1st Gen Sway Bars are not the same

Aparently there are two types of sway bars for our tacos, and the mounting is diferrent.
We have type 1 and then we have type 2 below as you can see it changes on the way it mounts at the ends. Can anyone chime in as to why? Is it because of the 2WD or 4WD configurations? As you can CLEARLY see that your swaybar links would change totally, so my delimma is that I happen to have both and while doing the frame swap, I confused the two. I don't know which one came with my taco?

And they are for sure a easy fix, but who wants to be swaping these out like that.

 

3 Really if you also include the diameter of the bar it`s self.

Be it`s self it would be a pain but if the front end is apart for other reasons it would be a great time.

 

I mean, it's pretty easy to go look behind the wheel to see which type your truck is equipped with. But whatever it's worth, my '01 4WD Double Cab TRD, has the second style of link you pictured.

 

Probably depends on the year. Pretty sure the 3rd gen 4Runner have the 2nd style too, despite the rest of the suspension being identical to the Tacos.

But as far as WHY? You'll have to ask the engineers, lol. Likely something mundane like contract negotiations with parts suppliers. Functionally, there's no difference that I can see, so it's not like one is really an "improvement" over the other.

 

I'll make it simple.

It's nothing to do with 2wd vs 4wd. It's has to do with Toyota's transition to the current link style that came out in 05. Your 95-00 (early 1st Gen) Tacoma's have a single joint, and the 01-04 (late 1st Gen) have the double joint. The double joint is the most widely use link today, but only a bit longer than the previous.

Mike

 

I don't think that's completely right. The early 5 lugs had no ball joints in the links, then they later got a single joint design. The early 4WD and Prerunner models had a single ball joint and then later got a double ball joint design.

 

So, it’s the 2nd one 01-04 mine is a 2003 with a 2004 Frame, 4WD , 6 Lugs.
LOL thanks!!! Really appreciate this.