Had some 'free' time since I'm stuck not making any progress on other work and finally got around to replacing the thrust/tension struts/radius rod/lower control arm (not sure what to actually call it ).

Either way, Indy told me the bushings were shot so I ordered the entire arm for left/right a while back and they've been staring at me ever since. Old ones didn't look as bad as they were, at least to my untrained eye, but a quick drive to make sure nothing would fall apart and what a difference fresh rubber/ball joint will make.

Previously, hitting larger bumps or even small potholes would jar the whole vehicle and make it seem like there was some unnatural flex in the chassis. Much smoother now.

And yes, I did torque them down with the suspension loaded.