Is my lower control arm toast? With Pictures!
Exactly. Properly installed and cared for the poly bushings should last a long time. 125k is more than I would have planned for, but I've yet to see a factory rubber bushing with more than 50k on it that wasn't shredded so anything beyond that is a bonus. And that doesn't even consider the improvement in suspension action.
Having a predictable car is a wonderful thing, and harder bushings with less slop makes everything more predictable. And being tire limited actually isn't a horrible way to set things up, as long as you know your tires. If the suspension is set up right with hard tires you should end up in oversteer, which is a lot of fun if you know how to drive it. And with that set up you could even have a second set of rims and tires if you wanted to do autoX on the side, slap on a sticky set of tires and you'd be set up right for that too. Then back to the hockey pucks for the street so you can smoke them up. :D Just gotta remember that will hurt your braking distances too so you have to leave more room. Which isn't a bad thing to do on the street anyway.
Exactly;
235s are not much tire up front, but I have 295s out back, which have the brakes jacked up to the point that the rear shoes wear out faster than the front KH pads. Yet the car brakes amazingly well, and yes even in the turns. The back never comes around due to too much brake back there.
Of course as a streeter speeds seldom exceed maybe 40mph ( I can't really say, cuz I never pay attention,lol). But because I'm usually in first-over, or perhaps second gear and with 3.55s this could be as low as 28 to 40............ I guess. Too much less than 40 in second and I don't have enough TM to break those 295s loose anymore (swapped out the torquey cam). It was better with 4.30s but that's another story.
At one time I had understeer.Then I had a lotta oversteer. Now I have mostly neutral steer, or with a little gas, rear-steer,lol. Oversteer was brutal. I used to leave the stoplight headed for a left turn and get on it just a little and Zoom, around she went, and I was facing backwards pointed the wrong way. That was bad. Not really over-steer, I know, but bad it was for sure. Plowing I hated more. That gets expensive.
And yes, you will never see me tailgating unless stopped at a lite,lol.
The worst car I ever had for plowing was a 95 Sunfire. If I came in a little too hot, there was no saving it.