DIY Bushing Puller
By Boyoconnor

    Saw someone asking recently about removing the suspension bushings, so today I made a puller from about $3 of parts from Home Depot. What I found was that a 3/8" carriage bolt has exactly the right size head to pull a bushing from a 1/2 ton Advance Design truck. I bought a 3/8" x 6" carriage bolt, making sure it had threads along its full length.

    Then I visited the pipe department looking for a 3" length to pull the bushing into. I ended up with a metal 3/4" tee connector which again has the perfect inside diameter. I think a length of 1" pipe would also work. Oh, don't forget washers and a nut. I used a couple different sizes of washers doubled up to keep them from bending.

    Push the bolt through the bushing hole, slip the pipe length over the bolt on the other side, then washers and a nut. Make sure the bolt head is centered on the bushing, and start tightening the nut. Careful though! This worked very well for 4 of the 6 bushings I had to remove. One fell out without the need of a puller (um, whoops...so that's why you need to grease them!) and the other is rusted in...so much so that I actually snapped the carriage bolt. So, you may have to apply heat and other means of encouragement to get things started...

    I'm still investigating pressing new bushings in. While a simple nut-n-bolt scheme will work, there's risk of damaging the metal. I'll post whatever I find works well...

    Good luck! -Boyo