My trusted mechanic informed me my new to me '93 SC400 (81k miles) needs new Lower control arms's, as there is play in the front wheels after he had lifted the car.
I feel no major knocks on the road, but I definitely feel a jolt when switching to reverse, and a very noticeable rocking of the entire body when putting the car in park on my slightly slanted driveway.
Had to also replace the front tires as they had been worn down, possibly due to the failing LCA's

My question is should I also replace the front upper control arms at the same time that I replace the lower control arms?

I want to save money by not having to do a second alignment later down the line if I need to replace the UCA's. since the alignment is the same price as the UCA's online right now (~$100), but don't want to waste money on a part I don't need. If it doesn't improve ride quality all that much I'll most likely forgo the purchase unless they are damaged as well.
Eventually I plan to also replace the rear control arms, and possibly the shocks/struts, to help the overall ride quality as that is the most important thing to me, but as far as I know the front LCAs are all that need replacing right now.
I'm not very educated on if the upper control arms on this model need replacing as often as the LCA's do or what other parts of the suspension/car need replacing on this car, especially after 100k, or just with age as most everything is stock on this car.

Here's a few images I took of the suspension, that don't show any major cracks in the ball joint rubber, just that it is fairly flat and coated in brake dust.
The bushings really need the help but I figure I should just replace the whole thing and not deal with another headache of getting the old LCA refit with new bushings.

Any extra tips for helping improve the overall ride quality and smoothness is much appreciated.





Left Lower Control arm, overview


Left LCA, ball joint


Left Upper control arm, and sway bar link


Left upper control arm, backside view


Left LCA bushing, rear?


Right LCA ball joint


Right LCA bushing, rear

 

If there is no slack in the ball joint and the bushings are still good, just replace the lowers. If the lowers just have bad bushings and the ball joint is good then consider just changing the bushings. However, unless you do this job yourself, it probably isn't worth the labor you will have to pay him to burn the old ones out and replace. So, just buy the Supra arms and replace them and should be good to go.

 

If it ain't broke it don't need fixed. You can go the purist root and replace your lca's with genuine parts or go to Toyolex parts and replace with affordable aftermarket or genuine.

 

No you don’t need to replace your UPPER control arms, the darn thing bears next to no load (unlike the LOWER).