sc300 low control arm bushings possible?
09-11-15, 08:27 AM
#16
the car has 300000 miles and theirs barely any sound but the wheel moves like a **** i have been told the ball joints are gone by 2 different mechanics and actually the third one said it was my rotor lol not going to that meineke again lol i guess im just trying to figure out the cheapest way to go and if the supra years matter thx guys you helped alot also i i did read it my phone was glitching so i was only seeing parts i guess lol
if 2 people told you the balljoints are shot, then maybe the balljoints are shot. did they test that or just their eyeballing advice.
when the steering wheel moves and the wheels don't thats the rack bushings, common problem on these cars and the first thing I replace when I get a SC. its like $50 for the kit you can go poly or also they have aluminum ones now that make it solid, which is what I am doing next time, I dont like steering play.
now if you dont have play, and you have violent shaking when on the brakes, that is the rotors (maybe the meineke guy was the only one who knew what they were talking about).
if you have shaking all the time, it could be severely warped rotors, or the lower control arm bushings could be really shot, or a bad balljoints would be loose and all over the place.
a real mechanic should be able to identify the problem, but with 300k if the car was neglected, I would put my money on it that you have all of the above problems, most SC's do if they were never replaced. the rotors and brakes people tend to do though, so its likely more serious than that.
why not start a thread with the issues, post as much info as possible, pics of the items and whats going on and more experienced people can point you in the right direction. it would take ma like 15 minutes in person to know whats wrong with your SC. if after 3 mechanics you are not sure whats wrong then you probably need some help cause sometimes they push you to replace stuff you don't need to, but 2 mechanics saying bad balljoints I would assume they are right you likely have bad balljoints which is what I have been saying over and over again about getting new lower control arms.
its like the most important thing you can replace on these cars to make them drive 10000x times better, new balljoint and new bushings on the lower make all the difference. with worn bushings the car will randomly understeer and oversteer depending on which way its moving at the time, and the bad balljoint is dangerous, it will eventually let go.
new lower control arms, steering rack bushings, and shocks/coilovers make these cars drive 95% like new again. I would start with the first 2 before putting any coilovers on it or slamming it to the ground though.
Trying to keep one of these old girls up & running can be quite the monetary nightmare. I shop constantly online for the best deals to fit the budget to restore my SC. Not to many alternatives for OEM style control arms have I found, & nothing for rear uppers @ all Except OEM/Toyota/Lexus. I even drilled & installed Grease fittings in my ball joints to make them last longer. If you replaced all the arms in your suspension it can cost almost 3k for the parts alone, which tends to keep these cars as a rich mans toy, just to do upkeep. so it has taken me 4 yrs of careful budgeting to amass the pile of parts I have so I can finally begin the process of upgrade & restoration. Had to buy another ride also, as the SC has been my daily, with few problems other than fixing the old suspension. I most certainly would love to put all new parts under her but will just have to keep buying one part @ a time till I have them all. For now it's body & engine for this phase.
These cars are designed to handle much more power then they came with in the US, and after 150k on stock components, you would imagine its normal to replace a few things.
this is where it pays to get a lower mileage SC up front where many things like this have been replaced and pay like 1-2k more, cause when you get the ones that haven't been maintained, they pretty much need 1-2k in replacement parts and the labor etc... so that $2500 SC in the paper is not a $2500 SC, factor in how much it will take to get it to be "right" again, and its generally at least the $650 above plus labor unless you can DIY. and if you can't DIY or identify the problems, a $4000 SC would have probably been a better choice in the longrun.
I have to disagree.
Yes the control arms are a tough pill to swallow $$$ but if you do your own work AND familiarize yourself with a Factory Service Manual (from Toyota, not the one you find online in .PDF format - it's missing a bunch of important sections/pages) keeping these cars is not only cheap but CAKE (especially with all the information on this site!)
In the past 6 years I've owned two ('92) with over 250,000 miles ; I run the absolute living **** out of them, they don't give a damn about being run to high-hell in back, honestly they seem to like being downright raped every now and again (or in my case multiple times a day). That said I run full synthetic trans fluid, which is worth every last penny.
At any rate there isn't any Achilles heel to these cars, they are so dead-reliable it's almost absurd. Normal maintenance and knowledge/prevention of some of the known trouble areas (lubricating the Window track so the regulator doesn't break/motor doesn't fail) will get you a long, long way.
Again, don't be afraid to get on the gas, or downright abuse that engine/transmission. If properly maintained it will take every last bit of abuse, trust me.
Yes the control arms are a tough pill to swallow $$$ but if you do your own work AND familiarize yourself with a Factory Service Manual (from Toyota, not the one you find online in .PDF format - it's missing a bunch of important sections/pages) keeping these cars is not only cheap but CAKE (especially with all the information on this site!)
In the past 6 years I've owned two ('92) with over 250,000 miles ; I run the absolute living **** out of them, they don't give a damn about being run to high-hell in back, honestly they seem to like being downright raped every now and again (or in my case multiple times a day). That said I run full synthetic trans fluid, which is worth every last penny.
At any rate there isn't any Achilles heel to these cars, they are so dead-reliable it's almost absurd. Normal maintenance and knowledge/prevention of some of the known trouble areas (lubricating the Window track so the regulator doesn't break/motor doesn't fail) will get you a long, long way.
Again, don't be afraid to get on the gas, or downright abuse that engine/transmission. If properly maintained it will take every last bit of abuse, trust me.
Last edited by Ali SC3; 09-11-15 at 08:31 AM.
09-11-15, 09:04 AM
#17
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well i realy dont hear any thing maybey a higher pitch clunck but my gf heard some rattling or something on the free way i thought it was a weel baring cuzz the wheel moves alot when the car is jacked up so i took it in and they showed me and there toast! at first i didnt know what it was not now im sure! i have no clue why i cant realy hear to much tho lol an no i dont think i have to user names lol
09-11-15, 10:26 AM
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are you the same brad with 2 different user names? one of them on your phone or something? trying to figure out if I am talking to 2 people or 1 person.
if 2 people told you the balljoints are shot, then maybe the balljoints are shot. did they test that or just their eyeballing advice.
when the steering wheel moves and the wheels don't thats the rack bushings, common problem on these cars and the first thing I replace when I get a SC. its like $50 for the kit you can go poly or also they have aluminum ones now that make it solid, which is what I am doing next time, I dont like steering play.
now if you dont have play, and you have violent shaking when on the brakes, that is the rotors (maybe the meineke guy was the only one who knew what they were talking about).
if you have shaking all the time, it could be severely warped rotors, or the lower control arm bushings could be really shot, or a bad balljoints would be loose and all over the place.
a real mechanic should be able to identify the problem, but with 300k if the car was neglected, I would put my money on it that you have all of the above problems, most SC's do if they were never replaced. the rotors and brakes people tend to do though, so its likely more serious than that.
why not start a thread with the issues, post as much info as possible, pics of the items and whats going on and more experienced people can point you in the right direction. it would take ma like 15 minutes in person to know whats wrong with your SC. if after 3 mechanics you are not sure whats wrong then you probably need some help cause sometimes they push you to replace stuff you don't need to, but 2 mechanics saying bad balljoints I would assume they are right you likely have bad balljoints which is what I have been saying over and over again about getting new lower control arms.
its like the most important thing you can replace on these cars to make them drive 10000x times better, new balljoint and new bushings on the lower make all the difference. with worn bushings the car will randomly understeer and oversteer depending on which way its moving at the time, and the bad balljoint is dangerous, it will eventually let go.
new lower control arms, steering rack bushings, and shocks/coilovers make these cars drive 95% like new again. I would start with the first 2 before putting any coilovers on it or slamming it to the ground though.
I disagree, for what these cars can give you, they are practically dirt cheap, the supra is a rich mans toy, the SC is the opposite like a budget toy. you can get supra performance for a fraction of the price, and the power steering rack bushings are $50 and the supra LCS's are $600. so for $650 on a $5000 car the weak links in the suspension can be totally overhauled and ride like new... thats not even that much $ compared to other cars like BMW that wear suspension bushings all the time, and when you do use the supra arms the bushings last longer than the lexus ones, so its an upgrade as well. I have had no other things installed on mine except the rack bushings, and I did the poly bushings in the LCA which I will be re-doing for supra arms. I put some new shocks all around and some lowering springs, and the car rides amazing whether I am cruising, sliding the rear end across the street, or laying into the turbo in 4th gear.
These cars are designed to handle much more power then they came with in the US, and after 150k on stock components, you would imagine its normal to replace a few things.
this is where it pays to get a lower mileage SC up front where many things like this have been replaced and pay like 1-2k more, cause when you get the ones that haven't been maintained, they pretty much need 1-2k in replacement parts and the labor etc... so that $2500 SC in the paper is not a $2500 SC, factor in how much it will take to get it to be "right" again, and its generally at least the $650 above plus labor unless you can DIY. and if you can't DIY or identify the problems, a $4000 SC would have probably been a better choice in the longrun.
I agree with this
if 2 people told you the balljoints are shot, then maybe the balljoints are shot. did they test that or just their eyeballing advice.
when the steering wheel moves and the wheels don't thats the rack bushings, common problem on these cars and the first thing I replace when I get a SC. its like $50 for the kit you can go poly or also they have aluminum ones now that make it solid, which is what I am doing next time, I dont like steering play.
now if you dont have play, and you have violent shaking when on the brakes, that is the rotors (maybe the meineke guy was the only one who knew what they were talking about).
if you have shaking all the time, it could be severely warped rotors, or the lower control arm bushings could be really shot, or a bad balljoints would be loose and all over the place.
a real mechanic should be able to identify the problem, but with 300k if the car was neglected, I would put my money on it that you have all of the above problems, most SC's do if they were never replaced. the rotors and brakes people tend to do though, so its likely more serious than that.
why not start a thread with the issues, post as much info as possible, pics of the items and whats going on and more experienced people can point you in the right direction. it would take ma like 15 minutes in person to know whats wrong with your SC. if after 3 mechanics you are not sure whats wrong then you probably need some help cause sometimes they push you to replace stuff you don't need to, but 2 mechanics saying bad balljoints I would assume they are right you likely have bad balljoints which is what I have been saying over and over again about getting new lower control arms.
its like the most important thing you can replace on these cars to make them drive 10000x times better, new balljoint and new bushings on the lower make all the difference. with worn bushings the car will randomly understeer and oversteer depending on which way its moving at the time, and the bad balljoint is dangerous, it will eventually let go.
new lower control arms, steering rack bushings, and shocks/coilovers make these cars drive 95% like new again. I would start with the first 2 before putting any coilovers on it or slamming it to the ground though.
I disagree, for what these cars can give you, they are practically dirt cheap, the supra is a rich mans toy, the SC is the opposite like a budget toy. you can get supra performance for a fraction of the price, and the power steering rack bushings are $50 and the supra LCS's are $600. so for $650 on a $5000 car the weak links in the suspension can be totally overhauled and ride like new... thats not even that much $ compared to other cars like BMW that wear suspension bushings all the time, and when you do use the supra arms the bushings last longer than the lexus ones, so its an upgrade as well. I have had no other things installed on mine except the rack bushings, and I did the poly bushings in the LCA which I will be re-doing for supra arms. I put some new shocks all around and some lowering springs, and the car rides amazing whether I am cruising, sliding the rear end across the street, or laying into the turbo in 4th gear.
These cars are designed to handle much more power then they came with in the US, and after 150k on stock components, you would imagine its normal to replace a few things.
this is where it pays to get a lower mileage SC up front where many things like this have been replaced and pay like 1-2k more, cause when you get the ones that haven't been maintained, they pretty much need 1-2k in replacement parts and the labor etc... so that $2500 SC in the paper is not a $2500 SC, factor in how much it will take to get it to be "right" again, and its generally at least the $650 above plus labor unless you can DIY. and if you can't DIY or identify the problems, a $4000 SC would have probably been a better choice in the longrun.
I agree with this
hey would a supra mk-4 93 through 98 work?
09-11-15, 07:39 PM
#20
Don't get me wrong, I do almost all my own work on my SC, mechanical & body, I also have a genuine Lexus service repair Manual for my year. I'm also a certified mechanic& body tech with degrees to prove it. OES lists front lca's in the range of 550 apiece rear lca's 220 a piece toe control arms 90 apiece Dorman front uca's can run 60 to 75 apiece depending on where you buy them. Genuine Lexus you can just about double all the prices. I did see a set of new lower front lca's on E-bay awhile back for 330 a piece. I don't buy used suspension parts as they can be worse than the ones you replace. New parts for my 325I aren't nearly as expensive & compare IN price to most domestic vehicles though my BMW isn't nearly as dependable as the SC is. I've run my SC 400 hard & put 235000k on her & plan to run her to 600,000 with few problems (if I live that long) It's just that when it comes to buying things for my SC the prices can be absolutely out rageous for somethings. such as one junkyard wanted 400 for a hood & I got one just as good for 80, so they do like to put us between a rock & a hard spot with these cars. I also rebushed my whole rear with Protane bushings & plan to do the front soon, but will replace uca's with new Dormans. Will also be doing T belt & W pump with all included parts/ rad also & those parts were reasonable priced but took awhile to find that didn't cost an arm & leg. Also we have Lexus's around here but no SC's so I buy from Aliga out of NYC also a place in Arcadia Ca. that sells stuff reasonably, plus other places if the price is right. Keeping a roof over my head, food on the table, doctor bills paid & of course TAXES always comes first.
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