smoothness of the ride?

 

Momentary lapse. He'll get me when I ask him about the hood struts or K&N airfilter.

Thanks Mike

 

Great point on drilling a grease port - that is all Energy did for their sway bar bushings - I am interested to hear how long they last - should be many many times longer than rubber.