2004 talas rl
Battered for eighteen months on an enduro
Swapped over to a 456 and ridden in all conditions with a complete lack of maintenance apart from the usual post ride wash.
I got the best part of four years flawless riding out of them before one of the top seals started to leak.
I took said fork to mojo and they replaced the seals, bushes and painted them, got them back as good as new. Minus 230 notes. 
serviced loads of forks for people in a professional environment.
Seen a LOT of worn stanctions.
The comment about caustic cleaners is spot on, there is always corrosion with the wear, and the old oil kinda smells soapy.
I even serviced a fork where the oil smelled like off milk, and looked like it! The stanctions were lovely and smooth. The owner was amazed by them after a service, they actually had damping!
i have seen forks where the seal has dried out to the point that the rubber is cracked! We all know what a plastic gear cable housing will do when rubbed against a frame, wear it away. This is exactly what happens when seals dry out too.
2004 Fox Float RLC's
Bought S/H so no idea of history
used for a 18 months, never serviced
sat in shed for 6 months
been on GF's bike for a year
never maintained 
Still hold pressure, no obvious scoring
2006 floats
stored upside down, washed after every ride, splash of oil on seal few pumps dirt wiped off, oil change every cpuple of months, fox fluid and oil used, new seals every year
brake side station started to wear after 3 1/2 years use
hello
I hav had 2x sets of stanchions go on my 04 RLC 80mm floats - both left hand side - to be fair they had had starship miles on them with reasonable servicing but ridden in the peak / lakes / local sandy forest 3x weekly... wasnt impressed vs bombers....
Another 2 mates have chewed up their newer model stanchions in a sim manner - I wouldnt buy another fox shock again - my 3rd set is lasting ok but showing signs of wear already on their last service - I put more oil in too...
hmmm my opinion is that its where you ride and lack of oil and less than obsessive servicing that does it. still anti fox personally - prices are stoooopid
paul
I do think its odd how I have racked up several thousand miles on motorcycles (off road) and it has never occured to me to look at fork servecing or stanction wear on motorcycles.
Why cant mountain bikes have the same level of durability?
light weight/performance should not come at the expense of reliability imho. 
Some Rockshocks yesterday
random question....why does the coating on fox fork uppers seem to be different to the coating they use on their shocks?
Surely they would be he same/similar, they both do essentially the same thing....
I'm sure there is a very good answer, I'm just curious
yeh i have fox forks and the only problem ive had it stantion wear on the left hand side, needs sorting when i get round to it and have the money also
I have a Fox Talas 36 float 08 and had a problem
slow responding to going up and down had sent back
and they said I need to service them every so often.
Strange that as I do and had done it two weeks before
and never drained the Fox fluid before I sent them back.
Fox 32 Vanilla R 140mm
OE on 2007 Marin Rock Springs bought March 2008
Used on daily West Yorks off-road commute and soem w/e/s. Wiped down every few days; rinsed off most days
Sept 08: oil appeared with wear on anodising and grooves on left stanchion.
Bought seal kit & replaced carefully, polished worn area very smoothly but oil leak problem reoccured within a month or 2 and is getting worse. Right side fine. Mojo & LBS not interested.
I wouldn’t spend more money on the fork without new stanchions. Might put these on older HT that kids use and get more reliable RS etc for FS
Many thanks for the responses, keep them coming.
Talas 2006/7 One set of stanchions worn and replaced. Next set going. Service intervals are a nonsense and would not replace like for like if service intervals remain the same.
FOX FLOAT RL 32 bought 18 months ago with the bike, stantions worn on the left hand side, kept clean all the time just this was my only problem and still needs sorting
2005 Fox F100x
2007 Fox F100x
Both ridden weekly all year round, rarely serviced, kept meticulously clean, bikes stored upside down. Both still work faultlessly with no visible stanchion wear. Best forks I've ever owned.
Can't see what all the fuss is about re Fox reliability/wear.
I've never suffered stanchion wear with any fork and I put serious miles on my forks. However I stick to service schedules, grease seals well and ALWAYS clean the top of fork seals after every ride. I'm convinced accelerated fork wear is partly due to dried up mud or dust from a previous ride being forced in the fork on the next ride.
Only time I've suffered short fork seal life is when I've ridden my bike with bad mud deposits remaining on the stanchions.
solamanda - I agree entirely.
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