Ray,
Please don't take my comments personally - I appologise if it came across that way
I didn't aim it at you, merely getting exasperated at the people who are happy to critisise the products, but have done nothing to secure their future availlability.
The poly bushes availlable 20 years ago were NOT the same as they have now - As i said before, my Material Science is not up to date - but 20 years ago it WAS fairly current
Certainly, the technology was in its infancy for small volume use - and there was less understanding of chemical compositions to replicate various shore ratings.
Whilst you state that the original bushes are still going strong, let me just say that I had the 'New' bushes in my unfitted wishbone (from the parts sale) tested against the 'Old' ones on the car.
They looked very similar, but the new ones were firmer by about 8-10%.
As such, any difference in the 'hardness' of the front and rear bushes to allow toe-in is perhaps easily lost on an older car
The major advantage of poly bushes being that there is no gradual degradation with time - unlike rubber.
In defence of the original bushes, They hold their own far better than the stuff Ford used in the Cortinas/Capris of the 70's and the Escorts of the 80's/90's.
As for the bushes currently sourced - I have yet to see them in the flesh (plastic?) but they may be bonded to the central sleeve and have a bonded outer sleeve, or they may have a 'floating' inner sleeve and no outer sleeve - either way, they have been used by SWL since they started their production of the copy 'bones without any problems.
Due to the flex of the material, I would not envisage any undue stress on the bushes either way, as they are made to fit the job - not just found on the shelf and made to do.
). I'm not anal - this is the first time I have had it checked in over 4 years and then only 'cos it was free 
