The photo attached shows the replacement bushing I received to the left and what I removed from my car on the right. As you can see the bushing stack I removed from the car has a metal bushing retainer. The metal retainer carries a formed feature that indexes into the K-member (as well as cupping the bushing), where the replacement bushing has this feature as part of the bushing rubber.
My real question is that I don't see any metal cupped retainer in the Service Manual or Parts Manuals, but this is an AAR, so sometimes things don't always show up in the manuals. I'm hoping someone can identify the setup I took out as original or replacement as well as who would have made it.
Since when the bushings are worn they often tear out the rubber nipple thats inserted into the K-member (to keep the strut bar centered and keep your adjustments in line during hard braking), leaving the strut bar free to wander. it seems to me the metal retainer would be an improvement, but looking for verification whats correct.
