Maybe these particular joints just weren't made for long-term use and wear. I see some Heim Joints (aka spherical rod-ends) with grease fittings and some without. After giving it a bit of thought, there may not be a whole lot of lubricant in there and no way to replace it when its gone. If its metal on metal with little or no lubricant and a bit of abrasive dirt, the movement of the suspension is eventually going to grind it away.

SAWs were developed for the off-road racing world right? Seems like they need something that can take a lot of punishment over the short term, but may not need 100K mile longevity. Perhaps the SAWs were designed with that in mind and recreational users (including me) are using them out-of-spec so to speak. Maybe racers tear them down and replace them as a part of normal work of rebuilding shocks that have taken a lot of other abuse so its just a fact of life for them. Thats not something that most of us are used to. Thats my two-cents worth but not really an answer.

How many miles did you have before you noticed the squeaking? I don't put that many miles on my rig and haven't noticed any problems, so I'm curious how many more I've got to go.