Prothane Front Sway Bar and End Link Bushing Review

[TXLX1]

However, if you "want" 20 thousandths (1/2mm) of preload, then you'd want to aim for a 9.5mm inside diameter on the endlink bushings (which is pretty much what both Mtbtim and I measured for the snugly fitting bushings we put on our trucks).

Nice, thanks for the details. I don't have a caliper, I measured the Prothane rear sway bar end link bushing with a tape measure and it has ID of approx. 3/8". Not exact, but based on past end links I've replaced, it seems like you want a bit of space between the link and the bushing for when the busing compresses, but not 5mm worth of space on a 9mm bolt.

 

[mtbtim]

Nice, thanks for the details. I don't have a caliper, I measured the Prothane rear sway bar end link bushing with a tape measure and it has ID of approx. 3/8". Not exact, but based on past end links I've replaced, it seems like you want a bit of space between the link and the bushing for when the busing compresses, but not 5mm worth of space on a 9mm bolt.

From my research and Foo's research, the bushing should fit tight on the end link post and the below measurements confirm this.

Here's the measurement I got for the End Link Post:




Here's the measurement of the inner diameter of a OEM Bushing:

 

[mtbtim]

So, I got the bushings and washers in... The bushings fit pretty snug over new OEM end links but the washers will not fit past the top part for the nut... Any ideas?

Well, now I know why you had a problem with those washers from the Energy Suspension Kit 9.8105. The diameter of the hole is only 9.8mm and the end link posts are 10mm wide. So, I gave you some bad information. I was told this kit fit well for our rigs, but maybe the person just meant the bushings and not the washers. The bushings are a good fit.

The reason why I was wondering why you had problems with the washers from the Energy Suspension Kit #9.8105 was because the washers that came with the kit I bought, Energy Suspension #8-5118, came from the same company and silly me to think they would have fit.

So, now I can't recommend anyone buy the 9.8105 kit unless they just want the bushings and not the washers.

What a cluster f&*k this whole thing is.

 

[Mc1337sauce]

I made two YouTube videos on how to replace the factory front and rear bushings with poly ones a few months back. I used the Prothane kits that were spec'd to fit my truck along with the Energy kit for the front endlinks, reusing my factory hardware where shown in the videos. I've been daily driving the truck, and the bushings installed the way I did it perform just as expected. Embedded below are the videos; hopefully they help somebody and clear up some of the confusion and issues.

 

[mtbtim]

I made two YouTube videos on how to replace the factory front and rear bushings with poly ones a few months back. I used the Prothane kits that were spec'd to fit my truck along with the Energy kit for the front endlinks, reusing my factory hardware where shown in the videos. I've been daily driving the truck, and the bushings installed the way I did it perform just as expected. Embedded below are the videos; hopefully they help somebody and clear up some of the confusion and issues.

I've watched your video and pulled some tips from it like buying the silicon paste. Prothane and Energy Suspension are both selling kits that don't properly fit and I've just been trying, along with Foo to give people accurate information on kits that actually work. We're not talking expensive parts here but it's still frustrating when you buy something that's supposedly fits your truck and find during the replacement the parts aren't right. I'm just hoping the information I'm providing these companies is going to have some positive effect.

 

[DK327]

Well, now I know why you had a problem with those washers from the Energy Suspension Kit 9.8105. The diameter of the hole is only 9.8mm and the end link posts are 10mm wide...The bushings are a good fit.

Thanks for the follow up and the confirmation... Much appreciated! I thought I ordered the wrong kit initially and even though it turned out OK in the end for me, I'm sure others will find this information useful BEFORE purchasing this kit.

 

[Mc1337sauce]

I've watched your video and pulled some tips from it like buying the silicon paste. Prothane and Energy Suspension are both selling kits that don't properly fit and I've just been trying, along with Foo to give people accurate information on kits that actually work. We're not talking expensive parts here but it's still frustrating when you buy something that's supposedly fits your truck and find during the replacement the parts aren't right. I'm just hoping the information I'm providing these companies is going to have some positive effect.

Yeah, I definitely feel the frustration...obviously we would all prefer not to spend the extra $10 or so on the set of 8 additional end link bushings. However, I've talked to Energy and Prothane before and they are both adamant that their kits are perfect and fit correctly. Any engineer who can argue that bushings that are ~5mm too large are a correct fit obviously has no knowledge of proper bushing tolerances. I can understand having different kits for the varying size sway bars, but as far as I know, the endlinks are all the same regardless of trim or model year, so there is no excuse there.

 

[foo]

Yeah, I definitely feel the frustration...obviously we would all prefer not to spend the extra $10 or so on the set of 8 additional end link bushings. However, I've talked to Energy and Prothane before and they are both adamant that their kits are perfect and fit correctly. Any engineer who can argue that bushings that are ~5mm too large are a correct fit obviously has no knowledge of proper bushing tolerances. I can understand having different kits for the varying size sway bars, but as far as I know, the endlinks are all the same regardless of trim or model year, so there is no excuse there.

Having talked to Daystar, Prothane, Energy Suspensions and a dozen or more of their suppliers, I agree with you that they're all adamant that their parts kits are the right size.

The reason they're adamant, they all told me, is that EXTREMELY FEW PEOPLE called them to complain.

It was just a handful of us, over the years.
Maybe even as few as one or two.

The rest just went with along with the Dunning-Kruger effect, especially the ones who reamed me simply for trying to work with mtbtim to help solve this problem for everyone in the future (giving me a bad taste about the quality of some of the people on this forum).

Anyway, I came here to post some good news, which I put in the bushing-size thread, but I repost it here so everyone will find it when they search.
- http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-g...er-part-under-my-4runner-makes-noise-now.html

Just received an email from Dominick Luppino who is our technical support specialist at Prothane, who always cared about our problem, but who didn't hear from any users except me and mtbtim for over 5 years, so they simply assumed the parts were the right size.

Good news!

Despite the apologists here who repeatedly argued that 5 mm of ID slop on a 10mm shaft is perfectly normal (for them), the Prothane engineers listened to mtbtim's and my request, read the threads we forwarded to them, and then they did some research on their own, concluding the same thing mtbtim did, which is that all the stock 3rd-generation 4Runners have 26mm say bars and 10mm endlinks.

We're one step further ahead in our goal now!

Finally (after all these years of people repeatedly buying the wrong parts without solving the root problem), Prothane updated their parts kit today!

This is good news, as the main goal was so that nobody else had to go through the amount of effort we did just to get the right sway bar body and endlink bushings for the 3rd-gen 4Runner.

Users might want to wait a while for the current inventory to be used up before ordering the Prothane bushings (letting someone else get the bad ones).

To continually add value so that others find the updated information easier than we did, here's the latest recommended parts kits:

[b]Toyota OEM buna:[/b] (same size for all 3rd-gen 4Runners, 2WD & 4WD)
- Toyota 10mm ID Endlink bushings (Part #90948-01003)
- Toyota 26mm ID swaybar body bushings (#48815-35100)

[b]Daystar polyurethane:[/b] daystarweb.com +1-800-595-7659 tech at daystarweb dot com
- Daystar DAY MO3464 Body Bushing ID = 1.045 inches (26.5mm)
- Daystar DAY MO2233 End Link Bushing ID = 0.395 inches (10.0mm)

[b]Energy Suspension polyurethane:[/b] energysuspension.com +1-888-913-6374 (Dave)  dlewis @ energysuspension dot com
- Energy Suspension  kit 8.5141{R,G}, endlink bushing ID = 9.64mm, swaybar body bushing ID ~= 26mm 
- [s]Energy Suspension kit 8.5118{R,G}[/s] (Do not buy this kit as the swaybar body bushings are a too-tight fit at over 27 mm)
- [s]Energy Suspension 9.8105 kit[/s] (containing correctly sized endlink bushings but incorrectly sized steel washers where the steel washers have to be manually drilled about 20 thousandths of an inch just to be able to go over the 3rd-gen 4Runner 10mm endlinks)

[b]Prothane polyurethane:[/b] prothane.com +1-888-776-8426 (Dominick)  dominick at prothane dot com
- Prothane kit #18-1115 (Be careful to buy only NEW STOCK as the old endlink bushings designed prior to April 19, 2016 are a loose fit at a measured 15.04mm ID on a 10.0 mm shaft)

 

[UnderFire]

Ah crap, I think I've got the prothane kit sitting on my shelf waiting to go on

Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk

 

[TXLX1]

Having talked to Daystar, Prothane, Energy Suspensions and a dozen or more of their suppliers, I agree with you that they're all adamant that their parts kits are the right size.

The reason they're adamant, they all told me, is that EXTREMELY FEW PEOPLE called them to complain.

It was just a handful of us, over the years.
Maybe even as few as one or two.

The rest just went with along with the Dunning-Kruger effect, especially the ones who reamed me simply for trying to work with mtbtim to help solve this problem for everyone in the future (giving me a bad taste about the quality of some of the people on this forum).

Anyway, I came here to post some good news, which I put in the bushing-size thread, but I repost it here so everyone will find it when they search.
- http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-g...er-part-under-my-4runner-makes-noise-now.html

Awesome, I ordered my kit 2 weeks ago. Sending back the front and rear kit I got. Will use Moog or Toyota parts in the future.

 

[mtbtim]

Having talked to Daystar, Prothane, Energy Suspensions and a dozen or more of their suppliers, I agree with you that they're all adamant that their parts kits are the right size.

The reason they're adamant, they all told me, is that EXTREMELY FEW PEOPLE called them to complain.

It was just a handful of us, over the years.
Maybe even as few as one or two.

The rest just went with along with the Dunning-Kruger effect, especially the ones who reamed me simply for trying to work with mtbtim to help solve this problem for everyone in the future (giving me a bad taste about the quality of some of the people on this forum).

Anyway, I came here to post some good news, which I put in the bushing-size thread, but I repost it here so everyone will find it when they search.
- http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-g...er-part-under-my-4runner-makes-noise-now.html

Well cool, I guess our persistence paid off and they actually updated their kit. Great to hear!

 

[LV2001BI]

Just bought prothane 26mm front sway bar bushing kit

Ordered from Amazon the front kit made sure I took measurements got the kit today opened it up looks like the old stock. The end bushings have the 15mm holes so it back to Amazon. I will call the actual parts warehouse let them know they are selling the old stock

 

[mtbtim]

Ordered from Amazon the front kit made sure I took measurements got the kit today opened it up looks like the old stock. The end bushings have the 15mm holes so it back to Amazon. I will call the actual parts warehouse let them know they are selling the old stock

I would call either Prothane or Energy Suspension and order directly from them. Explain to them what happened with the Amazon order and tell them you would like the updated kit with the correct diameter end link bushings.

 

[JayRolla]

I remember this happening to me long time ago and no one believed me so I thought just some rigs had different sway bars.

I just wanted to add I have found the poly bushings at the end of the links are way to hard. They dont flex that well under stress like the stock rubber bushings. I was bending the ends of the sway bar links. Now I have installed rubber and so far so good.

 

[TXLX1]

I remember this happening to me long time ago and no one believed me so I thought just some rigs had different sway bars.

I just wanted to add I have found the poly bushings at the end of the links are way to hard. They dont flex that well under stress like the stock rubber bushings. I was bending the ends of the sway bar links. Now I have installed rubber and so far so good.

Guess I just missed the boat on this. I threw a couple boxes of prothane stuff in my truck junk bin.

I'm not a fan of poly bushings anyway. I have solid evidence oil and road grime will eat poly bushings much faster than rubber... And with an old high mileage truck like mine some fluids are bound to hit certain bushings.

 

[RumHam26]

For anyone who wants just the end link bushings without the washers that are too small anyway - Energy Suspension 9.8106G