I was told that my 96 SC400 @260K miles can no longer be fully aligned because it's worn beyond the ability of adjustable parts to compensate. Apparently there are "high mileage" variant replacement parts available with a bigger adjustment range but I can't find them. Is any of this true, has anyone experienced this and if so where do you source these parts? Steering and suspension otherwise work great. Had this incredible beast since 01, a very civilized 100mph and still smooth like buttah. Thanks for any insight. Apologies if this is covered elsewhere I searched for a good 2 hours but it was fun reading... Also tried to follow the posting directions!

 

Hello and welcome to the forums!

I would first recommend inspecting the condition of the Front LCAs, Rear LCAs and all the upper LCAs. Also the condition of the steering rack bushings, rear diff bushings and swaybar bushings, end links and tie rods.

Unless the chassis has body damage that you haven't been made aware of for some unfathomable reason there is NO reason the car cannot be aligned at 260k miles. My SC300 has 255k miles on it and it's got a perfect alignment, performed only a few months ago.

The most commonly worn SC 92-00 suspension parts tend to be the steering rack bushings and the front lower LCAs.

If either need replacement, source new polyurethane steering rack bushings from Figs Engineering and source a new set of front lower control arms from a Toyota dealer for a 1993-1996 Toyota Supra. Those Supra front LCAs will bolt right into an SC300/400 and the rubber formulation is slightly better and more compliant for a sports type vehicle.

If you really need fully adjustable replacement suspension parts (but in your case I can't imagine why you would) then you can get those from Figs Engineering (they should have every suspension component to cover the whole SC chassis) and I think Battle Version has some options as well. If you were going to go down this road, currently I'd vote for Figs aftermarket suspension parts.

But you should not need to go to that extreme.

 

I would ask for the alignment specs, specifically for which one that couldn't be put back into spec.
Maybe they might be using the wrong numbers or you have some worn lower control arms or balljoints etc.. but it should still be possible to get close at least.
If you haven't changed the lower control arms at 260k, that is probably most of what is causing your problem as they deteriorate and depending on where it is settles each time you stop the car, it can be close of way off on the alignment.
steering rack would just affect the toe, and that is very adjustable so they are probably talking about camber/caster.
The lower control arm bushings on these cars generally are shot by the time you hit 150k give or take 50k lol.