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Yup....just saw that, myself, when I started a search on it.

There were definite changes between '03 and '04 suspension components.

It does look quite similar to the '04 rear sway bar, though. I'll have to pull mine and take measurements and photos to be certain.
 
Cusco makes a 25mm front sway bar (PN: 924 311 A25) as an upgrade to the 2004-2009 RX330/350's 23mm bar. This will be a direct fit for all 2004-2007 Highlanders (except hybrids). The 2001-2003 Highlanders still use a 23mm bar with the same mounting brackets, end links and bushings, but they have a slightly different shape so it might fit.

As an alternative to the Cusco front bar, 2008-2019 Toyota Highlanders and 2010-2020 Lexus RX350s use a 26mm front bar. This bar happens to be the same shape as the front bars for the 2004-2007 non-hybrid Highlanders and the 2004-2009 RX, so there's that.
 
The verdict is in. The UltraRacing rear swaybar for the RX350 also fits the Kluger/Highlander.

View attachment 296850


Interestingly, the sticker on the part indicates that it also fits the Harrier.

View attachment 296851

This is the first time that I've removed the spare. For anyone that's never done this, I recommend going through the exercise in your driveway once, instead of on the side of the highway, at night, in the rain.

View attachment 296852 View attachment 296853

The UltraRacing bar is 2 mm more girthy.

View attachment 296854 View attachment 296855

Before:

View attachment 296856

And After:

View attachment 296857


For the most part this was a pretty simple job. I probably spent 30 minutes on it. But it wasn't completely free of aggravation.

Here are a few tips ...

Don't tighten anything until you've got all the nuts & bolts started.

Of these two brackets, life is a little easier if you install the left one second.

View attachment 296858

Even with all of the nuts & bolts loose, it's a challenge getting that last bracket aligned just right. So, I used a clamp to help out a little. Maybe if you have an iron grip then you wouldn't need to do this.

View attachment 296859

(Please don't laugh.)

Perhaps this might have been a little easier if I raised the body so that the suspension is unloaded.
Nice write up - super clean chassis BTW. Not in a northern state I take it? :) So how do you like driving around with this? Is there a difference on all corners or only very sharp ones? Only with higher speeds? Thanks.
 
I have the 22.2mm bar instead of the 19mm but I can tell you that it is the best handling mod I have done to the car bar none. Significantly less body roll, WAY less understeer and far crisper turn in. You can feel it in every corner, from leaving your driveway to taking a highway on-ramp at the limit. It makes driving way more fun and confidence inspiring, and making a sudden lane change on the highway feels very controlled, better then most sedans I've driven.

I have had the sway bar on with my original sagging struts and the car still handled nicely for an SUV, with the new struts and springs, it does not even feel like an SUV anymore.
 
Post has been edited to reflect current knowledge of the swap


Just came back from a test ride with my new 2015 Lexus RX350 front sway bar installed. Yes, you heard that correctly. It compliments my Addco rear sway bar, and the car feels even more balanced and flat around a corner overall, without a noticeable increase in understeer.

I finally decided to risk it and bought Toyota’s beefier front sway bar that is installed on the 2008-2019 Highlander and 2010-2015 RX350. It’s 26mm instead of the standard 23mm that 2001-2007 Highlanders and the 2004-2009 Lexus RX came with. Edit #1 (Both brackets fit) The mounting points are the same between the two style of brackets, you can use either the OEM or the thicker 10-15 Lexus RX brackets with the 26mm bushings.


Old:
Image


New (after trimming rubber nipple off):
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Edit #2
(If it was an AWD bar it would have, I got a FWD by accident)

It has the shape of a 2004-2007 Highlander sway bar / 2004-2009 Lexus RX front sway bar. This will NOT fit on an AWD. It will hit the transfer case. I did unspeakable things to get it to fit without rubbing - please do not attempt this unless you enjoy pain.

Image

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Another obstacle is that the Lexus sway bar’s end link mounts are spaced out wider. This resulted in the sway bar end link rubbing on the strut. To solve this, I tried Lexus ES350 2013-2018 (MOOG K750123) Edit #3 (2007-2009 ES350 ones work too and they’re thicker) end links that have both bolts on the same side but are a similar length and WAY beefier. These solved all of my problems and fit perfectly!
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Installation was very difficult. I had to remove the old power steering rack, and even some pieces of the exhaust (bank 1 cat/y-pipe and flex pipe) for extra room. Of course I had to cut the bolts off because they were rust-welded together. Thankfully I was already replacing my leaking power steering rack in the process so it wasn’t just for nothing.


Edit #4

Almost two years later and this is still a must have item if you want your Highlander to corner better after upgrading the rear sway bar to 7/8” size in the back.
 
I have some great updates for everyone! After talking to some other owners of FWD 1st and 2nd gen Highlanders and looking at an AWD 2007 RX350, the amount of parts reused is huge!


- Front sway bar sizes -
2001-2007: 23mm
Venza: 25mm
2008-2019: 26mm
2016-2022 RX: 28.5mm (Hollow)
2020-Present: 29mm

- Rear sway bar sizes -
2004-2009 RX, 2008-2013 HL: 14mm
2004-2013 FWD: 15mm
2006-2008 RX400h: 15mm
2001-2003 FWD, 2001-2007 AWD, Venza, RX Sport PKG: 16mm
2014-Present: 21mm


2001-2013 Highlander FWD, 2004-2009 Lexus RX FWD & 2009-2015 Venza FWD
  • Mounting brackets, end links, and rear bar shape is the same - bar widened for 2nd gen HL and Venza
  • Front bar remains same shape until 2nd gen Highlander / 3rd gen RX, front bar now has to be an AWD from an 08+ HL / 10+ RX to fit older AWD models


2001-2003 Highlander AWD & 2000-2003 Lexus RX AWD
  • Mounting brackets, end links and rear bar shape reused, RX has 15mm bar


2004-2013 Highlander AWD, 2004-2009 Lexus RX AWD & 2009-2015 Venza AWD
  • Mounting brackets, end links and bar shape reused, 2nd gen HL has widened bar, Venza bar widened and will not clear spare tire
  • Front bar changed to 2008-2019 shape after the start of the 2nd gen, be careful to get the right bar if you have an AWD to clear the T-case


2006-2007 Highlander Hybrid & 2006-2008 Lexus RX400h
  • Shares all rear components with their non-hybrid counterparts
  • Front sway bar uses the same bushings, end links and mounting brackets. Although the shape has been altered
  • Front sway bars are not compatible with other newer hybrid models (2008+) which just have normal FWD & AWD sway bars



Here are all of our options:


2001-2003 AWD


Rear:

"Hardrace Q0550"
- Newly released, 17mm, non-adjustable hollow design

"Addco 2109" - Possibly discontinued, 22.2mm, non-adjustable solid design


Front:

"OEM 2008-2019 Highlander / 2010-2015 Lexus RX" - 26mm, non-adjustable solid design
  • Spaced out more than original bar, needs a 2007-2018 Camry or Lexus ES350 end link for fitment
  • Make sure you get an AWD bar if you drive an AWD! Failing to do so will require grinding the t-case cooling fin


"Cusco 924 311 A25" - 25mm, non-adjustable solid design



2001-2007 FWD


Rear:

"Ultra Racing UR-AR19-030"
- 19mm, non-adjustable solid design

"Cusco 924 311 B18" - 18mm, non-adjustable solid design


Front:

"OEM 2008-2019 Highlander / 2010-2015 Lexus RX" - 26mm, non-adjustable solid design
  • Spaced out more than original bar, needs a 2007-2018 Camry or Lexus ES350 end link for fitment
  • Will clear without the transfer case in the way, FWD or AWD version can be used


"Cusco 924 311 A25" - 25mm, non-adjustable solid design


2004-2007 AWD


Rear:

"Ultra Racing
UR-AR49-2148" - 19mm, non-adjustable solid design, proof of installation on an AWD 2006 hybrid


Front:

"OEM 2008-2019 Highlander / 2010-2015 Lexus RX" - 26mm, non-adjustable solid design
  • Spaced out more than original bar, needs a 2007-2018 Camry or Lexus ES350 end link for fitment
  • Make sure you get an AWD bar if you drive an AWD! Failing to do so will require grinding the t-case cooling fin


"Cusco 924 311 A25" - 25mm, non-adjustable solid design


Other possible options:


Front:

“OEM 2016-2021+ Lexus RX” - 28.5mm, non-adjustable hollow design

  • Looks very similar to the 1st gen & later AWD front sway bar, except very expensive, only comes in one AWD shape like the 1st gen
  • Spaced out like the 08-19 Highlander & 10-15 RX bar due to the car sharing similar front suspension architecture
  • Fitment not confirmed yet, you would need the brackets & bushings but it would likely work like the 2nd/3rd gen bar
  • Custom brackets may need to be made, it uses M10 x 1.25 mounting bolts vs M8


“OEM 2020+ Toyota Highlander” - 29mm, non-adjustable hollow design
  • Beefiest stock front sway bar to date on a Highlander
  • Fitment impossible, bar has a different shape likely due being on the new TNGA-K platform (Update: The real reason is because the steering rack is bolted to the bottom of the subframe like on old Corollas / RAV4s, instead of being upright)


"Hardrace Q0268" - 32mm, non-adjustable hollow design
  • Replacement for the 2016-2021+ RX350 front sway bar
  • Hope you enjoy understeer, as you're gonna get used to it!
  • Largest front sway bar available for our "K" platform


As of now, this is what we know! I’m guessing a lot of people aren’t going to be doing the front bars and I don’t blame them! You almost have to drop the subframe, and not one of these rear bars except the Addco warrants a bigger front bar. We’d benefit from a rear sway bar more anyway because our cars tend to understeer and feel dead back there with the stock setup.

I only wanted the front to be larger because my massive 22.2mm rear Addco made the front feel sloppy in comparison, I was able to correct this with a 26mm front sway bar without a noticeable increase in understeer at all! This size combination couldn’t be better and it’s definitely a good thing that the whole car corners a lot flatter as a whole now. I don’t think anyone here needs this with the smaller 18-19mm bars.



Post updated on: September 27th, 2023 - What's new?
  • Confirmed 4th gen RX and 5th gen HL have hollow front sway bars
  • Expanded end link list for 2nd gen front bars
  • Added Toyota Venza sway bar information

Post updated on: December 16th, 2023 - What's new?
  • Added Lexus RX400h sway bar information
 
A few things I learned before my little story:

1. You can use the 2004-2019 26mm Toyota Sienna front sway bar bushings if you want to reuse your stock 1st gen sway bar brackets. You will have to modify the bushing if you use the 2nd gen ones, there is no way around it if you want to reuse your stock brackets

2. You can use the heavier-duty 2nd gen upper sway bar mounting brackets & save yourself the hassle of modifying the bushing to fit if you picked the right sway bar for your car - you live and you learn I suppose!


PN: 48824-0E020


A word of caution everyone! If you're going to put on a 2nd gen front sway bar onto your first gen, you MUST confirm you're buying one from an AWD model if you drive an AWD. You can buy an AWD front bar for your FWD, but if you try to put a FWD front bar onto your AWD, you're going to have a very bad day. No part numbers on the listing? Here are some pictures to help tell the difference:


48811-0E040 - AWD Front sway bar (2008-2019 Highlander, 2010-2015 RX350
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48811-0E030 - FWD Front sway bar (2008-2019 Highlander / HiHy AWD & FWD, 2010-2015 RX350 / RX450h AWD & FWD)
332575



Make sure you get the right one! I got the FWD one and as a result, had to grind down the top cooling fin on my transfer case. The AWD one will resemble the original 1st gen Highlander bar for FWD & AWD cars. Toyota didn't have separate sway bar assemblies on the older 1st gen models or the 2nd gen RX - so this is what screwed me up. Can't tell the difference in the photo? No worries! There is another way to confirm which bar it is by inspecting the imprint on the driver's side edge of the bar. Never hurts to ask the seller questions if you have to as well.


White stripe - AWD
332573



Orange stripe - FWD / Hybrid
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So that's my little warning to everyone! Hopefully you can learn from my mistake which created a lot of blood sweat and tears, hahahaha! As for an update on the bars - this remains my favourite modification I have done to the car 6 months later - the Highlander will happily take a corner now! Body roll is extremely low, car has neutral handling & most importantly - no issues at all with rubbing/clunks. YMMV because I have custom heavy duty rear sway bar brackets, new KYB struts, and lowering springs. The car definitely feels a lot more alive with the setup of 26mm front & 22.2mm rear. You won't likely need to put a bigger bar up front unless you go with a huge rear sway bar like I did. However, the 2nd gen Highlander uses our same original 16mm rear sway bar with the 26mm up front, so that it may not be unreasonable to assume that a potential can still be gained with just the front being done.


Addco 2109 22.2mm rear sway bar with my custom brackets & Mevotech MK90397 bushings
Image


RX350 26mm front sway bar with Moog K750123 sway bar end links to clear the strut
332578



The originals - 23mm front & 16mm rear sway bars
332579
 
Well, my luck has run out. After almost two years of driving, my rear sway bar bracket snapped off for a second time. At least it took a while unlike the original brackets! This time, it was on the same side (driver’s) and was my custom bracket. I knew that familiar, hopeless sound after I heard what sounded like a bunch of angry golf balls in my trunk.

333096

A very sad day for the Lowlander


On a positive note, with more experience behind me, I was preparing for this a few weeks back. I was currently in the process of designing some thicker, stiffer & better brackets to prevent such a failure from EVER happening again. This time they’re going to be beyond overkill and will mount with the bushing facing up, instead of perpendicular on a long bracket. This will be an attempt to help take a load off the brackets by reducing their length, as well as isolating the stresses the bracket normally faces to the subframe as much as possible. With Toyota's less-than-stellar approach to mounting our rear sway bar, I am impressed with how long my bracket held up. It was the first part I ever designed after all!

333097


Image

New bar beside the old, the weight difference is massive. May as well measure & re-paint the darn thing as it’s already off the car.


333100

This (original) design broke clean off right at the top bushing bracket bolt. That upside down “L” bracket was too thin and under way too much stress I imagine. It would flex with the other side unbolted, not exactly something that I would call ideal!


333101

A little prototype bracket to try and see if I can mount the bushing facing up for easier installation & a better load distribution. I would like to add that I am by no means an engineer in any way, shape or form. If anyone experienced in that regard could provide some advice, it would be much appreciated! I may get some plates welded onto the sides for extra stiffness as well. I want these bad boys to resist anything you could throw at them! Working on the passenger side too as it is a different bracket from the driver's side (what the heck Toyota?).


I miss the neutral handling and the car of course has understeer now, but it is not horrible to drive. You can tell a lot more under spirited driving. Body roll is still acceptable and the front actually feels alright with the larger front sway bar compared to the stock one. All-in-all, these are the problems we run into when we try to modify our cars and I'm willing to accept some problems before I can figure out a solution. I'm kind of thankful in a way that I had something to force me into trying to pioneer some more sway bar goodies for the Highlander. Stay tuned for updates!



Edit:

333114


This bad boy is coming in the mail as well! One thing I regret doing was not measuring my front sway bar before throwing it into the car. This one is the correct AWD one that I should have bought in the first place. I will be taking some more detailed pictures & measuring it to directly compare it to our stock front sway bars. Will be a proper candidate for the 2007-2009 RX350 when I finally get my hands on one as well.
 
My theory remains that there were two college students who interned at Toyota one Summer that were so unpleasant to deal with that everyone left them alone and since they were related to the big boss somehow, no one wanted to be the bad guy and check their work. Oh yeah, they were dumber than rocks, too.

In addition to designing the driver side rear sway bar bracket, they also did the entire e-brake system, the power steering pump mounting and pressure line routing, all the firewall bracketry for the upper intake manifold, the complete tinkertoy set that is the timing belt / water pump cover and upper engine mount and the original 1MZ V6 exhaust system. Everything else on the vehicle seems solid and well designed :).

Anyhow, as far as your mount goes, "follow the loads". The bushing loads are 99% in the vertical direction. get some more support on the straight line between the bar and the chassis. Steel plate (as you suggest) definitely helps. Right now it looks like the weak point is the inside corner where the the loads will cause bending.
 
That had me cracking up! I wish they didn’t run so much stuff in the way of that bracket, otherwise I could make it a lot thicker! No matter, there is always a work around. Thanks for the tip! I will try my best to make the bracket accommodate vertical loads. This should ensure it is as reliable as the rest of the car!
333228

Driver’s side

333229

Passenger side
 
It’s here! The AWD front sway bar made it today so I got straight to testing.

Image


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It has the white stripe on the side signifying it is the AWD model. There is a sharper curve to clear the T-case compared to the FWD one I bought. However, it still doesn’t curve as much as the OE sway bar.

334564


The old sway bar has a hump around ~70mm off the ground to clear the transfer case, whereas the new one is ~61.5mm. This is a little shorter, but not enough to cause an interference with the T-case, as I had to grind off around 3mm off the top cooling fin to get the much straighter FWD bar to fit.

334567


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The old sway bar weighs around 11.2 lbs and the new one weighs noticeably more at around 14.7 lbs. So you’re adding 3.5 lbs to the front of your car if that even matters to anyone.


334569


The entire sway bar itself is 111cm wide vs 107.5cm for the old one. This is what forced me to buy new end links as one side ended up being angled and hit the body of the strut when the wheel was fully turned. The sway bar end link mounting tab/ear is 9mm thick on the new bar, vs 6mm for the old one. A nice touch for some extra stiffness.


Original bars: (23mm front, 16mm rear)
334570


New bars: (26mm front, 22.2mm rear)
334571


Figured I’d jump at the opportunity to take a comparison photo!


I hope this post will shed some light on the unknowns of the front sway bar swap. At this point (and more driving without my rear bar for now) I would recommend performing this upgrade on any 1st gen AWD even if you plan on keeping the stock rear sway bar. Even though the car understeers (god forbid if I had the 28.5mm front bar), it’s not a direct result of the bigger front bar, which helps keep the front end planted. I’d take that over more body roll any day on a heavier car like this.
 
335141


Update on the rear sway bar situation. You probably won’t be able to easily run a 2nd gen / Venza rear sway bar due to the wider spacing out of the struts, this is the exact same issue as the front. You would likely need new end links, but I am not going to try it due to the bar being only 16mm thick just like our stock bars. Unlike the 2004-2013 Highlander, the Venza’s sway bar is not curved back. This is likely due to the Venza not having a spare tire underneath the car like the 04-13 and the 04-09 Lexus RX - weird. Otherwise, it’s just a normal 2nd gen sway bar

Edit #1 - Wrong, a 2nd gen rear sway bar is 14mm thick instead of 16mm

I made it my goal to use the 2014 Venza AWD’s sway bar brackets to replace my old busted originals that my Addco sway bar ate for breakfast. The bushings, passenger rear brackets and the driver’s rear brackets looked identical (or so I thought). I used the Venza bushings to replace my severely worn originals. They had a different part number stamped on them, however there was no noticeable difference and they fit perfectly.

The passenger side frame brackets bolted in just fine, perfect fitment. However, the bushing clamps were different. This was “uh oh” moment #1. The bushing clamps on the Venza had strange frame braces on them which were absent from any 1st gen I’ve ever seen. Thankfully I had my originals lying around, and they fit perfectly as expected. I feel sorry for 2nd gen / Venza owners, those ridiculous bushing clamps probably make changing bushings a pain in the rear.

Edit #2 - I have confirmed the 2nd gen’s brackets to be the same as a 1st gen, although the Venza has unique ones. This is why I’m not a fan of the Venza, it tries hard to be a different car and more “sporty”, but the execution was quite poor

Next up was the driver’s side rear. This one was an absolute disaster. This bracket is very flimsy, overly complicated and just poorly-designed. In addition to this, it is also not for sale from Toyota, so if it breaks, you’re toast. Working with this piece of junk bracket made me miss my custom one.

Edit #3 - Not true, I finally found out where to buy the bracket. It is listed in the same area where you would buy a filler neck, I suppose because it helps hold some fuel lines in place, pretty strange stuff. 01-03 and 04-13 models have different part numbers but fitment will be the same. The Venza has a unique driver's side bracket as discussed earlier

I figured I’d try my luck with the Venza one as it cost me 0 dollars and I assumed it would be the same as the original. The rear bolt lined up and bolted in, however the front, curved end of the bracket was contacting some frame member under the car. I’m guessing this was due to the 1st gen having a shorter wheelbase than a 2nd gen. Hacksaw took care of that and I was back at it. I couldn’t see why the Venza/2nd gen have that tab in the 1st place, however it makes me hate the damn bracket even more now, and how they let this atrocious design continue for 16 years. (1999 RX300 - 2015 Venza)

Edit #4 - This stupid curve is also unique to the Venza’s bracket, I have no idea why they went through the trouble to modify this crap and not improve on it properly

335142


335144

Chop chop

After this, I had to swap out the other bushing plate for the driver’s side as it had the same weird and unnecessary reinforcement plate as the passenger side. I also decided to bypass the terrible third “mounting point” above the bushing by substituting it with a nut and machine screw. This allows for easy installation and removal. After these little changes, the Venza bracket fit right in place like my original and functioned as it should.

335145

I also cut the top tab off my original bushing clamp because that thing was also a PITA

After a decent test drive, I can further push my point that the front sway bar upgrade is definitely worth it by itself even if you don’t end up doing the rear. Having A REAR SWAY BAR is so much nicer than having none! I feel like I can depend on my car in an emergency situation again without understeering into oblivion.

Now, of course it still understeers a lot and this setup isn’t as nice as my 22.2mm Addco (the flimsy brackets aren’t helping either). But, the body roll is acceptable and the understeer is only really felt when you push the car. This was a cool experiment to see how bigger sway bars react back-to-back, as well as lowering a car and stiffening up the suspension overall. It proves that stock isn’t always a bad thing, and you really don’t need an overkill setup for most occasions. However, I like pushing the envelope and desperately miss the nice turn in and planted cornering. Next post will be the new “MKII” brackets installed with my Addco - stay tuned 😎
 
Ok, I've just installed an Ultra Racing 19mm rear sway bar ref. UR-AR19-218 which is specified for the 03 - 09 Lexus RX. Came with rubber bushings and a little tube of grease which I thought was a nice touch.

I have to say installation was very easy. In the scheme of things a little harder than changing the air filter but easier than changing the oil (with all its messiness)! I took my pedantic time as I always do but it still only took an hour! No issues with the brackets or anything. The only thing I noticed is that with the thicker bar ends the link bolts don't bolt all the way through the nuts. They come up about a 1mm short. I don't know if this could be an issue so something to keep an eye on and an excuse to get new links.

In this regard would someone be able to post the torque specs for the link bolts as well as the retaining bolts of the brackets?

There seems to be a mistype in my manual as for the link bolts it specifies 39Nm on the rear but 74Nm on the front of the car. For the rear sway bar brackets it specifies 54Nm on the left side but 19Nm for the right side which seems really odd. I tried 54Nm anyway but the rubber bushing started bulging out the sides so I used 19Nm all round.

First impression is the car stays flatter in the corners and there is less understeer being almost neutral. Doesn't feel unsettled in the bumps which is what I was concerned about. Just a subtle improvement which is what I was expecting... nothing dramatic.

My thanks to all the previous posters for all the info they provided.

Image


Image
 
Image


Torque specs from Prodemand match my Toyota manual (values are same for all AWD 01-07 models), I torqued my Moog rear end links to 45 ft-lbs as 29 was so low that I actually noticed that the nut was loosening on me. The Moog end links have a 13mm thick body vs the stock 8mm and they have more threads, so that was enough to cover my massive 22.2mm rear sway bar. Usually, I always torque everything to spec, but I too feel that the values were a little off here as well. I just tightened down the bracket bolts where I saw the bushing bulge slightly, and then stopped.

I've got some good news to report as well. I have finished my "MKII" rear sway bar bracket prototypes as of yesterday, and I'm sending them to a machinist to get them made. I'm not a metallurgist or engineer by a long shot, so I'm going to let him determine if there are any improvements that can be made, or what metal to use. These new brackets use a design that utilizes steel square tubes to ramp up simplicity and strength. In the mean time, I may run my Addco sway bar on the 2nd gen Highlander sway bar brackets and see how long it holds up compared to my original just for fun. The 2nd gen bracket is actually a little heftier, but not by a lot. It mostly has a bigger footprint to accomedate for the 2nd gen Highlander's wider frame rails.
 
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