it doesn't carry much static load, but it does see a lot of dynamic load. if you were racing, you'd be replacing bearings every season or two, and occasionally the upper plates (they bend)

 

Okay that explains things a bit better, thanks J9.

I think the info from Mason at Koni and you guys has resolved this issue for me.

Thanks to all you guys for helping me understand this. I suppose I didn't give the spherical bearings enough time to break in and free themselves up. For a guy with no experience like me these kind of details become an annoying mystery.

Anyway, I'll see how these new ones perform but will switch back to PTFE lined ones if these are noisy and suck.