Have put many of these little buggers in myself with various amounts of cursing, Always a bit hit and miss to get it heading in the right direction, though always got there in the end. Tonight I came up with a simple solution. All it took was 2 M6 40mm long bolts, 1 M6 nut and an M6 penny washer of roughly the same diameter as the fork tube (the closer it is to an interference fit the better-though not tight!).
Drop the washer onto one bolt and run the nut up the full thread till it is tight. Then screw that bolt into the bottom of the star nut, about half way in. Then screw the other bolt into the top of the star nut. Drop the whole thing into the fork tube so the washer is down inside. This stops the star nut from canting over and a few sharp taps on the upper bolt head sees the nut slide in absolutely straight and true. When happy with the depth, unscrew the top bolt and then using a long extension and a 10mm socket you can come in from below (ooo err missus) and remove the lower bolt/washer combo.
Hope this helps another DIY mechanic who does this maybe once every few years so doesn’t really want to invest in the proper tool.
EDIT: Just to add, while this worked for me, first time and very well, I make no guarantees for success for others trying this themselves. 🙂
