I need to pull the metal sleeves out of the poly bushes on my Miata to regrease them - apart from the bushings being mega-squeaky the whole rear suspension is also rather stiff when you try to move the control arms (with the coilovers disconnected, obviously...).
Attempting to push out the sleeves by hand manually failed miserably, which was expected. The other option I could think of is to make a puller using a long bolt or threaded rod, an (impact) socket and couple of washers that are the right diameter to pull the sleeves out.
Anybody got a better idea apart from not using poly bushes? I guess taking the arms out and using an HF press might also do the job but seems to be overkill.
Heat the sleave up to slightly melt the poly bushing then push out the sleave. That is my quick and dirty and probably wrong idea.
Use a hydrolic press and sockets and washers.
For that I'd have to buy said press, though...
Not that one wouldn't be a useful tool.
Get a "ball joint service tool" from HF. Basically a big C-clamp and some adapters. Or your idea with the threaded rod, that should be fairly quick.
One note: "Polybush" is actually a brand name for a type of bushing, and in that particular case I believe the sleeve is bonded to the polyurethane. They work differently than the typical Energy Suspension/Prothane/etc type, and don't need lubrication nor can they be disassembled. At least, that's my understanding, and they do make parts for the Miata even if they're pretty rare in the US. So it's important to distinguish between Polybushes and polyurethane bushings...
Make one of these?
http://clubroadster.net/vb_forum/86-diy-how-writeups/43140-bushing-swap-5-tool-no-fire-needed.html
BoxheadTim wrote:
For that I'd have to buy said press, though...
Not that one wouldn't be a useful tool.
$70 6-ton bench-top press
I have the ball joint service tool, that's how the bushings got in there in the first place 
. The ones on the car definitely don't have the inner sleeves bonded in and are the ones that a certain outfit called Flyin Miata sells...
Just to clarify, I don't want to pull out the whole bushes, just the inner sleeve/tube that the bolt sits in so I can regrease them.
Bigass C Clamp with various sockets for support and driving
use a c clamp to pop it apart, then drill in from the side and add a grease zerk to every bushing so you never have to do it again.
In reply to novaderrik:
That too, you can never build a machine with too many lube points.
Ah, but the zerks will only lubricate the outer side of the bushing, not the inner sleeve where the actual movement is.
Keith Tanner wrote:
Ah, but the zerks will only lubricate the outer side of the bushing, not the inner sleeve where the actual movement is.
It depends upon how far you drill! 
So which part actually needs lube? Between the sleeve and the bushing or the bushing and the suspension part or all of them?
If you were really crazy, you could even use the zerk as a locking lug to ensure there will only be movement about the inner sleeve.
some poly bushings come with a grease zerk on them, with grooves cast into the bushing to get the lube where it needs to be.
