LCA Bushings and Other Bushings
Brother, my Duster and I are experiencing this now, due to previous owners...
It’s an easy fix. A set of adjustable strut rods like the ones QA1 sells will let you set the length of the strut rod so there’s no binding on the LCA within its range of travel. They work great with poly or Delrin LCA bushings.
Poly strut rod bushings aren’t really a good idea anyway. Even if they were the right thickness (most aren’t), the stiffer material is only a benefit in one plane of motion, whereas the strut rods have to move in two. So, on braking or acceleration the stiffer bushing material is good, it keeps the LCA from flexing back and forth like they did with the big, soft rubber strut rod bushings. But, when the LCA moves up and down the stiffer material of the poly strut rod bushings resists that movement, which adds binding to the suspension travel. Which isn’t what you want. The adjustable strut rods with the heim as a pivot solve both of those issues. They let the LCA move freely up and down, but don’t allow it to move forward and back.
With a set of properly tuned adjustable strut rods, paired with poly or Delrin LCS bushings, you can pretty much eliminate all the binding and drag in the LCA movement. That allows the suspension to react faster, and inputs to be more precise for better handling.
