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  • what oil for lowers
  • mah05
    Free Member

    what oil should i use when serviceing the lowers on fox floats? mojo want £15 for suspension fluid. they only sell it in 1 litre and belive it or not 1 of the guys behind the counter said to just leave it dont worry about adding the 5ml in each leg.

    PeterPoddy
    Free Member

    the guys behind the counter said to just leave it dont worry about adding the 5ml in each leg.

    That's because they want you to wreck your forks and spend money on repairs or new ones. Stupidiest advice I've heard in a long time. If anything, put MORE in!
    Would you leave out your car engine oil?
    No?
    It's the same principal – Lubricating plain bearings!!!!

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    how old is you'r car?

    RE Bullet had a plain (white metal?) big end and they first appeared on cave paintings IIRC

    Even my midget runs on needle bearings.

    :p

    but yes, more is better, within reason (you start to lose travel and blow seals if you go too far over the recomended level.

    PeterPoddy
    Free Member

    how old is you'r car?

    RE Bullet had a plain (white metal?) big end and they first appeared on cave paintings IIRC

    Even my midget runs on needle bearings.

    :p

    Well, the only engine I've had apart had plain big end bearings. I thought all cars still did? Happy to be prooved wrong though and it was only an example! 🙂

    cp
    Full Member

    go on the fox website, tech docs area and figure out what weight of oil you need. go to motorbike shop and buy for half the price or less..

    PeterPoddy
    Free Member

    I was just about to say exactly what CP said. That's what I do myself. 🙂

    mah05
    Free Member

    ok thanks guys

    epicyclo
    Full Member

    Used to blend my own mix of Auto transmission fluid and motor oil* for suspension use back in my motorbike days.

    It's easy to do relative viscosity tests – get a plastic measuring jar, poke a hole through the bottom and put your mixture in. Time how long it takes for 100ml to run through. Use that as your baseline and fiddle with your mixture.

    I would try different mixtures in the suspension until I got the right feel. This was all necessary because suspension was pretty primitive back then.

    It depends what's cheaper – your time or a bottle of the recommended fluid. 🙂

    BTW its better if you try to ensure the temperature is the same. I used to do 2 tests, one at 20 degrees and the other at 80.

    *pick one that doesn't foam up – I'm not current with that sort of thing now, so I don't know what's good.

    enfht
    Free Member

    Just spend the 15 quid, or experiment with your own brew and potentially break your expensive forks.

    And if you think £15 for a litre of oil is steep then you haven't ordered your crush washers yet have you.. 😳

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