1997 Es300 Torsion/sway Bar

[muscmp]

i took my wife's 97 es300, with the 6 cyl. to just tires for oil change and tire rotation. they called me to say that it was way out of alignment so i gave them the go ahead. they said it would be done in 20 mins. when my wife and i got there 1 1/2 hrs. later, he hadn't even started the alignment. so we went to the mall and came back an hour later. he still had the car up on the jack. he said there was a problem with the car and showed me a bent "torsion bar". he said he could order the part for $130 and charge between $50 and $100, outside of just tires, to fix it. he said he had tried to straighten it but it needed replacement. i could see that it was a little bent. i think he should have called us prior to doing any work on this "torsion bar". he said we needed to get it done as the wheel could fold under creating a possible accident. i paid him for the service already done but did not agree to have him do the "torsion bar."

later in the afternoon, he left a message on the phone that he had found the part and i should give him a call to have it repaired. i checked via the internet for a lexus torsion bar but struck out. i did find sway bars that appeared to be the correct terminology for the part. the sway bar could be purchased via several sites such as autopartswarehouse.com for less than $60.

this morning before my wife left for work, i looked under the car and noticed that nuts that held these sway bars together were real shiny while the rest of the sway bars were dark and dirty. so he may have checked/messed with both left and right sway bars.

i WILL NOT allow this man to ever touch my cars again as i don't trust him. however, i don't know that much about car repair myself so, finally, here are my questions: 1) how vital is it to get this repaired immediately? 2) isn't this a sway bar instead of a torsion bar?

any suggestions?

sorry about the length of this post but i wanted to proved as much vital information as possible.

thanks in advance.

mikeB.

[rv8er]

I'll give you some answers that may help. Not having looked at that part of the suspension yet, so I'm not sure if it will apply.

I do believe the terms torsion and sway are interchangeable...'Sway' is more common. To be certain we are talking about the same part though, its bolted to the front of the car and runs parallel to the radiator. Both ends then bend back to the front wheels and bolt to the steering knuckle somewhere near the back side of the rotor....

On many cars, it MUST be connected. Without the connection, the only thing keeping the wheel from pulling away and folding under is the tension from the axle connecting to the transmission. Since these typically just pop out with a little force, any significant pressure pulling on the wheel will pull the axle (along with the entire wheel assembly) away from the car and it will pivot out and to the rear fender, usually causing damage. The sway bar can be the third point of connection which prevents this.

Again, I'm not positive yours is like this but many are. Take a look at what all connects the hub assembly to the car. If nothing else connects on the front side then get it fixed. Its an easy replacement to do it yourself.

[muscmp]

I'll give you some answers that may help. Not having looked at that part of the suspension yet, so I'm not sure if it will apply.

I do believe the terms torsion and sway are interchangeable...'Sway' is more common. To be certain we are talking about the same part though, its bolted to the front of the car and runs parallel to the radiator. Both ends then bend back to the front wheels and bolt to the steering knuckle somewhere near the back side of the rotor....

On many cars, it MUST be connected. Without the connection, the only thing keeping the wheel from pulling away and folding under is the tension from the axle connecting to the transmission. Since these typically just pop out with a little force, any significant pressure pulling on the wheel will pull the axle (along with the entire wheel assembly) away from the car and it will pivot out and to the rear fender, usually causing damage. The sway bar can be the third point of connection which prevents this.

Again, I'm not positive yours is like this but many are. Take a look at what all connects the hub assembly to the car. If nothing else connects on the front side then get it fixed. Its an easy replacement to do it yourself.

thanks for the info. i just found out that it was a tie rod and the guy who was doing the alignment was fired from just tires due to him only being a counter rep and having no qualifications for doing the job! i took the car to the manager who has ordered the tie rod and will replace it for free(as they should). i feel weird doing it but i guess i should be questioning these people as to their qualifications!

thanks again,

mikeB.