Pressing out old suspension bushings with a hydraulic press. Technique?

[Mark D]

are you pushing on the center of the bushing? If so it will weaken the bonding of the rubber to the metal and you can have the bushing fail.

Agreed. Even if pressing on the outside of the bushing the center sleeves are going to contact first and could damage the new bushing. Unless of course you cut or press the center out of the old bushing first.

When I was reinstalling new bushings it was difficult to line up a large socket with the outer sleeve and keep everything squared up, so I stacked a couple of washers for clearance around the center instead. This also made it easy to get the bushing flush with the end of the link and avoid pressing it in too far, having to flip it over and press it back the other way slightly.

In my case the ID of the largest washer I had on hand wasn't quite large enough to clear the rubber so I enlarged the hole and added a little radius for clearance.

[RamblinDMC]

are you pushing on the center of the bushing? If so it will weaken the bonding of the rubber to the metal and you can have the bushing fail.

No I used a socket that fit nicely around the outer ring of the bushing. I pressed out the old bushing with the new one until the socket sat flush with the outer edge of the control arm. Seemed to work well.