Check out a thread over on the Samba regarding upper arm bushings.
Might be info regarding different manufacturers.

Neil.

On 4/25/09, pickle vanagon <greenvanagon@gmail.com> wrote:
> My drivers side upper control arm bushings are screaming like crazy.  These
> are new Meyle bushings, installed a little over a year ago.  The Meyle
> bushings I had installed on the passenger side at the same time went bad
> almost right away.   I replaced those last summer with Febi bushings which
> have held up so far (fingers crossed).
>
> I am careful when installing them (and know not to tighten them all the way
> before lowering the van for example) and think a lot of the parts are just
> bad.  I have seen other people post similar frustrating experiences with
> these bushings (including some who had problems with the Febi bushings).
>
> Does anyone know where to get a decent bushing?  I've had bushings from
> different list vendors that all went bad (they were all Meyle bushings, the
> Febi bushings I had just picked up from a Flaps in a hurry).  Is there a
> chance I'll get better quality if I cough up the money to get them from the
> dealer?  (Presumably then there would at least be a warranty I could collect
> on without too much hassle.)
>
> The worst part about changing these so often is that I can't even do it all
> myself.  Once I remove the control arm, I have to take it somewhere and pay
> someone to press the new bushings in.
>
> Sorry for the griping!  I just can't believe how problematic these bushings
> seem to be!
>
> -Wes
> '83 1.9l manual westy ("pickle")
>

--
Neil Nicholson '81 VanaJetta 2.0 "Jaco"

http://tubaneil.googlepages.com/

http://groups.google.com/group/vanagons-with-vw-inline-4-cylinder-gas-engines