Sway Bar Link

Howdy. I need to replace a broken front sway bar link on my wife's Sequoia. The stealership quoted us $700 installed. Only one side is broken. It's just a hunch, but my feeling is that this is a touch rich.

Where is the best place to buy a replacement. I did a search for the Downey sway bar link but apparently they are out of business.

Ideally, I would like to replace with a heavy duty one if possible.

Thanks

 

thanks.. when replacing, do I have to jack up the entire front end? Or can I just jack up one side at a time. Sorry if this is a stupid question.

 

I don't think you need to jack it up at all...Just get the ONE link you need and pop it out and then put the new one in....Unless I'm misunderstanding what part is broken.

Photos??

 

you don't need to jack it up (at least with the taco you don't need to) I would assume the sequoia is similar..
Although if it's not lifted, it would probably be easier if you removed the wheel to get the link out..so maybe just jack up the one side..

 

the sway bar links are easy to install,and thats a pretty hefty quote. The bolt on the old ones will probably spin so use a pair of needle nose or regular vise grips, whichever fits better, to hold the side closest for the joint, then a ratchet or wrench for the bolt doing one side at a time. Some penetrating oil wouldn't help either to help loosen up the bolt.

I attached a pic of a sway bar from a tunda(i think) the sway bar link is in blue, where to put vice grips is in red, and the nuts are in yellow. You should be able to do it yourself, to save some cash.

 

Not sure what the other guy is talking about with vice grips. the end of the link stud will have an allen key hole in it. spray the nut with a bunch of liquid wrench. let it sit for a bit. then hold the end of the link stud with the allen key while you turn the nut with a combo wrench. for the bottom bolt in that pic it goes through into the lower control arm and shouldnt spin anyways. the tacoma is like that top one on both ends where you can hold it with an allen key.

 

i must have totally missed the hole for the allen key, i'm a ra-tard

 

The vehicle needs to be level so there is no tension (or twisting force) on the sway bar. If you jack up one side the sway bar link will not line up with the hole.
So, either jack up the front (both wheels) or don't jack up the vehicle at all.

 

you jack up the side with the broken link, remove the tire, then lower it to be level again

 

I just received replacement sway bar links in the mail today and I will be installing at least one this week, I got a good deal on ebay so i bought the pair...

Gonna try it with out jacking up the truck, seems like it would be easy to do.