First of all mechanics is not my strong point, so any help is appreciated. Got my shock back from Sram and went to reinstall. Put the mounting hardware into the bushing and it’s completely wedged, won’t move in or out. From watching some videos and what the LBS said they should pop in with a little grease.

Sometimes they can take a bit of persuading, no grease though as they’re self-lubricating and you don’t want to attract dirt in there

Could applying some grease cause them to get stuck?

I wouldn’t say the grease would cause that. Though as said, you shouldn’t use it.

On my shock, one mount is pretty tight and needs pushing in carefully so as not to damage the bush.

The other one goes in pretty easily.

I’d remove, check bushes are not damaged and try again, very slowly and check the mounts go in nice and straight as you go.I’ve use a vice before or a rubber mallet to gently tap them through….

They’re propeperly wedged and won’t come back out.

Are you using a vice?

Ok, then it’s going to take a bit of brute force….

If not confident I would take to a good lbs. If you want to crack on you are going to need to tap the mounting hardware out very carefully with the shock on a stable surface making sure you don’t damage the stantion etc.

That said, wait for the hard core spannerers to post on the thread as they might have some pearls of wisdom to impart.

Don’t have a vice, was led to believe they would push in easy enough. Time to return to the LBS with my tail between my legs once more.

If they pushed in too easily then it would mean you have play at the mount…. so the fit will always be pretty snug from my experiences of changing bushes/ mounting hardware etc.

Some are snug, some are friggin “snug”. Lol

Don’t have a vice

Do you have a socket set?

Use a socket to support the eyelet of the shock and tap the hardware in with a mallet/softfaced hammer.

Yea makes sense there can’t be any play.

Only got some smaller sockets that came with a torque wrench and none are wide enough to allow the mount to protrude.

Pop round to see somebody with a vice.

I use a brake mounting bolt to help press the hardware out. Should be easy to work out how.

A hand vice for a couple of £ from B&Q?

^^ Did you know I’d never heard of a hand vice until you posted that. Had to Google them.lol

Can’t think of many uses on bikes though? I’m asking as if I’m convinced I might get one.lol 😆

When the OP goes back to the LBS he could post his man card back too?

I’ve never heard of a hand vice either, is it not just a clamp?

Bigyinn has a fair point. Needed a good smack with a hammer. Still, having never done it before I would not have wanted to put that much force onto part of an expensive component.

The absolute worse case scenario you’d possibly damage the eyelet bush and / or the mounting bush. Which are usually only about £20 to replace.

Unless you missed and smacked the shock shaft.

Glad you got it sorted.

Top tip – put the mount hardware in the freezer overnight before pushing them into the shock.

Bit OTT there Rickos.

If it’s tight enough to need that it’ll bind like ****.

U can use G-clamps to press them in.

Sorry when I said hand vice I meant G-clamp. 🤡

I bought a g-clamp for this specific job!

^^ Now you say!

I almost bought a bloody hand vice thinking it might be handy! 😂

Tardy reply alert…

Bit OTT there Rickos.

If it’s tight enough to need that it’ll bind like ****.

If you pop them in the freezer you can just push them in with your thumb.  None of this clamp/hand vice malarkey.

I’ve got a mate who’s pretty handy with a spanner.  There’s still the odd occasion where I’ll fail at a job and take it round to his house. He’ll then proceed to do exactly what I was doing but with 20% more force than I was prepared to apply (sometimes in the form of a bigger hammer/spanner/lever)