Sway bar link cups torn and leaking grease

29019 Taco TRD offroad 4WD has 60K miles. Dealer told me inspection revealed rubber cups on front sway bar links are torn and leaking grease. He wants to replace them. Is this real, and something that should be taken care of?

 

Lol it's real and it happens all the time. Just did a lift for a customer and she only had 30k on her truck and her endlinks were already fucked. We chose to just remove the sway bar

 

I know very little about suspension. Isn't a sway bar a necessary suspension component?

 

It depends on what you want out of the truck. Removing it allows the truck to have more body roll, increased articulation and a smoother ride because it lets the front wheels be fully independent from each other. Driving without it can be dangerous if you aren't expecting it or don't have a beefy enough suspension to compensate for removing it, sounds like you would want to opt to keep it.

 

My bigger concern would be off road performance. Speed is obviously low. Increased articulation and independent front wheels sounds like it might be helpful. Is the rest of the suspension on a stock Taco with Bilstein 5100s beefy enough?

 

I can't make that decision for you. But it's fairly quick to remove the sway to test if you like it or if you think it's too sketchy. I removed mine when doing my suspension and I don't miss it, but I'm on custom valved 2.5's.

 

i would wait till they wore out first

 

another boot to check that tears and leaks grease is the outer tie rod end links... mine needed replacing at 30,000 miles.

 

Obviously the dealer wants to replace everything ASAP .... with that said, how will I know when the sway bar ends are worn out? Sloppier feeling on the highway? I don't think I'll be stuck on the side of the road at some point. Clearly my suspension knowledge is negligible.

 

When endlinks fail you will normally you feel clunking in the steering and pedals when turning or going over uneven terrain - any time forces are being applied to the sway bar.

 

There are tons of TW members that have yanked their SB's with really low miles. Put out an ISO thread for end links. If I still had mine (I gave them away), I'd give them to you, just to get them out of my parts pile.

 

Plenty to learn here .......

 

Mine were torn at around 28,000... upgraded to adjustable.

 

So showing my ignorance, adjustable links can change height. If SB is removed, what controls height, besides spring natural length and stiffness?

 

Adjustable endlink length. Changes the preload on the sway bar. Has nothing to do with vehicle height.

 

I can’t seem to find decent sway links for less then $190…anything out there?
Lots of switchback curvy roads… kinda want them to work