I have never used poly bushing in the lower control arms, but it has been my understanding that when you do use the poly bushing you need to leave the outer shell in the lower control arm and the inner shell on the pivot shaft.
I've used poly bushings on all of my cars. The ones I've used all required both the inner and outer shells to be left in place. That said I use greaseable pivots on mine and not stock pivot pins, but the diameter of of the stock pins with the shells on is the same.
I also use adjustable strut rods on all of my cars. The original strut rods were a "one size fits most" situation that worked ok because of how much play there is in all the rubber bushings. If you go to poly you eliminate a lot of that play, and the strut rod has to fit the car more accurately than most of the stock ones did. I've had no issues with the poly bushings on any of my cars.
