Celicasaur Posted October 11, 2021 Share Posted October 11, 2021 Hi chaps, so, I do quite like my Supra and while I don't drive it often, I love the fact that it's so yummy. Therefore, as a treat and to make it even more awesome, in addition to a new set of HKS coilovers, I was thinking to replace all of the suspension components underneath. I've done a fair bit of searching and it seems that the last time this topic came up in 2017, the consensus was that to have fresh ball joints, one must buy new arms. Is this still the case in 2021? My ball joints are fine, but it's more a case of feeling that I'd be leaving a series of joints to be old, while replacing the others and they might fail, so my idea on polybushing the control arms might go to hell. Which brings me onto the next point....for those of you that polybush the control arms, do you first buy fresh control arms and then have those polybushed in order to future-proof them with new ball joints, or do you wing it and hope that they never fail? I'm planning to just use oem parts for the rest of the rubber bushings/arms where possible. I don't want to polybush the entire car and totally lose it's road manners, but I've always found that poly control arms in any car always make for a more direct and more planted feel. Any other useful comments welcome. I'd like to keep it within a £2k budget if at all possible (excluding coilovers of course). My local Toyota guy is happy to offer 10% off a bulk order...not sure if there are many alternatives or better than this available? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tayr Posted October 11, 2021 Share Posted October 11, 2021 @Andy Ven 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burna Posted October 11, 2021 Share Posted October 11, 2021 Contact Paul at TCB, he will be cheaper that Toyota. I believe that Greg @Sheefa just recently purchased a complete set of suspension components. You're going to have to increase your budget of £2k though, probably just under double that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Ven Posted October 11, 2021 Share Posted October 11, 2021 @Celicasaur I Do ball joint replacements for the upper front, upper rear, and lower front. I offer a range of levels of finish from just balljoint fitting to fully powdercoated with new bushes fitted. Ive attached a photo of a set. Its considerably cheaper than OEM and the bushes come with a lifetime warrenty. If you are interested, drop me a message. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blythmrk Posted October 11, 2021 Share Posted October 11, 2021 10 hours ago, Celicasaur said: Hi chaps, so, I do quite like my Supra and while I don't drive it often, I love the fact that it's so yummy. Therefore, as a treat and to make it even more awesome, in addition to a new set of HKS coilovers, I was thinking to replace all of the suspension components underneath. I've done a fair bit of searching and it seems that the last time this topic came up in 2017, the consensus was that to have fresh ball joints, one must buy new arms. Is this still the case in 2021? My ball joints are fine, but it's more a case of feeling that I'd be leaving a series of joints to be old, while replacing the others and they might fail, so my idea on polybushing the control arms might go to hell. Which brings me onto the next point....for those of you that polybush the control arms, do you first buy fresh control arms and then have those polybushed in order to future-proof them with new ball joints, or do you wing it and hope that they never fail? I'm planning to just use oem parts for the rest of the rubber bushings/arms where possible. I don't want to polybush the entire car and totally lose it's road manners, but I've always found that poly control arms in any car always make for a more direct and more planted feel. Any other useful comments welcome. I'd like to keep it within a £2k budget if at all possible (excluding coilovers of course). My local Toyota guy is happy to offer 10% off a bulk order...not sure if there are many alternatives or better than this available? I personally prefer oem bushes opposed to poly bushes but as stated budget 4k for all new arms etc 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burna Posted October 12, 2021 Share Posted October 12, 2021 10 hours ago, blythmrk said: I personally prefer oem bushes opposed to poly bushes but as stated budget 4k for all new arms etc I agree with you, I think OEM bushes are far better than poly bushes, but it all comes down to what people can afford to do at the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rider Posted October 12, 2021 Share Posted October 12, 2021 In 2017 I bought new OE parts for my suspension overhaul and to give you some idea on costing these were then: Front: New Parts - OEM Front top control arms: £500 Front bottom control arms £540 Lower arm brackets £65 Bolts, cams, nuts & washers £132 Front strut bumpers £44 Front strut dust Insulator £66 Front anti-roll bar £276 Front bar clamps £30 Front bar bushes £18 New - Non OEM (Blue Print) Tie rod ends £48 Drop links £42 Rear: Bushes, arms, pipes, tank guard, tank straps and fittings Amayama £780 Toyota Oxford £2,880 TCB £450 Other Parts Wheel Bearings £190 Discs £100 Brake pads £120 Handbrake shoes £45 Drop links £60 Sway bar £120 All around: Toyota Billstein struts £660 The thing is with the suspension if you are doing it then there is so much to do from the struts and springs to wheel bearings, roll bars and their bushes, drop links and maybe even having some professionals do a chassis tune to make sure the car is all planted correctly and evenly. You can take it as far as you want, I wanted a car that handled like new so I took it all the way with a £15k spend on the underside. With £2k you might find better ways to improve the suspension feel over treating the arms to a new bushing set. As an example, I found a new set of wheel bearings transformational (replacing the original 100k mile+ ones) in road noise and feel of the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonc Posted November 11, 2021 Share Posted November 11, 2021 On 10/11/2021 at 1:25 PM, Andy Ven said: @Celicasaur I Do ball joint replacements for the upper front, upper rear, and lower front. I offer a range of levels of finish from just balljoint fitting to fully powdercoated with new bushes fitted. Ive attached a photo of a set. Its considerably cheaper than OEM and the bushes come with a lifetime warrenty. If you are interested, drop me a message. Wow that's a new one on me. Returbed all my suspension 9 years ago with R2R bushes but the ball joints do sit in the back of my mind. PM probably inbound in the near future 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TuneR Posted November 12, 2021 Share Posted November 12, 2021 Just saw that Hardrace do rubber bushes for front lower, rear upper and rear knuckle. No idea how good they are as i've never used them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celicasaur Posted December 2, 2021 Author Share Posted December 2, 2021 Right chaps, so my shiney Hipermax 4 GT coilovers have arrived and i've decided that I want to go down the polybush route for that superglue feeling on the road. Do we have many here with first-hand experiences of the stiffer yellow polybushes vs the semi-stiff red ones? Worth noting that i find the Supra a very capable car with fully stock suspension and super old HKS Hiper D coilovers. Things I like are sharp response, grip, predictability, taughtness and strangely comfort. I understand the 4 GT coilover is quite a compliant one for the road. Seems the smart move would be to get the red polybushes, but if anybody can advise me otherwise to just say #becauseracecar and go for yellow, then please let me know. FYI car will likely never see a race track, except Guildford at 2am, which kind of is like a race track Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evinX Posted December 2, 2021 Share Posted December 2, 2021 On 10/11/2021 at 1:25 PM, Andy Ven said: @Celicasaur I Do ball joint replacements for the upper front, upper rear, and lower front. I offer a range of levels of finish from just balljoint fitting to fully powdercoated with new bushes fitted. Ive attached a photo of a set. Its considerably cheaper than OEM and the bushes come with a lifetime warrenty. If you are interested, drop me a message. Finally someone on the forums doing this. Need this guy as a hobbyist/ trader Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Ven Posted December 2, 2021 Share Posted December 2, 2021 26 minutes ago, evinX said: Finally someone on the forums doing this. Need this guy as a hobbyist/ trader Hey EvinX, I am on the list as a hobbyist currently. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Raven Posted December 2, 2021 Share Posted December 2, 2021 Yeah the club needs this ASAP, Coming from someone that just had a MOT failure on a ball joint... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evinX Posted December 3, 2021 Share Posted December 3, 2021 23 hours ago, Andy Ven said: Hey EvinX, I am on the list as a hobbyist currently. Good man, will you be looking into to doing the other rear ams and strut rods to? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Ven Posted December 4, 2021 Share Posted December 4, 2021 I am currently on with trying to do the rear lower arm which the arb and suspension strut attaches too. The others are not worth the time invested or machining as they are fairly cheap to buy new. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexmk4 Posted December 4, 2021 Share Posted December 4, 2021 12 hours ago, Andy Ven said: I am currently on with trying to do the rear lower arm which the arb and suspension strut attaches too. The others are not worth the time invested or machining as they are fairly cheap to buy new. That would be awesome to see the rear ones done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.