The X Fusion video shows a special tool for removing and reinstalling the damper, but their PDF guide doesn’t mention it. Is it necessary or can this be done without it?

Is it necessary or can this be done without it?

It can be done without it. But! Be *** careful. They make the damper out of some sort of special space-age cheese. I’ve taken apart quite a few Fox and RockShox forks without any bother before, but both times I’ve pulled apart my RL2 X Fusions I’ve snapped something, and spares aren’t just a click away on CRC.

Taking apart: DO NOT use the foot nut to loosen the damper rod. Take it off and wrap it up in cotton wool or something. Then hit the damper REALLY CAREFULLY with a 4mm socket on the compression adjuster screw head, just to loosen things. Then use a rubber mallet on the fork bridge to get the lowers off.

Putting back together: DO NOT use the foot nut to pull the damper rod back into place. You will strip the threads if you do this. Lock out the damper and then spend bloody ages faffing about hitting the lowers to get it properly seated.

Good luck!

BTW if anyone knows a decent, easily accessible source of spares for RL2 dampers I’d appreciate pointers. Specifically the compression adjuster bolt… 🙁

Yikes

It’s ok really, I managed to put everything back together and bodge a fix, so they still work fine. Just a bit annoying as I’m usually alright at taking things apart without damaging stuff. If you’re reasonably capable I’m sure you’ll be fine, just be careful and take your time. 🙂

Ok, I’ll give it a whirl 🙂

The footnut thing is indeed a massive ball-ache. Got away with using it once, wont be trying again.

Was planning on ripping my Slants apart sometime soon, guess I’ll go and have a look at what I need to get the job done…………. or take the lazy route for the first time in many, many years

EDIT: which video were you looking at? I can only see the Travel Adjust and Lowers Service ones

The lowers on mine would simply not go back on.

Spoke to Upgrade and they said send the forks in to them and they would sort.

I’m a reasonably competent spanner monkey but this was almost as infuriating as removing a Rohloff sprocket.

It’s a shame as they are nicely built and easy to work on just not reassemble!

Yup, I’ve had issues with mine. As someone above said, you gain a certain confidence working on RS and Fox stuff over a few years, then get thrown by these, as they are a little awkward.

First time out, I screwed it up. 18Bikes were great, and got me sorted. The next few times, I’ve been really, really careful esp with the stupid tiny screw holding the rebound adjuster in. Pretty poor design for that element IMO, as a 1.5mm hex key can strip a screw so easily, even when there is no chance of dirt/grime being in the equation.

Mine were an absolute b*stard to service. Without the proper tools it is a pain in the arse.

I followed this guide and is was still a ballache. The 4mm socket and bigger socket for seating the lowers are the key.

http://forums.mtbr.com/shocks-suspension/official-xfusion-rl2-fork-service-tuning-thread-910996.html

I’ve done them but as above, would do RS Fox Magura manitou no worries.
But I’ve had a problems with my slides, especially getting the lowers on.
J-TECH, next time I think.

It’s the 7th video down on here

http://www.xfusionshox.com/service/service-videos.html

I was just thinking that I’ve had them a year now, so ought to change the seals and put new oil in. It’s nearly £100 for J-Tech to do it.

It might sound a bit heath robinson, but I used a small piece of alloy tubing. It was originally the bar clamp from a cheap Aldi workstand, and I found that I could screw it onto the footnut thread and use that to tap the footnut. The thread self tapped into the soft alloy tube interior. In reverse I threaded it on and used it to pull the nut back down. It wasn’t ideal, and the worst thing I discovered was that as I pulled the lowers back on the whole thing compressed and squirted me with oil.

Must say, I thought Maguras were a **** to service, but X Fusion take the title.

Ive stripped and rebuilt loads. Never had an issue. The tool is kind of useful, but likewise you can just ensure that the damper side is fully extended and locked out before reassembly, which helps alot! Also dont inflate the air side until the damper side is in place. Also, when you come to reassembly make sure the fork is properly vertical so that the damper rod will hang down straight, and so pop through the hole in the lowers more naturally, trying to do it at an angle is pretty much impossible without the tool.

The main issue is when the damper rod dissapears up inside the fork you cant screw anything into it so its hard to catch enough thread to get the footnut on.

Never found them any harder to get the legs back in the lowers than any other brand.

Thanks Ben, that makes a lot of sense.

Will any brand oil be ok? And, after a years use, is it worth doing the seals anyway, or wait and see how they look?

(Please bare in mind that I’ve opened my fork once, 8 months ago, before reading) If you’re holding the fork vertically how do you get the oil into the lowers?

The tricky parts is getting them lined up with the rubber bumpers at the bottom. Once they are lined up you can squeak enough Room to add oil with a small syringe. Them just compress the fork, again and they’ll pop right through (assuming the damper is locked)… Bit like setting up tubeless using a tube to seat the tyre. Once the fork is back together, just opening it a fraction to add lower oil won’t leave you the same job to get them together again.

How much force is needed to get the lowers back on? I’m looking at the pictures on kudos’ link, and wondering if you could poke something thin through the lower and into the hole on the bottom of the damper to help line them up while you get the lowers back on?

It can be done without it. But! Be *** careful.

And this is why I had to send my forks to upgrade bikes with a note confessing to being a hamfisted plonker with a hammer… Kept hoping to make it better… made it worse…

Talking to others it seems a small tolerance in your fork between it all being fine, and all being HORRIBLE AND UNSTOPPABLE FORK DESTRUCTION.

HOWEVER, I have since discovered the cup side of the longest chain ring bolt (one for bash, crankset and ring) is the same thread and long enough to serve as a substitute for the mystical and unobtainable Xfusion Damper removal and Not uttery **** up tool. So if you have a spare one of those, you’re good, especially if you have know someone who can weld a bit of metal to it to make it bigger. Something tshaped you can hit with a hamme, but also pull on.

God, forgot about the made of cheese foot bolts when I had mine. I ended up buying a few spare. Could not buy the tool any where at the time.

What I would say compared to rockshox, is they didn’t seem to need lube oil changing as frequently

I service my slants pretty regularly so in no particular order:

– The damper tool is £5 and makes things much easier. J-tech sells them and they look like this:

RL2 Damper tool

– 20ml syringe and some plastic tubing (5-10cm) makes it dead easy to get oil in the lowers

-Mintimperial; assuming you mean the little bolt that strips very easily? They’re m2.5 x 8mm, standard pitch. I bought a couple of eBay that had bigger (2mm) hex sockets so don’t strip. The damper nut uses the same bolt

– My main seals are just starting to go, after 2 years of use. You’ll know because the lowers oil will get discoloured more quickly. SKF green seals are supposed to be the best

Bookmarking.

RicB – cheers. What oil do you use? I know it should be 7.5, does the brand matter? And might my seals and foam rings be just fine at a year old?

@mintimperial I wish I got this a month ago. Attempting to do a lower leg service on my father’s Trace, I stripped the thread on the foot nut trying to loosen the damper rod 😕

I bought some oil at the same time as the forks, not sure which brand but it is 7.5 for the damper oil ( which is 70ml – that took a bit of finding). I use this for the lowers too but tbh you can use any oil for the lowers as it’s just to lube the bushings. The cheap motorbike lowers oil Halfords sell will be fine (NOT engine oil!), or Stendec from CRC. 5wt, 7.5wt, 10wt it’s all the same for lowers. The important thing is not running out of the stuff as that’s when you’ll kill the bushings and stanchions.

Re seals, depends how much you’ve used them! I service mine every 3 months and I ride twice a week, which is probably overkill tbh. Every service until now the oil was still clear; the last time i did them the oil was murky in the left leg so I figured the seals need doing. Changing the seals is really easy – lever the old ones out with a tyre lever, soak the new foam rings in oil, install the new seals with a hollow tube of the right dia. I used pvc waste water pipe.

Mintimperial; assuming you mean the little bolt that strips very easily? They’re m2.5 x 8mm, standard pitch. I bought a couple of eBay that had bigger (2mm) hex sockets so don’t strip. The damper nut uses the same bolt

No, the foot nut. I’ve got a spare for that, it’s not what I need. It’s a non-standard bolt anyway to allow the compression knob to fit, but the thread pitch is something really weird too, which is also why the tool isn’t/wasn’t readily available. Interested to hear that J-Tech are selling them, will investigate further.

The part I need is the nut/screw that the compression knob fixes on to, the 4mm hex head has basically snapped clean off. I’ve worked around it by dremelling a slot in it so I can adjust compression with a screwdriver, but it’s annoying and I’d like to fix it up properly if I can get the part for a non-stupid amount of money.

Sorry, poor wording on my part. I meant the little bolts for the blue compression adjuster/lockout, and the red rebound knob.

J-tech seems to be able to order most things – might be worth a ring tomorrow.

Didn’t find my Slants any different to anything else tbh, no great drama. Have bought the proper tool now though so should be even easier.

Any LBS with an account with Upgrade can get the footnuts, that’s how I got hold of mine. Not sure about more obscure internal parts though, so I suspect I might have to send the fork off to the professionals. Or just ignore it, it seems to work ok still…

( which is 70ml – that took a bit of finding)

As this thread seems to be covering everything – which fork is that for?

Slant 160mm 26″, although I suspect it’s the same for all 34mm stanchion Xfusion forks. You need to remember to cycle the damper rod to suck the oil in and displace the air.