Broad Strokes - missing letter riddle

Question

There are two five-letter words that belong together (a common object)

_ _ _ _ _       _ _ _ _ _

In each step, it is possible to remove a letter from each word, and create two new words that still make sense (though they may not relate to each other that much). In each instance, the position of the letter removed is the same, though the letters may be different. The order of other letters may not be rearranged.

As an example, consider the following two words...

VENT   SOAP

In this case, the third letter of each word can be removed to become

VET    SOP

To give a little hint, please consider the following clues for the words I am thinking of

_ _ _ _ _   _ _ _ _ _  ??? - the final answer
_ _ _ _     _ _ _ _    A small shrub
_ _ _       _ _ _      Passenger vehicle with sharp edges
_ _         _ _        Sample answer to the question of "where is love?"

Also, bonus points to whoever comes up with a list longer than the one I have (I haven't put much thought into it, so interested to see what others can come up with).

Answer 1

Maybe..

 paint brush    - the final answer (common object, "broad strokes")
 pint  bush     A small shrub
 pin   bus      Passenger vehicle with sharp edges
 in    us       Sample answer to the question of "where is love?"

I highlighted the removed letters to show that in each case they were removed from the same position, as required.

Answer 2

A (very) partial answer:
_ _ _ _ _ - _ _ _ _ _ ??? - the final answer

"t_iny" "brush"

_ _ _ _ - _ _ _ _ A small shrub

"tiny" "bush"

_ _ _ - _ _ _ Passenger vehicle with sharp edges

"tin" "bus"

_ _ - _ _ Sample answer to the question of "where is love?"

"in" "us"