Oh the ball joint boot has a replacement it seems, I thought somebody found a way to change the actual ball joint it self but I never knew there was a useable boot replacement for the ball joint.

 

I am quite sure that the 98-00 arms are a few mm shorter. My friend is a Lexus mechanic and he told me they are different and also Carson Toyota (club vendor) confirmed the Supra LCA won't fit.

 

Shorter in what way?

I have 92-96 SC300 LCA on my 98 SC300 right now. If those arms fit, then the supra LCA should fit without any problems.

 

Ive always heard 96-98 Supra TT LCAs are aluminum.

 

Yea, and I just confirmed with the Sewell Lexus parts schematic that the 98 and 99 SC400 share the exact same part numbers for the LCA for both the SC 300 and 400. If he can fit the older model control arms, then it follows the logic that the Supra LCA will fit as well.

 

I also checked the part numbers for the 97 SC400 LCA, exactly the same as the 98-2000 LCA. And I know people who have replaced their stock LCA for Supra ones on the 97 models, so it will fit on a 98-00 SC400 for sure. Here's another thread discussing it.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sus...-fit-97sc.html

In this case, I think Carson Toyota and your friend who's a Lexus tech are just giving you the safe answer as I'm pretty sure that they probably haven't physically tried mounting the Supra LCA's to the 97-00 models.

 

It looks like they changed them in late 97.
This is from the Carson site,

"Bushings and ball joint worn out?? Replace your lower control arms with these Genuine Toyota parts, these are a common problem on the Supra and SC300/400's, these will make a huge difference!

fits 91-96 ... late 97-and up will not work as the arm is different arm"

These are the part numbers for the different years.
92-96
48069-29165 LH (DRIVER) SIDE
&
48068-29165 RH (PASSENGER) SIDE

97-2000
48069-29215 LH (DRIVER) SIDE
&
48068-29215 RH (PASSENGER) SIDE

 

I'm aware of what it says, but it will still work as evidenced by others who have swapped the Supra arms into the 97-00 SC. The arm is only different where the bushings fit, the 92-96 are wider than the 97-00, but the mounts are identical for all years and will fit no matter which arm is being used, be it the 92-96 SC arms or the Supra arms.

 

Mine must be a late 97 as my arm was totally different than any of the others out there.

 

Totally different as in design/size or just where the bushings fit in the arm?

 

i dont see how they could change it if the frame was identical?

 

There all the same design, Just different material which changes the price

 

so if they are physically the same, why are people saying they wont fit? regardless if the bushing diameter is different it should still fit in the sub frame then, right?

 

Yup, I think it only becomes an issue when you want to just change the bushings on the 97-00 since the diameter is different and there are no bushings made specifically for that model year range. Since technically, that does make the arm different from the other model years. But it still attaches to the same sized frame/ pirvot point, so I'm sure it will work for all years of the SC.

 

Yes, it will fit. A lot of times people are repeating information they're told, and not posting information they have tried.

What makes the 97-00 arms different from 92-96 is the bushing design. The 97-00 was made with a bushing that could be bought and replaced. lfrers even posted the part number for them on the 1st page.

Also if you look under service items for the SC on Sewell Lexus's page you'll see they offer a bushing replacement for 92-00 SC3/400 http://lexus.sewellparts.com/accesso...1998/5568.html I'm not sure if these are the oem Lexus bushings since the pictures they're using are generic.