Sway bars, also known as roll bars, help to control your vehicle's side-to-side pitch as you take corners and navigate turns. Even better, they can be installed on nearly every type of vehicle, from cars to SUVs and even minivans -- though they're most effective with larger vehicles.

What Is A Sway Bar?

The sway bar is part of your vehicle's suspension system, which includes the shocks or struts, steering system, bushings, joints, linkages, and wheels. At its essence, it's nothing more than a torsion spring in that it's a piece of metal that responds to a twisting motion. As your vehicle turns, the sway bar levels the springs out to prevent that tilting feeling you may experience when you take a corner at too high a rate of speed.

How that happens is simple. As you enter a turn, the weight of your vehicle gets transferred to the outside wheels. The suspension connected to those wheels gets compressed as a result, with the inside wheels rising. A sway bar keeps those inside wheels compressed, keeping them in contact with the road to maintain stability and keep you and your vehicle riding as flat as possible through the turn.

How to Spot a Faulty Sway Bar

Even the best sway bar can eventually wear down or break. When that happens, your ability to handle your vehicle is jeopardized. Signs of failure include:

The steering wheel feels loose

You hear clunking or rattling noises from your suspension

Your handling is diminished

Buy Genuine OEM Sway Bars Online for Best Performance

You can turn to many sources on the internet for a sway bar. However, the best sway bar for your Toyota or Scion vehicle is one that was made by your manufacturer. That's because those are the only ones that are guaranteed to be compatible with your model, since they were designed to its exact specifications. Find yours in our online auto parts catalog, in stock and priced up to 35% below MSRP. Buy now and we'll ship your order right to your doorstep!