Morningstar Bushing Press - Tested

May 5, 2011 at 13:07

Morningstar Bushing Press


What is it: If you've ever had the displeasure of trying to remove an old, worn bushing from your rear shock by using multiple sockets and a vise you'll already know how frustrating it can be, especially if you're doing the job alone. The Morningstar bushing press is designed to make the task much easier by eliminating the need to line everything up - the tool does it for you - and requires just a single hex key and wrench to do the job. The same tool is also used to install your new bushing as well. Made by Paul Morningstar in Bodfish, California, the Morningstar bushing press retails for $24 USD with either the 12mm or 1/2" punch, or $29 USD including both sizes.




The details: The Morningstar bushing press tool is a simple, but well made unit that has been devised to make replacing shock bushings less of a hassle. No, this isn't the first bushing press tool out there, but it just might be the slickest. Consisting of just a few pieces - a long bolt, the aluminum bushing punch and cup, a few spacers and a single nut - it is a very straightforward tool. What sets the Morningstar device apart from most other bushing press tools is how it has been designed to make alignment a no-brainer. The bushing punch (the aluminum component that pushes the bushing out) is actually stepped, with the tapered end fitting snug directly inside the bushing. It is the 'step' up to the larger diameter on the punch that contacts the edge of the bushing. This design ensures that the punch is always in full contact with the old bushing as you push it out, keeping it from shifting and going on an angle which can actually damages the inside surface of the shock's eyelet. As the bushing is forced out it is pushed into the cup on the opposite side of the shock eyelet. Washers are used between the contact surfaces of the bolt head and cup, as well as the punch and nut, that keeps them from turning as you thread the tool.

You'll need to have both a 3/16th hex key and 7/16th wrench to use the tool, which is a bit of a shame considering that the rest of your bike uses metric sized wrenches, but I would imagine that most of the readers who are considering this tool would also have a set of standard wrenches in their arsenal.




Performance: After having spent countless years using a vice and sockets to remove old, worn bushings, the Morningstar tool is a thing of beauty. The stepped punch that fits directly inside the bushing ensures that you can't possibly push an old bushing out or a new bushing in on a bad angle, even if you're all thumbs. The punch's tolerances are snug to ensure that everything is perfectly inline, but not tight enough to make it a hassle to pull out after the job is done. The cup on the opposite side is just the right diameter to rest on the outer edge of the shock's eyelet while not getting in the way of the bushing as it exits. I found the Morningstar bushing press very handy when only needing to remove and replace the bushing on one end of a shock, as is the case most often (a lot of bikes seem to be hard on only one shock bushing) on many bikes. The tool is compact enough that I could simply undo one end of the shock, swing it out and use the press to remove and install a new bushing, all without having to completely remove the shock from the bike.

While the Morningstar bushing press is a clever unit, it could get even better. I would really like to see the tool use a metric sized hex key and wrench so that I could just whip out my multi-tool or folding hex key set to do the job. Like a lot of you out there, I have a lot of bike tools, but not many standard sized wrenches. The only functional issue with the tool is that I found that the bolt's threads were not long enough to fully push out the bushing - the nut bottomed before the bushing was half way out, even with the supplied spacer used between the nut and the punch, and I had to use a few extra spacers that I had kicking about in order to get the bushing all of the way out. My test bushing press tool was just the twelfth unit that Paul Morningstar has made to date so he is still fine tuning it - all of the bushing press tools that are shipped from here on out will come equipped with a longer spacer to eliminate this issue.




Pinkbike's take: While certainly not for everyone, the Morningstar bushing press is a great little tool that makes sense not only for shops, but also home mechanics who own bikes that go through shock bushings quickly. If that sounds like you, the $24 USD asking price is quite reasonable, especially considering how much of a hassle a more rudimentary method can be.


Check out the Morningstar Tools website to see their entire lineup.