Hi Alex,

That is indeed unbelievable to have the internal plates of the cone bushings fused into the control arm eyes like that, especially without evidence of a fried layer of rubber. I don't recall ever hearing of that happening. I've done this job five times now on two 900s and one 700, the last time just a few months ago. None of my bushings have been anywhere near as bad as yours. I recall always ending up needing to start with the nut first to get enough thread to be able to get the front cup washer on.

I've long been under the impression that you *should* use the correct bushing to match the control stay rod you have. So, even if you manage to get it to fit it may not be the intended bushing, leastwise for the Genuine Volvo bushings.

Aftermarket cone bushings are another matter and that's where it gets confusing. I suspect some of them are either incorrect listings or more likely these are compromise designs that fit both the original and updated control stays. See the very end of this post for what the difference appears to be. There will be very few updated control sway rods on the 940s out there, so if it's not a perfect match for the updated sways then they probably feel that's close enough. It may well be that the aftermarket bushings are designed more like the original ones and fit the original sways, while only being adequate for use with the updated sways.

A) I'll refer you to the FCP website (a reputable source for fitments). Their listing for the Genuine Volvo 1359599 original bushing does not list 6819057 as an equivalent bushing. It states "This bushing is designed and intended to be used with control arm stays that are original. Original control arm stays installed at the factory vary in length and can be 385mm, 390.5mm, or 396mm. Stays with a 388.5mm length are service replacements that were designed to reduce brake vibration. This stay uses a different bushing, part number 6819057."
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/volvo-radius-arm-bushing-740-760-780-940-960-1359599oe
Having said that, most of the aftermarket brands do list their bushings as being equivalent to both of the Volvo bushings.

B) On the Volvo Toronto dealer parts website (connected to the Volvo North America parts chain and their listed fitments):
o P/N 6819057 updated bushing is not listed as being equivalent to the 1359599 bushing. It is listed as superseding p/n 8628965 (those superseded p/ns are often part numbers used only in the factory, not in the parts chain).
https://www.volvocarstorontoparts.ca/p/42898741/6819057.html
o P/N 1359599 original bushing is not listed as being equivalent to 6819057. It is listed as superseding p/ns 1229297, 1229299 and 1272837.
https://www.volvocarstorontoparts.ca/p/42897578/1359599.html
o On the front axle fiche page for a 1995 940, the cone bushing is item #11
https://www.volvocarstorontoparts.ca/a/Volvo_1995_940-23l-Fuel-Injected-Turbo/_50018_5704365/Front-axle/GR-67798.html
- For #11 as p/n 6819057 it says "FOR 6819079". If you lookup p/n 6819079 it says "spring support. Front axle. Service version for cars with brake vibrations. LG 388.5 mm.", so clearly intended for the updated control stay, implying it's not for the original stays.
- For #11 as p/n 1359599 it says "spring support. Front axle. 940. 960 1994. 6CYL 1994. 4CYL. EXC(luding) 6819079.", so clearly intended not to be used with the updateed control stay, thus for all the original stay lengths.
- Note that Volvo still has both bushings available in the parts chain, which normally wouldn't happen if the updated one was a replacement for the original one.

C) On the IPD website (another reputable source for fitments)
o The Genuine Volvo p/n 6819057 listing does not indicate it's a replacement for 1359599. There are no fitment notes regarding control stays.
https://www.ipdusa.com/products/9342/Strut-Rod-Bushing-Genuine-Volvo-6819057?crumbs=0,987,1392
Note in the pics that this Volvo bushing has a yellow dot on it. Volvo often uses dots to indicate an updated part that is either similar looking or a direct replacement so they don't get mixed up in parts bins.
o The Genuine Volvo p/n 1359599 lsiting does not indicate it's a replacement for 6819057. Again, there are no fitment notes regarding control stays. https://www.ipdusa.com/products/12602/Strut-Rod-Bushing-Genuine-Volvo-1359599?crumbs=0,987,1392
o Here's their updated control stay p/n 6819079 (strut rod as they call it). See the product description for what's different about the new bushing
https://www.ipdusa.com/products/21519/Strut-Rod-Update-Kit-700-900-Rubber-IPD-140044-Volvo-6819079

D) I note on the RockAuto website (another place known for good fitments) that the URO Parts bushing (made by URO in Europe) is listed as 6819057 with the description "Front Lower Outer; Strut Rod to Control Arm; Updated Style, Reinforced" and noted as interchangeable with 1359599.

E) Skandix is interesting. They're usually really good for fitments, but their descriptions can sometimes be less than perfect what with language barriers.
o Their listing for a 6819057 bushing says "For export models with an aluminum wishbone (USA). Can be installed with steel suspension arms as an enhanced alternative for European vehicles." They make no notes about updated control stays or bushings other than to say these are heavy duty nor do they indicate they're Genuine Volvo bushing. I highly suspect it's a URO Parts one as it matches their picture and the "heavy duty" wording on other sites. There is no note that these are an alternate part for a 1359599 bushing, but they do list a 1359599 bushing kit as an alternative to this part -note that the picture looks nothing like a Genuine Volvo bushing and it turns out these are Daystar aftermarket poly bushings and they use a metal collar (AutoHausAZ sells that kit).
https://www.skandix.de/en/spare-parts/suspension-steering/axle-mounting/bushing/bushing-suspension-front-axle-control-arm/1004521/
o If you do a search for a 1339599 bushing, nothing comes up, not even the above poly kit, so go figure.
o Bottom line, Skandix is not selling Genuine Volvo bushings or bushings specifically made for an original or an updated control arm sway.

In summary, to quote from IPD, "The last [updated] design is referred to as the 388.5mm strut rod but there are more differences than just the length of the rod. The rods were also fitted with a larger pocketed bushing at the base to make the steering less susceptible to irregularities (bump steer)."

I'm not exactly sure which "pocket" they mean, whether it's the interface at the base of the control arm (width of the bushing) or the base of the bushing at the cup washers? The control arms themselves were not updated other than there were aluminum ones on some European made cars in later years.

BTW, those ridges in your red circled area looked to me simply like casting marks. Your 1997 940 is a European car assembled at the tail end of production in a different plant from the North American 940s assembled in Halifax. It's not uncommon for plants to source their Volvo branded parts from different manufacturers using the same specs. If I'd noticed that the rough identations I saw might be in a pattern that could be perforations in the plate then I'd have twigged to your problem.
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Dave -still with 940's, prev 740/240/140/120 You'd think I'd have learned by now