LCA torment. mod or replace
Thread Starter
Driver School Candidate
Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 20
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From: NJ
LCA torment. mod or replace
So I had torn up lca bushings in my 92 sc300. So I annoyingly replaced them with the poly bushings, then once I dropped my car off for alignment they said my ball joints weren't in great shape but they did the best they could aligning.
Is there any go-to lca with same size ball joint that I can chop off another car, weld/bolt to mine for extra front camber?
Is there any go-to lca with same size ball joint that I can chop off another car, weld/bolt to mine for extra front camber?
not many people do experimenting to something as important as control arms. its not ideal to weld a ball joint at a new angle onto any control arm and I haven't seen it done here.
there are aftermarket control arms, and there are replacement supra arms that bolt in.
you should have checked your balljoint before bothering with the bushings.
not sure why people keep thinking that only their bushings would be destroyed and the ball joint would have miraculously survived that same amount of time without wearing either. I was guilty of it sort of myself I just did bushings cause my balljoints were in good shape still but I regret not just getting supra arms with all the labor involved I could have had a better setup with a new balljoint.
The supra bushings will be as firm as the poly without all the squeaking (supra ones are filled in completely vs the half filled in SC bushings), and the ride will be much improved, also you get a new balljoint.
the mk3 supra had replaceable ball joints, but not the mk4/sc.
there are aftermarket control arms, and there are replacement supra arms that bolt in.
you should have checked your balljoint before bothering with the bushings.
not sure why people keep thinking that only their bushings would be destroyed and the ball joint would have miraculously survived that same amount of time without wearing either. I was guilty of it sort of myself I just did bushings cause my balljoints were in good shape still but I regret not just getting supra arms with all the labor involved I could have had a better setup with a new balljoint.
The supra bushings will be as firm as the poly without all the squeaking (supra ones are filled in completely vs the half filled in SC bushings), and the ride will be much improved, also you get a new balljoint.
the mk3 supra had replaceable ball joints, but not the mk4/sc.
I met the guy who owns that place at the yearly toyota meet over here and he seemed to know his stuff very well, and by the looks of his cars and the local cars that run some of those products they get lots of real world testing.
Driver
Joined: Mar 2015
Posts: 118
Likes: 1
From: TX
I am having problems with one side of the car lower than the other. What should I be checking for visually physically and in motion symptom wise that the LCA ball joint is failing
Your ball joint may also be ok, sometimes they say things like "we did the best we could" to hope and scare you into paying for repairs with them. I replaced my steering rack bushings and control arms the same weekend and when I went in for an alignment they told me my steering rack bushings were so worn out I'm lucky it didn't fall out yet and didn't know if they should let me leave due to liability. I literally laughed in her face. After a long talk she said she was looking at the wrong vehicle and apologized...
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are you on stock springs?? the sides should be even wth the stock springs, unless you accidentally swapped sides when they were out. one side is longer than the other by a hair, has to do with the design of the car and usually shows up with lowering springs that are the same height on both sides. the fix is welding some washers to the LCA or using coilover which can be adjusted for that side to side. check out the sticky.
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If you let the LCA hang on its own weight as you were bolting things back together the bushing probably got locked into a lower position and the load would hold the car up higher, could just be one side is higher and the other is normal, hard to say. If this is the case it will eventually drop into place with driving but its a huge wear on the bushings.. You should always have a jack holding up the LCA level while tightening things down again.
are you on stock springs?? the sides should be even wth the stock springs, unless you accidentally swapped sides when they were out. one side is longer than the other by a hair, has to do with the design of the car and usually shows up with lowering springs that are the same height on both sides. the fix is welding some washers to the LCA or using coilover which can be adjusted for that side to side. check out the sticky.
Instructor
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 918
Likes: 322
From: IN
Steve K.
One thing I haven't seen anyone do is tap the cap for an alemite and make it serviceable. That's what I am going to try when I pull the arms off of one of my SC's and put bushings in.
yeah that sounds sketchy, with a turbo under the hood and taking turns at speeds I wouldn't trust anything welded on the suspension. Some guys do it alot on the toyota trucks they weld the steering arms and swear by it but I know better that one time it fails and kills someone you will regret it forever.
Driver
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 164
Likes: 1
From: fl
Just better off getting the supra one. If you factor in labor and time, it's not worth even gettingthem pressed in in my opinion. Just get the Supra ones and you'll save yourself the headache. They bolt right in, and it feels great. I did this alongside doing the Daizen steering rack bushings and it was night and day difference. And that's with bad inner tie rods! (no worries, new rack goes in tomorrow).
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