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
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.
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 😎