Quote: It is flat impossible for a sway bar to have much influence on the fore and aft movement of the lower control arm. The links allow much too much movement...
The same argument can be made for the compliance of the forward bushing on the OEM set up.
Try this on for size:
Bolt a sway bar link, one end only, with bushings, onto a LCA or anything else handy. Try moving the other end perpendicular to the arm. See how easily it moves? That's the "added strength" (not) that it imparts to a LCA setup.
Now bolt a tension strut, with bushing, into a K. Try moving it fore and aft (parallel to the rod). You can barely move it -- in fact, it acts very similarly to a ball joint. That's how the stock setup locates the LCA against road impacts, braking forces, et. al.
