How to Replace Rear Sway Bar Links 2006-11 Toyota Camry
Created on: 2017-11-06
How to remove, replace, and install a sway bar end link on 2009 Toyota Camry.
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step 1 :Removing the Wheel
- Pry off the hub cap with a pry bar
- Loosen the lug nuts with the vehicle on the ground
- Raise and support the vehicle
- Remove the lug nuts
- Pull the wheel off the hub
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step 2 :Removing the Sway Bar Link
- Spray rust penetrant on the upper sway bar link nut
- Clean the upper sway bar link nut with a wire brush
- Hold the upper sway bar link nut with a 6mm Allen socket and breaker bar
- Loosen the nut with a 14mm wrench
- If the nut is stuck, hold the sway bar link ball joint with locking pliers if necessary
- Remove the 14mm nut
- If the nut remains stuck, cut the sway bar link stud with a hack saw or reciprocating saw
- Hold the lower sway bar link ball joint with locking pliers
- Remove the 14mm bolt from the lower sway bar link stud
- Remove the sway bar link from the vehicle
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step 3 :Installing the Sway Bar Link
- Hang the sway bar link where it attaches to the strut
- Slide the sway bar link stud into sway bar
- Start the 14mm nuts onto the sway bar link studs by hand
- Hold the sway bar link ball joints with an 18mm wrench
- Tighten the nuts with a 14mm socket and ratchet
- Torque the 14mm nuts to 290 foot-pounds
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step 4 :Installing the Wheel
- Slide the wheel onto the hub
- Start the lug nuts by hand, with the tapered side facing the wheel
- Tighten the lug nuts preliminarily
- Lower the vehicle to the ground
- Torque the lug nuts to 76 foot-pounds in a star pattern
- Line up the hub cap with the valve stem
- Push the hub cap onto the wheel
Tools needed
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5mm Hex Wrench
14mm Wrench
6mm Allen Wrench
Torque Wrench
14mm Socket
Rust Penetrant
Wire Brush
Hi, I’m Mike from 1A Auto. We’ve been selling auto parts for over 30 years!
Use a pry bar or a large flat bladed screw driver to remove the hubcap. Just going to slide it under the edge. Put that aside. Take a breaker bar and a 21 mm socket and loosen the lug nuts while the car is still on the ground. I'm just going to use the socket, take them off. Removing the last lug nut, I'm just going to hold on to the wheel so it doesn't fall off, take it right off.
Need to remove the sway bar link from the strut. In a perfect world, this wouldn't be too rusty and it should come off easy, but this looks pretty rusty. You're going to spray some rust penetrant on here. Take a wire brush, try to knock off some of the rust. This will ideally help the nut turn. With our fourteen millimeter box wrench and our 5mm Allen key fit it in there, and try to hold these as I remove it. Can see some rusty bits coming loose. Spray some more rust penetrant and try to brush it off, just to help. Anything to help this nut spin off of this ball joint part of the sway bar link. These are typically locking nuts, so the opening in them is kind of an oval shape, makes it difficult to spin it off. I almost had it. It's stripped. This is typically what will happen. It will start to move on you, and then it just strips out the Allen key, because they're so difficult to remove.
Next step, need to get some locking pliers, put it back here, hold the little part that's exposed, keep it from spinning, and keep taking the nut off. Get it loose. I can take it off with my fingers. Just pull this out. Push that aside.
You're going to loosen the lower part of the sway bar link. If it's pretty new or not too rusty, you could put a 6mm Allen key into the end of it to hold it while you loosen this nut to keep it from spinning. This one's pretty rusty. I'm going to spray some rust penetrant on it and clean these threads off as best I can with a wire brush. I'm going to come in here with some locking pliers and just skip, because it's just basically… Usually it strips when you put the Allen key in here if it's really rusty. I'm going to skip that step, and go right to the locking pliers. Go here and just take this off.
Since I'm not replacing the sway bar link, I'm going to cut this boot off with a razor knife just to get it out-of-the-way so that I can get my locking pliers in there and it's not getting hung up on the rubber boot. Then, cut and just pull the rubber right out. Take the box wrench. I'm going to take some more rust penetrant, spray it in here on the nut, and also spray it on the front here, and wipe it off because it's more rust and dirt it's getting pushed out. I want it to spin free. Just want to keep it clean as I can, but also load it up with rust penetrant so it spins. Get this all loosened up. Spin it off with my fingers. Pull the sway bar link right out.
This is our old sway bar link for our vehicle. See where I cut the boot to take it off. I also kind of damaged it top part where I was taking off the top one. Here's our brand new one from 1AAuto.com. Same link, same style. Comes with new locking nuts. These you'll have to counter hold with an Allen key to torque them. This should fit great and work great in the vehicle.
Take off the locking lug nuts from each end. Wind up the same way it was, the top right through like this, bottom right through like this. Sometimes, you need to move the bar a little bit. Get this captured. These are only going to spin on by hand as far as this dial on lock part, and then you'll have to use a wrench to go the rest of the way. These are 17 mm. I'm going to turn it. The ball joint may start to spin as I tighten it. When that happens, I can hold it with a 5 mm Allen key. If the center part was turning on you, you can take a 5 mm Allen key and hold it, and use the box part or the open part, and just tighten it down. That's snug right now, but I'm going to come back and torque that and tighten the top one same way. Torque these to 29 foot-pounds.
Reinstall the wheel. Start the lug nuts by hand. Make sure you install them with the cone seat against the wheel. You can see the wear marks where they were sitting. Do not install them with the flat part. That is incorrect. They need to be installed with this cone seat. It matches the seat in the wheel and helps hold the wheel on correctly. Use the socket, 21 mm, to just thread these on by hand. Torque the lug nuts to 79 foot-pounds, going in a cross pattern so they torque down evenly. Reinstall the hubcap. Line up the opening here on the hubcap with the valve stem, and just push it into place.
Thanks for watching. Visit us at 1AAuto.com for quality auto parts, fast and free shipping, and the best customer service in the industry.
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