I’m appealing the the collective, please god don’t say I need a new set of forks.
I was changing the oil on a 2012 float 32 rl. All went well until I reassembled and went to tighten the crush washers and nuts for the bottom… The non air cartridge side stanchion rotates as I’m attempting to tighten the nut. Have I managed to break my forks or is there a simple technique in order for me to tighten the nut???
Many thanks in advance for those of you who have more technical knowledge and skill than I evidently have ( or have not)
M

Put a bit of air in and compress em while you tighten the nut, a strap or a belt round the arch and the crown can be used to pull em together..

As above ^^^^^ Yup they do that, it’s not mentioned anywhere in the Fox service guide, dead helpful ehh!

If you’re using the original crush washers,they’ll cause binding on the thread which can make them spin, I usually nip the nuts up without them to locate the studs first, then re-fit them properly. (For the same reason, I remove them from the nuts before tapping the innards to release them).

Cheers guys.
Trouble is, the nuts as well as the crush washers cause the fri£&sin thing to rotate.
So by putting in air this should stop this?
It’s really really loose at the moment. I can’t see how I could have undone the nut at the start with them being like this
Very very confused!

Sometimes being pulled together can seat the shaft in the lower leg and let the nut be tightened up, that’s what you’re unseating when you tap the nut/rod when you pull em apart..

Air won’t help with the damper side, however putting the lockout on and compressing them whilst tightening the nut might!

If you unscrewed the nuts to the end of the threads and then tapped them to release the lowers you may have distorted the threads.

grab any exposed thread/shaft with long or needle nose pliers to stop the spinning

Have dismantled again and even taken out the whole assembly for that side.absolutly spins around and around, I think I may have done something bad to the thing unless someone has any bright ideas? Not enough purchase for long nosed pliers. What the hell have I done to my forks?:(

I cut a very shallow slot in the bottom of mine so I could stop the rotation with a screwdriver while I did the nuts up.

Whatever you do don’t grab the threads with pliers. It’s a stupid idea that can only end up with stripped threads.
You need to do as above and fill with air. The other way is to push the thread sideways against the leg with the socket when tightening to make it bind when turned. Also clean all the threads so they turn smoothly by hand.

If you unscrewed the nuts to the end of the threads and then tapped them to release the lowers you may have distorted the threads.

The threads on the alloy nuts on the bottom of the damper are very easy to compress if you have tapped them with a hammer in your dismantling of the forks – this may have deformed the internal thread of the nut which will bind on the damper shaft when you attempt to tighten it and will be compounded by attempting to re-use the crush washer. The damper assembly unit is very easy to spin around so you have not damaged that part.

If you cannot fit the crush washer up the threads of the damper shaft then replace the crush washer and for good measure replace the alloy nut as well.

Happened to me. I’ll try and find how I fixed.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/issues-with-tightening-a-fox-damper-leg-locknut

I think I took the nut off and really cleaned the thread and got it to go.

Mind you I’m no expert, it was a fluke, but def not an uncommon problem.

Yes, you have broken them. Send them to me +£50 and I’ll take them off your hands.

Prise the crush washer out of the nut, then screw the crush washer onto the threaded shaft as far as you can, holding the shaft with your finger tips and pulling, then screw the nuts on. They should bite.

Don’t bother with all the crap methods given here. Just put a bit of air in and this will give you enough friction to stop it rotating. I am a Doctor so obviously you can’t trust me.

The non air cartridge side stanchion rotates

all above are dealing with a rotating damper shaft. if the OP is talking about the actual stanction rotating, yes the fork is fookered.

if not, then carry on….

Clean all threads inc. the internal one of the nut and use a new crush washer, as I assume you’re talking about the base stud and nut.

If the stantions are rotating you need a new csu. The stantion has not been replaced by a certain ‘specialist’ has it? Very dodgy practice.