Lucky Devin

Hello, I have been a member here for years but rarely post. I used to own an SC300, but it was wrecked and totalled on Christmas Eve last year of all times.

Anyway, I am picking up a beautiful pearl white '96 SC400 over the weekend, the car has a decent 80k miles on it, and is a one owner vehicle obviously garaged it's whole life. I am looking into the simple suspension mods before I decide which direction I want to go with my car as far as wheels. I don't plan on turning this into a drag car, or a road-course car, but just a good looking SC with body mods, and slight performance modifications to make the car perform to my liking.

So, to the question. Who makes some of the better lowering springs for the SC? I believe Eibach has a set, but I am unsure of how much they lower the car. I have been tinkering around with buying some Coil-overs, but I can't justify the price of buying them, if all I want to do is lower the car a bit for better looks, and slight handling improvements. Let me note that I do plan on getting wheels in the not too distant future, more than likely some bronze 18 inchers. I had though about going the bling route with the 20's, and that thought is still in my head but I came across a beautiful set of bronze wheels for sale in my area, with some good rubber on them. I want the car to be lowered at the most 2 or so inches (perhaps a bit lower, advice needed there as well), but no less than 1.5. I want the car to actually appear lowered. Are any Supra springs able to be carried over to the SC?

My next question is regarding front strut bars. Again, are the struts available for the Supra able to fit the SC? I noticed a JIC strut bar on a website recently (for the SC), but it was a bit pricey. I ran across a clear knock-off of that same JIC strut bar for like $70 or so, would it be foolish to go for the cheaper piece of equipment, or would it be foolish to pay about 100 more dollars just for the name JIC on my strut bar? Does the adage, "you get what you pay for" apply here? Does Cusco make a front strut for the SC? I had a Cusco on my Prelude and Acura CL and thought it was fantastic. Also, is there a rear strut bar, upper and/or lower even made for the SC, or can one be fairly easily retrofitted from a Supra-specific piece of equipment?

I would like to ask about sways too, but I'll look elsewhere in the forums for information on that. Plus, I won't be really interested in looking at anti-roll bars for some time now.

Any suggestions or advice on these issues, or a suggestion of a good place to buy from is much appreciated. I'll also say that I am not too worried about mainting a trademark Lexus smooth ride, I'd trade ride smoothness for a better handling 'feel' any day.

Most of the threads here are devoted to coil-overs, so I thought I would start this one solely regarding the springs. Let me also note that the car has new shocks and struts as well. Thanks again in advance.

-Devin

BiZ

I am going to be switching over to the Supra Suspension. From what I have gathered from searching here, that is the better route for me. It will lower the car ever so slightly, .5inch to 1 inch I believe. But still have a very comfortable ride quality. Coil overs, while being a great mod, are not necessary for my intentions with the car. My intentions seem to be the same as yours. If I were going to track the car then I would be getting the coil overs. But I am not. Most of the aftermarket springs will lower the car too much for me. It's the streets around here that stop me from going that low. There are quite a few steep driveways around here. I don't want to be rubbing my front bumper all over the place.

BLK13X

Supra suspension is interchangeable with the SC. I'd upgrade the struts along with the springs too for the best handling, but that could come up to the price of entry-level coilovers like Tein Super Street.

If you're going the bling route please refrain from making it cheesy

Lucky Devin

Thanks for the replies, I'll look into other threads here, as well as into Supra suspension mods.

And if I go with chrome, it's going to be some understated 5 or 6 spoke wheels. Maybe even some mesh wheels with a nice chrome finish, but not 20's if I go that route. If I go with 'dubs I will not be going for the "wall of chrome" style you see on so many Cutlasses, Monte Carlos and such that I would be getting, they would be clean and understated. And certainally not spinners. I am leaning towards the 17 or 18 inch bronze wheels though. Still, I just love some clean looking chrome wheels on a white SC, so I really can't say at this time. I'll post pics when it's all said and done.

JohnEd

iTrader: (1)

Find the thread about the new Buddy ... suspension. That setup let you adjust ride hight without losing shock travel. The guy was so very pleased with the performance you could hear him sweat. If half of what he said was true you need to read that write-up.

John

*hybrid

...i have to agree...

95 Integra

The supra TT strut bars dont generally fit because they wont clear our intake manifold/throttle body that goes over the valve covers (vs out the front like on the surpa TTs). Thus, buy a strut bar made for the SC. I dont know if you can run a rear bar or not (due to the gas tank being in the trunk).