lawrence1

hello ladies and gentlemen,

i've decided to go ahead and overhaul the suspension on my '97 SC 300. I want to keep the factory ride quality so no polyurethane parts will be used except for the steering rack bushings where OEM parts are not offered.

the car has about 107k miles and most suspension components seem to be shot at this point.

I've searched the forums and after spending the last few days sorting through all the stuff that's been posted i've been able to draw the following conclusions(all prices are wholesale or near wholesale from either online or local $tealer):


1) Supra FRONT LCAs are a direct swap for the SC 300/400. These are now ~$271/ EACH from Carson Toyota or ~$261/EACH from other websites PLUS shipping. Th bushings are also available separately and will run ~$100 per arm or ~$200 for both sides, however the balljoint is not serviceable.

2) The FRONT UCAs are also ridiculously expensive at Lexus, the going rate being about ~$290/each wholesale. Here i see an alternative with Supra UCA bushings being available for ~$19/each and these can be pressed into the old arms. Is this correct? Has anyone done it succesfully?

3) Swaybar bushings are cheap and endlinks run ~$60/per(2 required per car) from Lexus.

4) For the rear, there doesn't seem to be a lot of info in regards to what parts are common wear items and if there are any bushings available separately. What are the options here without spending an arm and a leg on parts?


thanks

brad11140

iTrader: (3)

I don't really think there is a way around spending an arm and leg on these parts. I am doing the same thing. I replaced all 4 front cOntrol arms. The right lower I got lucky and found a used one with very low miles but I still spent a $160 on that one. L side came from Carson at $259 plus shipping. I found used oem uppers in good shPe for both it was $160. Steering rack bushings were $35. Sway bar bushings were $20. And I am building Gixxer Drew coil overs while I m at it. The components are pricey but you shouldn't have to do it agIn for a long time.

ArodDaLob

iTrader: (14)

Do you really need all of that? Don't get me wrong, its great that you wanna replace old parts but, I would check to see if bushings/ball joints actually need to get changed out first before you start spending for arms you might not need.

brad11140

iTrader: (3)

Arod is right in the sense that you don't want to fix something that is not broken. What sucks is that you can't visually tell if the bushings in the arms are trashed unless you remove them. The ball joint seals the deal. The are not rebuildable, so if it's trashed than you have to buy a new arm.

107k miles is not to bad. The suspension on these cars seem to last a long time unless they have been subjected to undo stresses, like lowering and other suspension "upgrades". So unless you are experiencing clunky ball joints and slop in the suspension I wouldn't worry to much about it. You can do the steering rack bushings. Those are cheap and easy to replace. Your looking to spend between $1500-$1800 easy replacing everything.

MDSC

iTrader: (3)

I just did my Poly upper and lower control arm bushings, 230k miles + uppers were like new came in the kit so i replaced them anyways. Save your money your uppers are fine unless the balljoints are bad which i doubt. My lowers were done, my car was lowered for about 60k miles before doing this with no issues.

lawrence1

how about the rear suspension?

for you guys with higher mileage who've done suspension work ... what did you find in the rear? the rear is fairly sloppy as well on my car? are the bushings the cause? or what?

MDSC

iTrader: (3)

no issues on the rear of these cars, usually especially with 100k unless somone rolled your speedo back

lawrence1

odometer is accurate, although i might have a different oppinion of what good is than others.

when i say it's sloppy, it doesnt mean that it's bad and the car is falling apart, it's just loose compared to the 38k mile SC400 i drove a few weeks ago.

MDSC

iTrader: (3)

that could be a number of things, how exactly do you know that your ball joints are done? have you have them checked or checked them yourself? Difference could be felt from many things like , tires, rack bushings, tie rods, worn out sway bar end links etc.etc. Have the car checked and then fix whats worn out. Rack bushings fail often on these cars.