2nd Gen Toyota Prius: Junkyard Sway Bar Upgrade -- Cheap Suspension Mod!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ก.ค. 2024
- Hey folks! In this video, we're going to address a serious issue with the Prius: the handling (or lack thereof). Thankfully, we can borrow parts from other Toyota vehicles. I was able to find a pair of sway bars at the salvage yard for less than $50.
PRIUS 2 TECH MANUALS -- drive.google.com/drive/folder...
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This video uses royalty-free music from the TH-cam Audio Library.
** VIDEO CHAPTERS **
00:00 Intro
01:34 Junkyard Crawl
04:49 Rear Sway Bar Replacement
09:05 Front Sway Bar Replacement
13:35 PLOT TWIST!
18:30 Final Thoughts
#prius #priuslife #hybrid #hypermiling #suspension #handling - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
In the video, I forgot to mention something. Since the stock sway bars from the Corolla / Matrix / Vibe can fit the Prius, then it stands to reason that aftermarket sway bars for those vehicles should fit too. That opens up some possibilities.
I got 2008 Prius and 2008 Corolla sway bar, it is different, my bolts are 22mm, swaybar ends are taller.
Interesting. My Prius is 2007 and sway bars from 2007 Corolla fit. According to PriusChat, the sway bars should be interchangeable up to 2008.
@@michaelblacktree mine is 08 and parts from 08. Need up cutting tubes for bolts, they were taller, used old bolts, tomorrow will try drilling with step drill bit larger holes for bigger bolts from Corolla that I got with this kit.
Hope front will not be so bad.
@@michaelblacktree th-cam.com/video/TFlsrYziuhc/w-d-xo.html here is one out of 2 videos on me repeating after you rear swaybar. Monday or Tuesday I will try front sway.
Hmm... maybe the 2008 model year is different? Or maybe US models are different from other regions? I'm not sure.
Thats the cleanest salvage yard I've seen
It's one of the better salvage yards in the Central Florida area, as well.
Really well made video. Only one that had good angles and explained everything properly.
thanks!
I did this 3 years ago and the car handles soooo much better I have the 16" factory rims too
This is a fantastic modification that utilizes affordable resources. As someone in Taiwan, I am truly inspired by this customization. Even though I am not skilled in hands-on work, I can definitely seek out suitable automotive shops to carry out the necessary modifications. Thank you!😃
Thanks for the compliment!
I have a copy of the Gen 2 Prius Shop Manual. The Torque specs for the rear sway bar is 110 Foot Pounds or 149 Newton Meters or 1,520 Kilogram-Force Centimeter.
EDIT: Never mind. You mentioned later in the video that you found a copy of the shop manual. I should have watched the whole video first.
No worries.
Getting into the weeds in the theory on hollow vs solid sway bars, if you're able to get the wall thickness of the hollow parts you could figure out how much the weight difference is. And more importantly, how stiff the bars are, relative to one another, or versus aftermarket bars.
Solid how-to though, anyone contemplating a swap will know they should maybe get new front endlinks, and know what size tools to have at the ready.
You can upgrade the sway bar end links Prius 2013 Suspension : Sway Bar Link
MEVOTECH MS86803 (Daily Driver) Supreme
bought a Prius gen 2 a month ago. Handling is disappointing indeed. Desired to do a research and here you are. Thanks for advice. I will follow your advice!
Awesome! I hope it helps you.
It has the suspension of a 90s car with quick electric steering of a +2000s car.
I found that if you execute maneuvers early (early braking, early and progressive steering, early throttle on and off) a Prius can be settled, especially when the soft suspension digs in it can sling shot you out.
But if you expect it to drive like a piss easy car like a BMW, the steering with pedestrian tyres will be far too quick for the soft suspension to act and the mini-mpv like chassis doesn't help.
That kind of driving it will definitely upset it.
Very interesting that makes my 08 Prius makes noise. I remember going to a few junkyards with my dad and sister when I was younger.
Didn't know this and just the other day posted regarding interchangeability or options for hacking equivalent or better than brake hydraulic systems in the gen 2's. Didn't think about sway bars and what do you know... today I picked up the rear struts from a AWD Matrix for the springs and perches. A few days back I got the front. I'm wondering if those front might fit in the gen 3's? I'll try to measure when I get the time. Great video! Thanks for sharing.
Nice vid. That stated if I want my gen 2 to handle better, I’d buy a lotus.
you're skipping about 500 cars in between those but sure.
Sweet. Had no idea Corolla stuff would work. That’s my one gripe about driving my Prius. Just handles not the greatest. Even after new control arms and struts. Pick-n-pull is in my future!
Excellent, thanks
Corolla rear sway bar and hardware, use Corolla torque specs since that is the bolt being torqued, Compare the number of lines cast into the head of the bolt top in order to compare the relative strength grade.
I was thinking that too. Though I would be surprised if they were all that different. The Gen 2 Prius Torque setting is 110 foot pounds, so he over torqued it a bit, by Prius standards at least.
Is mine bent? I pulled a front stabilizer off a 2007 corolla at the junkyard but getting to look closer if your standing up looking straight down and the stabilzer is lying flat on the ground with the ears lying away in front of you, everything looks the same except it looks as though looking from side to side, the left side is slighty twisted a bit compared to the right side. Does anybody know should both sides look exactly identical and even from side to side? Or could mine be slightly bent?
To lower the sub frame did you take out the bolts from both driver side and passenger side? What are the torque specs of these bolts?
Great video Michael, thanks. But I can't say that I have noticed too much understeer on my Gen 2 Prius with 121,000 mile on the clock. Maybe ours in the UK are slightly different?
Your suspension might be in better condition. The suspension on my car was pretty worn out.
Love this video. What (Corolla) year should I be looking for?
IIRC it's the 9th gen Corolla ('01-'07)
Prius 👍
Is mine bent? I pulled a front stabilizer off a 2007 corolla at the junkyard but getting to look closer if your standing up looking straight down and the stabilzer is lying flat on the ground with the ears lying away in front of you, everything looks the same except it looks as though looking from side to side, the left side appears to be slighty twisted a bit as it rises up several inches high off the ground from the very center of the stabilzer as compared to the right side. Does anybody know should both sides look exactly identical and even from side to side? Or could mine be slightly bent? Thankfully I did not pay alot for it at pullapart unfortunately they offered a warranty which i refused. Maybe I should look for another front stabilizer. Any thoughts?
IIRC, the sway bar should be symmetrical left-to-right. If not, it's probably bent. A good rule of thumb when pulling one from a junkyard is to avoid cars with front end collision damage. Actually, in the video I passed one up because the front left suspension was damaged.
Liked and subbed :)
Excellent video! I have a 2008 with 300k on the odo and original engine, tranny and ev battery. I use it for pizza delivery and am going to do a suspension lift for the rough rural roads I drive. I will do these mods when I do that.
I have the same wheels, you can take those cheap plastic areo skirts off the wheels and they will look so much better, no effect on mpg. Great car, super reliable.
Hi Mike. Great videos! Just to confirm that the rear has no end links. Only the front has endlinks correct ?
That's correct. The rear suspension is a torsion beam setup. The sway bar bolts directly to the torsion beam, with no end links.
cool. thanks! I'm replacing my oem struts with 4 new kyb assemblies, new tires and adding a 1.5 inch lift from Prius Offroad. I scrape my driveway just leaving my house! Love your videos BTW!@@michaelblacktree
That's interesting. I didn't know anyone made lift kits for the Prius.
There's a lot of aftermarket if you look at other models you got the right idea!
I'm going to be installing some different rear LCA bushings from whiteline or superpro with a bit more caster (helps with centering on vague racks) motor mount improvements, Tein upgraded struts (got a deal for almost same as OEM) and I suppose now sway bars! Eventually I am going to do a proper suspension lift using as many off the shelf parts as possible. There's a lot to work with
That's interesting. Do you have any more info on the struts? My car could use a new set...
Can anyone tell me which model in Europe will have the same Sway Bar like Prius 2 please anyone have some information
Removing Original Front Sway Bar:
You Mentioned having to disconnect the Steering Column and tried to disconnect the Exhaust without success.
Is it mandatory Step to Temporarily disconnect the Steering Column to remove the front Sway bar.
Or can you get away with just loosen the Frame/ Chassis Bolt to take out the Front Sway Bar?
I'm not sure if it's mandatory to detach the steering column, but it makes things easier.
I was just discussing this on the fB Prius DIY group and someone suggested a link to Corolla (Blue) EBay sway bar for $149.00.
The rear looks relatively easy the front is a little intimidating.
Great Video, really good Cadence, a little fun humor, great patience and very well explained. Many videos go too fast or don’t offer such detailed explanation. 5 stars my man. Thank You for taking the time to share this Michael.
1. What did the front & rear end up costing you at the junk yard?
2. If you were to only do 1 Sway bar which do you feel would offer the most noticeable performance Front or Rear?
Thank You
Thanks for the compliment! The sway bars were just under $50 at the u-pull-it. But different junkyards will have different prices. If I had to pick one, I'd probably do the rear one. That should remove some of the understeer. But the front end will still plow during cornering. So I would suggest doing both, if possible.
Is it possible to only just replace the rear sway bar and still get all the benefits since both front sway bars are solid?
That might cause some weird handling properties. I wouldn't recommend it.
What, exactly is your complaint about the Prius handling? I have a Touring so maybe is different?
I wonder if my 3 gen is the same way with others too
I don't know for sure. But it probably uses some Corolla parts from the same model years. You could ask at the PriusChat forum.
Great video! I would love to know if there is a fuel penalty for the added weight. It sounded like the new sway bar is significantly heavier.
The sway bars are heavier. But a few extra pounds aren't going to make a noticeable difference in fuel economy.
What state are u in I have 2007 62k mikes Prius I want u to look at thanks
Sorry I'm not a mechanic for hire. But maybe I can give you some advice?
I wonder if XRS Corolla is thicker than base Corolla
That's a good question. I'm not sure.
i've just bigger wheels. 17" 225/45/17 instead of 16" 195/55/16. Handling is more better now
17:50 is that the control arm bushing?
Yes, it's the rear bushing on the control arm. It's doing that on both sides. When I get a chance I'll replace the control arms. And I'll make a video. But it looks pretty simple.
@@michaelblacktree must be my noise, just changed strut assembly and still same
Nice Job! But ..... i am sure some Parts on the Prius are as light as possible in case of consumption. It is a efficiency Car, not race .... greets from Europe
Like I mentioned in the video, I thought the handling was terrible. I had no confidence in the car's ability to avoid a crash. Technically, the new sway bars have already saved a couple animals' lives, because I was able to swerve out of the way.
I did this same swap on my 2004 prius with matrix front/rear sway bars, 24mm front & 22mm in back, after a year of driving the whole interior in car started to rattle & got.loose including windows, now I have to reswap old sway bars back on & redo alignment... worst mistake ever
How exactly did the sway bars make the interior shake loose?
Too stiff? 🤔
@@riceburner4747 well not too stiff, but the (prius) touring sway bars would be perfect(well for my driving) just saying 24mm front is a little to stiff for daily city driving... but driving mountian roads is perfect... I just swap out rear sway bar to stock when I need a softer ride because it's quick & only held with 2 bolts( just be careful not to damage abs wire)... front sway bar is another story because sub frame needs to be dropped & can throw off wheel alignment if not done carefully
Any comment on the relative improvement rear vs front vs both?
I haven't tried that, so I can't really say. But it's usually best to use a matched pair (front and rear), to balance out the handling. If the sway bars are mismatched, that might cause strange handling characteristics.
But what you are trying to correct is what you deem poor handling (understeer). And converting from understeer to neutral or oversteer is, according to the factory, a "strange" handling characteristic. A car can have substantial roll and still have understeer or oversteer. Different size roll bars on the front and back (which the stock are) swapped for larger front and rear in the same proportion will reduce body roll but, in theory, will have the same amount of understeer. Traditionally, if you want to reduce understeer you make the rear bar larger or the front bar smaller.
There are swaybar calculators that could have been used to see what percentage increase you added to the front and back. P.S. If you really want to improve the overall handling, you would increase the front and rear spring weights and use adjustable struts, which is the best way to reduce roll AND increase corner traction. Then use modest sway bar changes to balance understeer and oversteer.
@@mt-images8804 Quite the response! I was looking for a butt-dyno subjective pov, but actually the biggest thing for me personally is whether the sway bar upgrades will keep the prius tracking strait in crosswind.
I wonder how many other people have said "I wanted to improve the handling of my Prius."? Could be a first, haha. :)
It's definitely a niche market. 😛
@@michaelblacktree Haha, well said.. I would say you should have added some poly sway bar bushings, but that would probably double the cost of the upgrade, haha... I think you need to build a one off push rod suspension for it, haha.
I had considered poly bushings, but the original ones are just as stiff. Maybe they're poly already? Anyway, they're in good condition, so I reused them.
@@michaelblacktree I don't blame you!
These cars are dangerous at high speed in wind, had 2 of them…..
The downside of using the bigger sway bars is the lower gas mileage.
I upgraded the tires by using P205/60R15 instead of the factory P185/65R15 and it takes a tight turn without squealing the tires. However I lost about 5 MPG (47 to 42). So I'll probably go back to the factory size when I get a new set of tries for the better MPG. But if the MPG hit is not important to you then I would recommend that as an upgrade. The speedometer is only off by 2 MPH at 70 MPH so the car show 72 MPH when doing 70.
You seem to be conflating sway bars with tires.
@@michaelblacktree My point with the tires was to use as an example of a bigger heavier part causing lower MPG. And also recommend bigger tires if you want to improve handling. I'm getting ready to replace my sway bar bushings due to a clunking noise, so your video help prepare me for the task ahead. Thanks for your video!
Stiffer sway bars do not have the same effect (on fuel economy) as wider tires.
@@michaelblacktree It is the weight of the sway bars that effects the MPG not stiffness. It would be interesting to know the weight difference between the stock and salvaged bars and how it effects the MPG. With the tries example I gave, it has the weight and wider tire rolling resistance which have a greater effect on MPG than the sway bar upgrade. Still great video!
I track fuel economy, and the sway bar upgrade had no noticeable impact.
Use German torque "gut and tight"
LOL. I was able to find the factory service manual. So I added in that info.
Its for MPG IN THE PRIUS
LOL
im here
Very conspicuous of you. 😛
@@michaelblacktree thats the game. also great video, i dont own a prius but i might someday
For some reason, YT held your comment for review. Not sure why. But thanks for the compliment. 👍
A bit of feedback, for what it's worth: I think you missed an opportunity here to explain in more detail or actually demonstrate what you consider bad (and then better) handling with the car before (and then after) the mod. I'd say the vast majority of mainstream front-wheel drive cars roll and understeer, so for me it's not self-explanatory why those might warrant a fix or upgrade. Nevertheless, since people can have different expectations (and ways of driving!) it would have been useful for you to actually show us the handling you were unsatisfied with. I say this because I haven't noticed anything in particular which might be considered problematic with the handling of my used 2007 euro gen 2 with about 130K miles as a regular driver for a couple of years. Not sure whether the majority of other Prius owners would call its handling bad but for me I'd even say it's quite the opposite because I have also had one occasion to experience its handling in an emergency situation...on the freeway at about 70 mph a car of teenagers swerved right into my path trying to reach an exit a bit too late and all I had time for was a reflex hard tug on the steering wheel right and left to avoid the collision...yes there was a corresponding hard roll of the car but I was * very * impressed with how the car handled the brutal slalom maneouver and how quickly and serenely it recovered to track in a straight line again. I am wondering if the suspension in yours has maybe had a longer or rougher life and is/was maybe just worn out. I also believe some gen 2's have a stability control feature but I confess I'm not sure if mine has it (did not have time to notice whether a dash light flashed on the freeway event) and maybe yours might not have this feature. I also have the larger euro rim size but I would have thought the smaller ones actually handle better.
I actually wanted to show the handling difference, but couldn't think of a practical way to do that. Conveying driving feel through a screen is very challenging. Also, my expectations for vehicle handling may be different from your average driver.
@@michaelblacktree I haven't done this either but if you have no assistant it seems to me an empty parking lot with the camera on a tripod might be worth a try and not very challenging? I imagine our expectations in terms of handling are different, and that's ok, but I would sincerely have been interested to witness the difference a Corolla sway bar can make in, say, a couple of hard turns, slow and fast. 🤔 I know it's a fairly common thing to hear the Prius handles poorly, or for example that it's slow (or unbearably ugly! 😆), but in my experience, and putting aside its more unique technological aspects, it seems to do at least as good a job as any other mass-produced, relatively commonplace or reasonably-priced car. 🤷♀
They make it so hard to do, but I guess they dont expect you to do anything like this with a Prius
The rear sway bar was pretty easy. Front sway bar was like playing Tetris, LOL.
i did not know rear bar is hollow
😂 didn’t know the torque specifications … 😅, do you think the suspension shop even has a torque wrench? No chance. Do them bolts up shit tight and go live .
I eventually found a Toyota service manual, with the torque specs. You'll see that later in the video.