Shaving off Mileage, Now seeking Opinion(Lots of Pics)
11-16-12, 08:45 AM
#32
I'm getting close to 197k miles now. Just did the oil change recently, and cleaned/oiled up the KN filter i installed earlier this summer. I didn't notice a difference btw lol. Oh and keeping it as clean as possible because I have to park it outside 
So I finally bit the bullet and picked up a set of Supra TT Lower Control Arms from Carson Toyota(L-Tuned) Priced at 269 each. Came out to 588 total with shipping costs. My car had a lean to it. One side was much lower than the other, and I was looking into it for a long time trying to figure out what it was. I heard on other forums for different cars that control arm bushings could affect ride height if they were completely worn away, which mine were. The alignment guy complained a lot about it too. When moving the car forward and backward, the two front wheels noticeably moved forward and backward in the wheel well. It was ridiculous.
I told my grandfather that I finally got the LCAs and he offered me to use his lift which really helped the job go smoothely. I learned a lot about my SC's suspension and undercarriage that day.
Oh and as I read threads on CL about LCA installation, people seemed to be concerned of spending HOURS on single bolts just to get them loose. So as a precaution, we sprayed PB Blaster on the bolts a week in advance, several times through the week, and heavily tapped on them with a hammer to make sure it got into the nooks and crannies.
Managed to pull off the arms just fine.
Here's the new one(92-96 Supra TT)
Side by side
It took us like 5 hours but we took a lunch break in the middle. The food was good
We had to flip the car around for the other side
Those Supra TT wheels look much wider from the undercarriage
Oh and my Topspeed Pro-1 mufflers look GREAT surprisingly after 6 months of ownership. Let's see how it holds up for winter. By the way I threw a coat of wax on them before I installed them. I also make sure to spray them off/dry them every time I wash the car just to maintain that mirror finish. They still bead up like the rest of the car
Discovered some bad news in the midst of this project. Steering rack boot on one side was eaten up pretty bad. Grandfather said it was most likely caught on something at one point in time. Now dirt is going to get into that joint under the boot. I have to go get a rebuilt one from NAPA or Autozone or something of the likes. Not looking forward to that because I'll have to align the car AGAIN.
Oh well. Just keep chanting 'high miles'
So after I installed the LCAs my car's front end seemed to pop up and I had a lot of wheel gap(which was good for me) NO MORE LEAN
it worked. Who knew control arm bushings worn away could dramatically change our ride height?
Oh and by the way just some input: After installing the LCAs my car felt like crap because it wasn't aligned yet. It was very hard to steer it seemed like. The steering wheel was off even though we tried to mark the cam adjustments to keep it as closely aligned as possible til I brought it to the alignment guy. After the alignment, my car drove like a dream. Straight as an arrow, and steering is effortless.
Some wheel gap, and that's good news for me! Hard to believe hearing that from a kid these days
This side used to be completely sagged. Couldn't even fit my pinky finger in between the tire and fender. Now that is improvement. The lower control arms were worth it.
While I was at grandfather's house I took some pics of much needed instructions from his manuals. My window regulator failed. The cable is frayed inside the track and I added it to the shopping list.
So after all that was done I decided I am in the clear now for coil overs, and decided to go to a local shop and look at a set of Tein CS coilovers they have in stock. They looked brand new, and the only wear they seemed to have was dust from sitting on the shelf.
Took a pic of the label real quick and buried them under the rest of the coilovers there so nobody else will find them
They told me they wouldn't go anywhere. I will come back and buy them in a month.
Also went to a Powder Coater and asked for a quote on my Supra TT wheels because they look terrible. Bought them from Michigan so salt has gotten to them. They quoted me 350 for a single stage powder coat and 400 for double stage(clear coat added on top) Which isn't bad since they also said they would sand down all the pitting and scratches. It seemed hard to choose the right silver. I want a BRIGHT silver so I may ask them to model them off of this color on these BMW BBS center caps they had laying on the desk.
After Powder Coater I went down the street to a Paintless Dent Removal shop to ask for a quote on removing all the door dings from the previous owner. The guy wasn't there so I will get the quote today. Hopefully it's affordable because it needs to be done.
Also I have a friend with a pair of widebody fenders that don't fit on his SC because of the kit he has installed. He's a patient guy so I asked him to hold the fenders til next summer and I will buy them. I'll ask him for a pic of them and put them up later. Oh and he's local so don't even try guys! lol
I don't update this thread a lot because I like to wait til my progress builds up to a point worthy of posting. Thanks for reading guys ^^
So I finally bit the bullet and picked up a set of Supra TT Lower Control Arms from Carson Toyota(L-Tuned) Priced at 269 each. Came out to 588 total with shipping costs. My car had a lean to it. One side was much lower than the other, and I was looking into it for a long time trying to figure out what it was. I heard on other forums for different cars that control arm bushings could affect ride height if they were completely worn away, which mine were. The alignment guy complained a lot about it too. When moving the car forward and backward, the two front wheels noticeably moved forward and backward in the wheel well. It was ridiculous.
I told my grandfather that I finally got the LCAs and he offered me to use his lift which really helped the job go smoothely. I learned a lot about my SC's suspension and undercarriage that day.
Oh and as I read threads on CL about LCA installation, people seemed to be concerned of spending HOURS on single bolts just to get them loose. So as a precaution, we sprayed PB Blaster on the bolts a week in advance, several times through the week, and heavily tapped on them with a hammer to make sure it got into the nooks and crannies.
Managed to pull off the arms just fine.
Here's the new one(92-96 Supra TT)
Side by side
It took us like 5 hours but we took a lunch break in the middle. The food was good
We had to flip the car around for the other side
Those Supra TT wheels look much wider from the undercarriage
Oh and my Topspeed Pro-1 mufflers look GREAT surprisingly after 6 months of ownership. Let's see how it holds up for winter. By the way I threw a coat of wax on them before I installed them. I also make sure to spray them off/dry them every time I wash the car just to maintain that mirror finish. They still bead up like the rest of the car
Discovered some bad news in the midst of this project. Steering rack boot on one side was eaten up pretty bad. Grandfather said it was most likely caught on something at one point in time. Now dirt is going to get into that joint under the boot. I have to go get a rebuilt one from NAPA or Autozone or something of the likes. Not looking forward to that because I'll have to align the car AGAIN.
Oh well. Just keep chanting 'high miles'
So after I installed the LCAs my car's front end seemed to pop up and I had a lot of wheel gap(which was good for me) NO MORE LEAN
it worked. Who knew control arm bushings worn away could dramatically change our ride height? Oh and by the way just some input: After installing the LCAs my car felt like crap because it wasn't aligned yet. It was very hard to steer it seemed like. The steering wheel was off even though we tried to mark the cam adjustments to keep it as closely aligned as possible til I brought it to the alignment guy. After the alignment, my car drove like a dream. Straight as an arrow, and steering is effortless.
Some wheel gap, and that's good news for me! Hard to believe hearing that from a kid these days
This side used to be completely sagged. Couldn't even fit my pinky finger in between the tire and fender. Now that is improvement. The lower control arms were worth it.
While I was at grandfather's house I took some pics of much needed instructions from his manuals. My window regulator failed. The cable is frayed inside the track and I added it to the shopping list.
So after all that was done I decided I am in the clear now for coil overs, and decided to go to a local shop and look at a set of Tein CS coilovers they have in stock. They looked brand new, and the only wear they seemed to have was dust from sitting on the shelf.
Took a pic of the label real quick and buried them under the rest of the coilovers there so nobody else will find them
They told me they wouldn't go anywhere. I will come back and buy them in a month.Also went to a Powder Coater and asked for a quote on my Supra TT wheels because they look terrible. Bought them from Michigan so salt has gotten to them. They quoted me 350 for a single stage powder coat and 400 for double stage(clear coat added on top) Which isn't bad since they also said they would sand down all the pitting and scratches. It seemed hard to choose the right silver. I want a BRIGHT silver so I may ask them to model them off of this color on these BMW BBS center caps they had laying on the desk.
After Powder Coater I went down the street to a Paintless Dent Removal shop to ask for a quote on removing all the door dings from the previous owner. The guy wasn't there so I will get the quote today. Hopefully it's affordable because it needs to be done.
Also I have a friend with a pair of widebody fenders that don't fit on his SC because of the kit he has installed. He's a patient guy so I asked him to hold the fenders til next summer and I will buy them.
I'll ask him for a pic of them and put them up later. Oh and he's local so don't even try guys! lolI don't update this thread a lot because I like to wait til my progress builds up to a point worthy of posting. Thanks for reading guys ^^
Last edited by Shayy; 11-16-12 at 08:48 AM. Reason: Pics
11-16-12, 01:55 PM
#34
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I haven't been back to this thread for a little while, so I had a little catching up to do. Right when I see your comment asking for suggestions on wheels, I think to myself "OEM Supra wheels". So imagine my delight when I saw them on your car on page 2. Nice progress, keep it up!
11-16-12, 09:20 PM
#37
Car is so clean for the miles! Careful with JZS147 coils they're designed for gs300/aristo they will fit but the rears are taller. I have a set of jzs147 teins that are basically useless to me, with them completely dropped its roughly half an inch lower but you do seem to like to keep your car a little higher up then me
11-17-12, 05:47 PM
#40
I haven't been back to this thread for a little while, so I had a little catching up to do. Right when I see your comment asking for suggestions on wheels, I think to myself "OEM Supra wheels". So imagine my delight when I saw them on your car on page 2. Nice progress, keep it up!
Yeah I can't imagine having tan interior in nice condition at this amount of mileage. That would take skill! I got lucky.
Thanks man it's coming along!
Car is so clean for the miles! Careful with JZS147 coils they're designed for gs300/aristo they will fit but the rears are taller. I have a set of jzs147 teins that are basically useless to me, with them completely dropped its roughly half an inch lower but you do seem to like to keep your car a little higher up then me
Thanks! Shaving off mileage! haha sometimes I feel like someone swapped the cluster out. Or put the car on a lift and just spun the wheels in the air for 100k miles. I hope this thread inspires people to keep their cars clean inside and out! Especially the guys with lower mileage than me. If my SC had 100k miles i'd feel like it was BRAND NEW
11-18-12, 06:12 PM
#42
^Yeah! except his car is much newer. Also his wheels are painted much nicer, with custom center caps he made for the L's. Mine are still Toyota centers. Working on that! Although it's cool to leave the Toyota on the wheels. I'm a huge Supra fan. My grandpa used to have a brown MK3 with these TT wheels on it, and my grandma dailied it! 5spd Pretty young grandparents. It's awesome.
Pretty young grandparents. It's awesome.
