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I've been toiling away under the car all day swapping out the SC400 rear sway bar for a Supra sway / subframe mount setup. Getting those subframe mounts off and the Supra ones back on was ridiculously difficult with the brake lines right in the way, but I eventually got it all put back together with the last 3 hours of work being in darkness. Just need to torque everything down tomorrow.
However, I'm stumped on the endlinks. I could've sworn everything I saw said that the Supra links need to be used. However, they don't line up in any way that I can figure out, as the bolt is angled 90 degrees from how the SC's bolt is oriented.
Supra rear sway bar installed, endlink not hooked up; bolts angled ~90 degrees apart.
SC rear sway bar & endlink; both bolts face the same direction.
I'm thinking I should take the SC endlink off and see if that'll reach from the Supra bar to the control arm mount.
I wouldn't have thought it matters, but the Supra bits are off a NA setup which uses the 20mm bar -- it's a bit of an experiment to see how the more direct, better mounted 20mm Supra bar compares to the 24mm SC400 one, since most people opt for the added stiffness of the 22mm TT bar -- and I believe a JDM model. That wouldn't change the endlink configuration, though, would it? The subframe mounts and bushings all line up properly.
Here's a picture of a Supra TT rear bar, with the same 90 degree oriented endlinks as my NA bar:
I've found a couple references to having to use the Supra endlinks for the swap, but nothing saying to use the SC links... However, I noticed in the "Sway Bar Swap From MKIV Supra TT To SC300" PDF that it says, "Remove 14mm endlinks nuts where the sway bar ends." That sort of implies to unbolt the sway bar from the endlinks, i.e., leave the endlinks attached to the control arm to reattach them to the new Supra bar. Similarly, the last step says, "Bolt the endlinks to the new sway bar." That would fit with the SC endlinks having never left the car.
Which is a bummer, because one of the swivel tabs on my SC endlinks was pretty buggered up and hard to remove. I was hoping I'd be using the Supra ones in better shape... Maybe I can swap that tab over if they're on the same size grooved insert.
Is it possible you put the sway bar upside down..?
I thought about that, but I'm 99% sure I kept it lined up the same way as the subframe mounts when I laid everything out and transferred it over. Plus, the Supra bar and endlinks are symmetrical if you flip them over, aren't they? You'd still have the two bolts facing 90 degrees apart, no matter how you situate it, as far as I can tell.
I just finished up swapping over the SC endlinks and they fit perfectly. Although, all four bushings [edit: boots!] are shot and grease is leaking out, so I'll need to replace those at some point... Three of the four Supra bushings were good, as luck would have it, but those aren't usable.
Oh, I see in the pic and I assumed the SC endlinks might not even line up together.. so I thought something is wrong.
And the endlinks are not bushings. I know they flop around like rubber is holding them by the time you get grease leaking, new ones are quite stiff and a ball helm joint inside the grease filled boot.
I would expect them to feel loose at that age, but you want to check for play and gritty-ness which is most important. Likely though, it will not pass the torque test detailed in the factory manual. I will PM you the replacement I used.
Now makes me wonder about the front supra endlinks, Beck arnley list the same endlink fits both Supra and SC so there is probably no significant difference.
Sorry, I meant the four boots are shot, not bushings. Too little blood flow to my brain working on my back downhill for 2 hours, trying to hit ridiculous torque specs. I can't help but feel the reported 80 ft-lbs for the 8x 12mm subframe mount bolts is inaccurate... It's really tough to get a bolt that size anywhere near that torque range. I topped out at 65-70 ft-lbs and started rounding one off at that point. At least the 22mm end nuts on the subframe mounts are easy to hit 95 ft-lbs, and even the 14mm endlinks at 54 ft-lbs is reasonably easy. I'll most likely have to buy new 12mm subframe mount bolts if I ever take it off again. I don't think they'll handle another round of that abuse. Why were they so undersized??
The ball joints still feel good in the endlinks -- loose but no play and no gritty feeling -- but they're probably on borrowed time with the grease leaking. It looks like they're somewhat rebuildable, with a metal wire wrapped around the base of the boot. I thought about trying to swap the better Supra boots over to the SC links, but figured I would just tear all of them worse in the process... It's not like front LCAs and their ball joint boots, where replacing the entire thing is like buying that volume of gold. Thanks for sending the info.
I was worried the SC endlinks wouldn't be the right length to mate the Supra bar up to the control arms, but there was no such problem. I'm curious to hear others chime in that have done the swap!
I'm pretty sure the front sway bar is a direct swap, so you shouldn't have to worry about endlink differences when you get your new one in.
02-24-15, 08:58 PM
Supra rear sway bar endlinks question
I can't help but feel the reported 80 ft-lbs for the 8x 12mm subframe mount bolts is inaccurate... It's really tough to get a bolt that size anywhere near that torque range. I topped out at 65-70 ft-lbs and started rounding one off at that point. At least the 22mm end nuts on the subframe mounts are easy to hit 95 ft-lbs, and even the 14mm endlinks at 54 ft-lbs is reasonably easy. I'll most likely have to buy new 12mm subframe mount bolts if I ever take it off again. I don't think they'll handle another round of that abuse. Why were they so undersized??