Review- TRD Rear Sway Bar- before and after

There is always discussion about the pros/cons of sway bars. I recently added a rear bar and thought I would post a review while the upgrade and my observations were still fresh.

To start I will give you some background on my truck so you understand use, weights, etc. I have a 2016 4wd SR5 Crewmax. 5.7 with the SR5 upgrade, convenience and TRD Off Road packages. It is currently at 42k miles and has a LoPro tonneau, Aries step bars, 275/70-18 E load AT tires. The suspension is stock as is the motor, intake, etc. I keep a home made bed divider in the back and almost always carry a "stuff box" in the bed with hitches, tools, probably about 50 lbs. There are a few other additions/goodies but nothing that would impact any weight or performance.

My Tundra is a daily driver. We also use it on trips and it does see some towing and hauling as needed. Towing is either a 5x8 utility trailer or a large pop up camper, about 2500-3000lbs. Off road jaunts have been forest road and occasional farm roads, fields, etc.

Here is a link to the swaybar. Cost is quite good for an "upgrade" item. They can be had from around $200 to $230 usually. https://www.sparksparts.com/oem-parts/toyota-trd-rear-sway-bar-ptr1134070

Here is the install video I used for reference. Great video and some good tips shared. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZdVjObkTLs

The review of installation and how the bar impacts the trucks performance:
The installation is pretty simple. Anyone that has ever changed a battery themselves should have no issue.

Use some PB blaster on the top frame bolts and you will need a breaker bar, pipe or impact wrench to remove those stock frame bolts. I will not go into much detail because that install video covers everything well. It is helpful to have another set of hands when mounting the bar- it can be challenging to get the ubolts aligned and installed on the axle alone...but certainly doable. You must use a torque wrench for all bolts on this install- this is not the type of install where you can feel things are tight and right. Tightening up the end link and ubolts took longer than I expected so do yourself a favor and take the guesswork out of the equation- torque wrench! I performed the installation alone with the exception of about 5 minutes, where I had a helper hold the bar so I could get the ubolt connections all lined up. All in all, very straightforward and simple install, probably 30 minutes total.

Before the sway bar- With the stock Michelin tires the truck felt really soft. The tires "rolled" over a bit in turns and the outer edges of the fronts wore more worn than the rest of the tires. Driving it felt decent, pretty smooth ride overall, but handling especially in turns was lackluster. The truck tracked pretty well for a big heavy vehicle.

New tires- I installed 33inchers early this year. My truck having the OR tuned shocks and 33inch E load tires needed some "help" on the road. E load tires are overkill on a Tundra. They ride a bit firmer, which is not bad necessarily but seems a bit "darty" at times on the highway at speed. As such there was some jittery feeling at speed, hard to describle. Not unsafe, but there were definitely some concessions having E load tires. Man I wish there were C load tires available in sizes for Tundras...but I digress.
After installing them I had the truck aligned and that did help with tracking. Tried some different tire pressures and had it feeling close to performance on the stock tires. Close- not identical- just the nature of an E load tire. So I was hoping for some improvement in highway stability and turning performance.

After the sway bar install- I could tell a difference immediately. The first few drives were pretty short and I would say the improvement was there but discreet. Everyone says adding a rear sway bar makes the truck feel more "planted" and that is true. But what does planted mean?- the truck felt more connected to the road and tracked better going down the road. Turns were more stable at any speed with reduced "Tundra lean".

More driving impressions- so after several days of driving- from 25mph residential streets to 80mph on the highway the changes have become more noticeable. There is a huge improvement with how the truck tracks on the road, overall stability has improved and steering input feels clean and sharp. The truck feels much more stable. Highway driving actually feels safer and more predictable. The "dartiness" I felt before is gone, it seems like the tires, suspension are working together better vs the tires fighting against the suspension.

Summary- The rear bar addition may be the best simple "bang for the buck" upgrade on a Tundra. I am not sure what else could be added for $200 that would offer such cost/benefit of actual performance improvement and not just visual appeal. I have not yet done any towing, but considering how the truck performs now, towing improvement will be a certainty. So, if you are a road warrior on the highway often or do much towing the TRD rear sway bar (in my opinion) is one of the cheapest and best performance upgrades that you can make.

 

If you really want to notice it, take it up to about 80 mph on the highway and do a rapid (but safe) lane change. It's definitely planted. The Pedal Commander is another bang for the buck addition as well.

 

I wouldn't have near as much fun driving either of my Tundra trucks if there wasn't an anti roll bar installed on the rear axle. I have a Hellwig on my 2002, and I installed a TRD bar on my '07 when I under hung the leaf packs.

 

I agree

 

I put mine on 5 days after buying truck. Tundra had 400 miles on it when sway bar installed .

 

Any advantage and has anyone done it on a Sequoia?

 

Great, thorough review. This is definitely on my list for early next year!

 

I agree

 

Re-connecting the front sway bar broken links back up to the OEM Sway and then months later adding a rear sway bar (

$558 Hellwig 7700 Solid, Heat Treated Chromoly, 1-1/8" Rear Sway Bar

Hellwig 7700) made the 2002 Tundra truck alive again. The review is spot on:

1) Boat like turns eliminated.

2) Planted and more confident turns and quick precise lane changes at all speeds.

3) Tow/Haul more stable at all speeds.


The OEM Front Sway Bar is a pretty thick solid bar at about 1” diameter and the Rear Hellwig is 1 1/8” solid bar that has 3 firmness settings. Do both if you are mostly street daily driving.

 

Great review and timely

I just had the rear put on and upgraded my front to TRD at the same time (I've heard the front TRD is even heavier than the stock one). It's winter and I had dealer credit, so had them do it while I was getting schedule service done.

Difference for me is subtle, but we just got hit with snow and ice, so I can't really test out the cornering or rapid lane changes at highway speeds

Our kid like the way it looks...so that's good enough for me. I'm sure I'll notice it more as I drive and the weather warms up though.

 

TRD rear sway was delivered today...so excited to install.

 

Thanks for all the info on the sway bar. I’m looking at adding this. I will be towing about 5k lb camp trailer here and there and use my truck for hunting camping mainly forest service roads. Would I still benefit from a sway bar being I off-road but not nothing too crazy ? Also I have a 3x1 Toytec level kit. Thanks in advance!

 

I agree the sway bar is the best performance mod for the money. I say performance because the driver side grab handle is the most useful all around.

I drove the truck up to my mountain cabin the 3rd day after I bought it. Then a week later I got the front and rear trd sways....it was a dramatic difference the next time I drove on those windy roads. I cant imagine anyone regretting this purchase.

 

The 2014 to 2019 Tundra 4.6L did not come with a tow package or a hitch.

 

Just put my RSB on and major difference. I have to drive 10 miles of windy back roads to get home and the body roll was significant. The RSB really helped. Best mod.

 

So is there a con to the rear sway bar? Typically most things have trade-offs. If I'm almost entirely just driving roads, is there a con to the rear sway bar?

 

Nope. There isn't.

 

Bought one today. Hopefully get a chance to install it sometime next week.

 

Made a difference in handling on mine for sure. I'd say it's worth the coin.

 

The sway bar limits articulation which wouldnt be ideal for off road ling conditions that would benefit from having articulation. That said, ive read the hellwig rear sway bar has a quick disconnect which would be ideal if you want to have the benefit of on road handling improvement but the ability to easily remove it for offroading

 

Just a reduction in articulation while offroading.

 

Agreed about the sway bar, i love mine. A close second mod for me for around the same price range is the driver side grab handle. I use it everytime i get in and out of the truck.

 

That seems pretty expensive for a grab handle, doesn't it?

 

Whatever price Sparks had it for for the whole kit, it was around 150ish shipped i believe. Money is no object on this forum

 

Is there a benefit to mounting the TRD bar the way you did (in the upwards position) vs the normal way of mounting it in the downwards position?

 

I would like to know as well!

 

I was thinking the sway bar was closer to $250.

 

How does it feel off-roading. Or even just driving on dirt roads. Hitting big holes and bumps on the road? That’s my concern

 

doing easy to moderate trails with the air down and no crazy rock crawling, it doesnt make me wish i didnt have the sway. Plus, 99% of the time im not offroading so even if it were uncomfortable offroad, i would still have it for the dramatic on pavement difference.

 

I just ordered a TRD rear sway bar. Is there a big difference on adding the front TRD sway bar also?