The new shock bushing tool

We finally have our shock bushing tool made as we want it.

The previous tools worked fine but being the finicky type I am it wasn't 'exactly' as good as I thought it should be.
Not saying this one is perfect but in many little ways it is a much better tool.

A lot of the credit for the finished product goes to Mick Warren at Macquarie Precision Engineering who turning my thoughts into reality. Given my skills in design and drafting (none at all) Mick had the job of turning all ideas expressed into this tool. The final product looks great and is helped by the cool anodising but most of what I am happy out is the precision of the parts.

As a backgrounder:
The shock eye bushings (aka DU bush) used in mtb shocks is designed to be sacrificial, but unfortunately it is also one of the smallest and best hidden parts AND really hard to change without setting aside some shed time. I know this because I did a few of these the hard way before I found the CTS bushing tool which we sold for some time until the company went AWOL. Our tool design is unashamedly based on that tool but with quite a few changes that may look cosmetic but all have a purpose.

The biggest advantage of these tools is that the bushing can be changed while the shock is still in the bike. This is great when you only discover the bush is worn as you are about to head out for a ride. much better to do it before the ride than spend your time listening to the clunk you now know is there. Takes about 10 minutes if you have the tools and bushing on hand.

The other thing I discovered in this process is that many people are happy to pull the shock out of the bike and use a vice or press to change the bushings. So we thought, why not make a driver kit. Really the driver is the part that is hard to make at home. With a socket and press/vice it becomes a much easier diy proposition.

Main thing is we hope all this keeps people thinking about and servicing the rear suspension. While you have the shock out, check the pivots are all working smoothly and even think about doing an air sleeve service. On most air shocks this a fairly straightforward job that should be done regularly to get the best performance out of your shock. Check the manufacturers websites for more info or talk to you bike shop/wrench.