Some notes after a few more sessions on the AF1 lows:
-It's already been discussed here, but the Ace hard low bushings are the way to go on these trucks. My main issue with the stock bushings is that they basically blew out after a few weeks of slappies. The hard bushings seem like they're gonna hold up better, and just as importantly, they feel better. My board is less twitchy and more stable without sacrificing any of that sweet Ace agility and turning.
When I first bought my AF1 in December I thought for sure I was going to put hard bushings in. The nuts came basically flush with the kingpin (unlike other pairs I've seen with some threads showing), and they were so crazy loose but I didn't wanna mess with them for the first while. The first week or so was a huge challenge, but since it was the winter I figured I'd just ride it out and see how long I could go without tightening. Thanks to some Slap posters I knew they'd eventually break in and firm up, which they definitely did right when I was starting to lose faith.
It always felt like with Indy bushings they became whatever they were to become after like 2 sessions, but this really was a few weeks of solid skating. Ultimately I ended up never needing to tighten the trucks (and never used the hard bushings I had already bought in advance), and they're pretty damn perfect.
RE: durability - I purposefully avoided slappys for the first month or two. I think if I had done them earlier the bushings might have gotten screwed up, when they felt way softer. Now I've been back to regularly scheduled slappy crooks, sw slappy crooks, slappy fifties, etc... and the bushings are in great shape. I do a lot of crooked grind variations period so there's always that little indent on my roadside bushings... but honestly it's less so than my Indys would be at this stage.
Disclaimer: this is my first pair of AF1, and I'm like 7 months in.... so this could be a unicorn pair. I recognize there's a chance I'll be chasing this dragon for the rest of my life once they're done.... much like what my relationship with Indy devolved into haha.