We spent the better part of Saturday on these darn bushings. Had them on and off so many times that we wore out a set of bolts.
Whoever made these for FRPP must have been using a yardstick as a measuring device. This pertains to both the set on the car and a brand new set of arms and bushings in stock, used as a comparative control, on the car and on the bench. Both left and right sides exhibited the same unacceptable bind.
We wound up machining the actual inner delrin bushing and the thrust washer rings on the lathe. Got the force to move the arm up and down from 35 to 14 lbs. Required machining of the inner bushing allows it to move freely now. The consensus was that if we took any more off the thrust rings we might totally remove the preload on the bushing making it sloppy and introduce some toe change.
At this time, the arm does not droop under its own weight, but I am hoping that it will "wear in ", or it will require further modification after my two upcoming events for the season.
As these were installed 3 years ago before I new any better, it just irks me now that big name, high dollar parts are sold as bolt on, engineered, quality controlled, race parts.
Additionally, thinking of others, how is a fella supposed to do this if he doesn't have access to a machine shop and lathes? Rhetorical, but just sayin'.
Hope the above info on the required modifications helps someone in the future before these bushings are even installed.