Hi Sullivan if your springs have worn right through the brass bushes and showing signs of wear to the tube then they probably need replacing I changed mine on my J2 got the replacements from Sports and Vintage
Thank you for the reference. I plan on getting new tube ends from one of the suppliers too. What I think the issue is with the ends is that they are worn out at all rub surfaces. Because of this others have noted the spring will slide back and forth in the opening causing tracking problems. Also the wear to the top and bottom of the opening leads to the possibility of failure of the tube end itself. At least that is how I understood this.