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The tool I just used was an 8-inch straight chisel that was a muffler removal tool. It was somewhat narrower than most I've seen- maybe 3/4 inch wide and straight the whole length. After removing the bolt and jacking the axle up out of the way, I pulled out what was left of loose pieces of the inner sleeve and rubber. Mine were REALLY bad on my 87. I can believe they were original. The inner sleeve came out in 4 pieces. I hit the bottom inboard edge of the bushing with the chisel in 2 places to collapse it. You want to avoid marking up the axles flange - you don't want any high spots when reinstalling.
Then hit it from the side (well almost directly up from underneath- the side of the bushing outer sleeve) to crunch the tube down a bit more. It was starting to loosen up at this point. Access wasn't great but the more you can jack the axle up the better off you would be. Then finished up by hitting the outboard end of the bushing with the chisel- collapsed it and started to drive it inward toward the differential. They install from the inboard side. The bushings are tapered so you're not going to get them in backwards. Once loosened up they basically came right out.
THE TOOL consists of a puller bolt, a big nut at each end, a big end cap that fits over the bushing on each side, a spacer that's just bigger than the bushing OD, and a big half-round spacer with clips for keeping the two axle flanges straight. The spacer is exactly the width between the two flanges, and it's ID is about the same as the bushing OD. 2-inch pipe would work nicely. The spacer tool has metal spring clip fingers to keep it in place- tie wraps would work great if you were making one yourself. The puller spacer is just a 3/4 inch long piece of 2-inch ID round steel. The washer/cap for each end is pretty fancy, because it is designed to stop the pulling operation when it bottoms out on the flange. Careful use of a flat washer arrangement would achieve the same thing. Look at the old bushing carefully and note how deep it's seated.
I have to say, the puller made installation a snap. Took longer to assemble the parts than to drive the bushing in. But it's a simple tool- good results can certainly be achieved if you have access to some of this hardware and hacksaw/grinder/drills.
Note also when installing: the bushings are marked with an arrow DOWN for orientation. Have fun with this one!
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Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: 86 244DL, 87 244DL, 88 744GLE, 91 244: 808K total
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