Quick Sway Bar Advice - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

thapranksta · 05-04-2009, 12:16 PM

As many of you know already, the 4th Gen ES and 5th Gen Camry share a lot of the same parts and there a ton of hits on this forum.

I'm actually upgrading the sway bar on my ES and I got one of the bolts on the endlink out. I went to the other side, had a tough time, and find that I have started to strip the bolt. It's not completely stripped. My question is what should I do now? Go buy some WD-40 and let it sit and then try again with socket and wrench? Buy a new tool like an air socket? Or just take it to a shop, cough out the cash, and call it a day?

'Preciate the help.

***Punks_Not_Dead5*** · 05-04-2009, 04:40 PM

i put WD-40 on mine a week before i put the sway bar on. I shot the hell outta it with WD-40 lol.

thapranksta · 05-04-2009, 04:46 PM

Yeah, all the shops in town are giving me that whole "bring it in so we can give you a quote" line. I work all day long. I'd rather not waste a lunch break going to a shop to possibly be given some ridiculous price for a relatively easy job. So I went up to Autozone on break and picked up some WD-40. I hope I can get it off without further stripping it in which case I'd have no choice but to get a shop to help.

***Punks_Not_Dead5*** · 05-04-2009, 04:48 PM

just let it sit on there a few days...and before you try and break it loose again, put more on. Hopefully that will work.

njerald · 05-04-2009, 04:55 PM

Strip the bolt??????????...............or round the flats on the bolt head??????????????

Use the right size box end or socket.

thapranksta · 05-04-2009, 05:00 PM

I mean the bolt head is stripping. The flats on the bolt head is starting to round. I've tried the correct socket size. That thing is on there good. The way that i really ended up stripping the bolt head is using a regular wrench and trying to use an Allen wrench to hold the bolt still. I assumed it would be as easy to loosen up as the other side but I was wrong.

In hindsight, it's really a hex nut with a flat base. At any rate, I think you get the picture.

***Punks_Not_Dead5*** · 05-04-2009, 05:02 PM

I knew what you meant...lol

LE05 · 05-04-2009, 06:19 PM

don't use WD-40... its not a very good penetrant. its more of a lubricating agent. use PB blaster instead and together with these bolt extractors. you'll have that nut off in no time. you can find both items at your local hardware store (home depot, lowes, ace, etc). you'll also note that the bolt extractor have hex flats... so if you need to use the allen wrench, you can still use a box wrench on the extractors.

i've used the bolt extractors to take off my exhaust... and trust me those bolts were rusted on good. took me less than a minute with those sockets to break loose the rust and remove the bolts.

thapranksta · 05-04-2009, 09:46 PM

^It's funny you mention that. After I bought the WD-40, I did a few searches on the Internet and found mention of the PB Blaster all over the place. EVERYWHERE I saw it mentioned with WD-40, the reviewer/commenter/poster was saying that WD-40 didn't compare to it in terms of penetrating power. Most said WD-40 flat out sucked. I saw the PB Blaster earlier in the store as I was picking up the WD-40 reading the "As seen on TV" label thinking to myself "That stuff probably sucks.". I guess I was wrong. I returned the WD-40 about 3.5 hours after I bought it and picked up the PB Blaster.

I'm going to try with the PB blaster solo first assuming I can still get my socket to somewhat grab that nut and then if that doesn't work, I'll try using those bolt extractors you mention. In fact, I'm going to probably buy some just in case anyway cause I'm sure I'll need to use them sometime in the future. That's the first time I've ever seen such a thing. Thanks for the advice!

catric69 · 05-04-2009, 09:49 PM

PB Blaster is the SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

omairtheman1 · 05-04-2009, 11:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by catric69

PB Blaster is the SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

this is correct!

thapranksta · 05-05-2009, 11:57 PM

PB Blaster worked great! LE05 was right. It literally took less than a minute to get it to move. Thanks everyone for your suggestions. No need for the bolt extractors but I picked them up anyway for probable future use at Home Depot @ about $19.

I'm also happy to say that I just installed the sway bar on my ES and it is the TRD one that is designed for the Gen 5 Camry.

Fit great! I didn't jack up the car or remove any wheels. I didn't feel comfortable working under a jacked up car even with 2 ton jackstands. It was indeed a chore but in the end everything is nice. I can't wait to take her for a spin.

On another note, I got some scratches in the powdercoating in the top part of the sway bar facing the body. I've read a few horror stories concerning rust and I was wondering if the scratches could really potentially create issues. Anyone have any input on that?

And oh yeah....I've got the bar in the middle position. The ES isn't a race car.

toysarefun · 05-06-2009, 12:27 AM

JB80 works pretty good to, probably the best, it's a lighter, thinner penetrant, which also helps immensely when applied beforehand, just once or twice, or more, farther ahead is always better, and when you break the bolt, shoot more in and wait a bit if it's real rusty. Imagine what salt does to 12 mm bolts and nuts, and how fast. Smaller bolts that are rusted to nothing?, still soak em, then vice grips or drill, reverse drill if you are into that method, I'm not. Really though, I use both, blaster is cheap and greasier, I've tried it, but you'll find out that the jb80 can lasts a whole lot longer than blaster, like forever, and works better. The stuff really smells though, wear gloves and rag to control it. OH yeah, always use the right tool, I like my 6 points. Bigger stuck bolts?, heat and hammer.