An observation with the outer ball joint and tie rod removed...the dowel portion of the control arm that fits inside the rear most bushing slides in and out as the control arm is moved thru its entire stroke. Total movement is a hair more than 3/32", not quite 1/8". I imagine that this movement is related to how the front control arm pick up point moves around the ball joint...

Just an observation...hopefully this is how it is supposed to work since both arms do the same thing.

 

And it makes a swipe just like scraping the last bit of peanut butter out of the jar.

 

I eat crunchy peanut butter kieth, so hopefully it doesn't sound that bad In my case, the inner P-Flex bush moves in and out of the outer bushing...sounds like a paragraph from a steamy novel...


In a related story, I'm left to wonder about other devices that firmly attach the rod to a bushing via an allen set screw. I think this might cause some serious problems???