Looks for some help please…

I’d like to service my Vanilla R 32 140mm forks myself.

Been on the Fox site and it seems the seal kit referenced has been superseeded by the 803-00-878 kit.

And now I’m also reading about having to use Fox Gold 20wt oil – but there’s nothing clear to say if the new oil is for both the spring and damper side.

Has anyone been through this recently that can clear things up please?

Thanks!

The new seals are compatible with Fox 20wt, the old ones aren’t.

Fox 20wt is only suitable for lower leg lubrication in FIT equipped forks and is not suitable for open bath damping.

For Fox open bath and Fit cartridges, use Fox 10wt green.

P.S. You could use it spring side as a lower leg lube, damping side will be Fox green, assuming yours are open bath.

Now I’ll just go Google what “open bath” means 🙂

Jokes aside, thanks for the advice. It does help 🙂

In an open bath system the oil is free to slosh about, the same oil that’s responsable for damping is responsable for lubricating the lower leg bushes. The main disadvatage of open bath is that the oil is prone to cavitation/airation which can cause inconsistant damping.

Sealed damping systems like Rockshox Charger/Fox Fit use a rubber bladder to contain the damping oil, this prevents the oil from becoming airated/cavitated and in theory should provide more consistant damping. It also means that a specific lube can be employed to keep the bushes running smoothly ie Fox 20.

Hope this helps

I used to do mine all the time. Don’t know what kit I got, always went into Blazing saddles and they helped me out.

As for how, let all the pressure out. Put on old clothes, clamp fork over a bucket (outside) unscrew base and remove.

Clean with isopropano .

Replace all seals and foam. I then used a cheap jug to measure and pour the oil into the now part reassembled forks (they are upside down in clamp) then faff for 30 min getting bolts to align to screw the base back on.

It was easy, cheap and I learnt some bits.

You only need seals if you have a leak. Otherwise don’t bother. Once you’ve had them apart once you’ll wonder what all the fuss is about and replacing seals will be a 15 min job, so you might as well get full use out of the ones you have!
Don’t buy Fox branded oils. Expensive rebranded stuff is all it is. I use Silkolene fork oil from motorbike shops. It’s fine (ignore the nay-sayers) for MTB use
Vanillas are a piece of piss to strip, one of the easiest forks out there to service.

Massive thanks guys!
Really helpful!