May be numpty question – why did my forks dump all of their air in one go today? Stanchions look ok (would the loss be more gradual anyway if it was scored stanchions?) was pretty cold but have ridden in colder.

I did google 1st thinking the answer would be obvious but to no avail – please help me!

How cold the temperature when you were out riding? Did you warm the forks up before you left the house?

was at the end of the ride probably about-2 have used them down to -5 tho

Bump – anyone??

The seal that’s visible where the stanchions go into the lowers is an oil seal for lube oil, not an air seal. Air is inside the *uppers*. So they won’t leak air no matter how worn your stanchions are.

First thing first, are they holding air now? Is the valve ok? I’ve had the valve fail on mine, but it’s easy enought to put a new valve core in. Take one out a tube, 2mins work.

If it’s not the valve, they’re leaking internally at one of the sealing o-rings.

Have you done the obvious and opened them up for a looksee?

When did you last service/oil change them. Might be the o-rings are running dry and have torn up/leaked.

It’s an easy job, see the fox site or mojo site for instructions/pictures/video.

You’ll need a 26mm 6 point socket to get the top caps off. Though as they’re very shallow and soft alloy (don’t use an AJ spanner!) you may find the chamfer on the socket means you don’t get a good purchase. A good cheap option is a 26mm box spanner.

Many thanks IA – the answer to all of the maintenence questions is no 😳

Reasonably happy I cna sort them just needed a pointer or two, thanks again.

Well, have a look here:

http://service.foxracingshox.com/

For your fork.

Then get yourself a box spanner, some float fluid and suspension fluid. New crush washers make putting the forks back together again a LOT easier. So you may aswell get some too. Trust me, it’s worth it to save the hassle and swearing trying to re-use them. About £30 all in from mojo should get you what you need (and provide enough for several services). Get a box spanner from wherever, about £5.

It’s straightforward so long as you don’t rush, so set aside plenty time and don’t do it the day before a ride! Also rancid fork oil smells BAD. So do it in the garage/somewhere with plenty newspaper down. A basin to catch the old oil to work over aint a bad idea either.

Finally fork oil isn’t solvent in water, so you need something else to clean parts properly. Isopropyl alcohol (try Maplin for a can) is best, GT85 will do, keep either away from rubber parts.

Ta mate! 😀