"Snag" wrote in message
.. .

snip

It was about the springer forks on my '39 Harley WL . I'm reworking the
rocker links at the bottom , they were bushed with steel , and use steel
pivot studs . Hey , even aftermarket replacements are steel ...

Aha. Well, without looking it over, I dunno. They're probably steel because
steel is cheap. Whether steel is the right material for the job is another
question.

It sounds like strength, and the ability to handle high specific loads, is
more important than actual bearing properties. Steel may be the right
material but I wouldn't venture a guess without looking at it up close and
getting a sense of the loads involved. I haven't seen a suspension like that
for a lot of years. g

--
Ed Huntress