Tried taking the collar off on Sat to lube under the seal but disaster – being a numpty I did it upside down!

I emptied it of air but still had enough pressure for force the cetral column off and most of the oil came out.

I took it all apart as might as well by now – basically 1 nylon collar, 1 small alu collar and then 2 liner brass bushings.

Hydraulic oil has low viscosity prob 5wt as thinner than 7wt std shell fork oil I had.

put it all back together but having issues with equalising pressure in the inner column – got a bit of air trapped somewhere as the travel is fine but fully extended a bit squishy (i.e. moves about 5-10mm) 🙁

Try pumping it up while it’s upside down with the remote lever pressed at the same time, that sorted mine out ok

Try pumping it up while it’s upside down with the remote lever pressed at the same time, that sorted mine out ok

Yeah I have done but fully compressed that but not quite there yet I think – will do it again and cycle through – cheers Khani 🙂 I presume you mean fully extended with lever pressed?

How did you get the collar off? I couldnt get mine to budge even with a strap wrench.

Send it back and say it blew up exploded.

Got it from Deutsche.com so cant be arsed, might just buy a new frame and a reverb.

Yes, fully extended and upside down with the lever pressed

Scruff, what size is it and what’s wrong with it? I’d be interested in having a crack as it if you are getting a Reverb instead.

How did you get the collar off? I couldnt get mine to budge even with a strap wrench.

Pipe wrench and inner tube wrapped around the collar

AndyL, that wont be until next year.

Foxy, tried that wouldn’t budge.

Hydraulic oil has low viscosity prob 5wt as thinner than 7wt std shell fork oil I had.

put it all back together but having issues with equalising pressure in the inner column – got a bit of air trapped somewhere as the travel is fine but fully extended a bit squishy (i.e. moves about 5-10mm)

I’ve got exactly the same problem – managed to lose some oil and now have the 5-10mm sag at full extension.

How much oil did you put back in yours?

Got some 5wt and 15wt fork oil in the garage…….

p.s – first post!

Andy

Hi Andy

I filled mine up to the top – i.e. overflowed when I put the post back in but not sure that’s correct – I’m gonna have to have a play – I’ll try khanis trick and if not I’ll empty some juice – I think air in the outer section has to be there as you have to pump it up to 25psi so prob doesn’t have to be full!

The guy at X-fusion told me use 65ml of oil in my Hilo – he wouldn’t tell me what type though, in fact he was pretty unhelpful. Initially he told me I wouldn’t be able to disassemble the Hilo as it requires “professional tools”. I’d already separated the upper and lower parts and finished cleaning them by that point.

ahh cool Steezysiz – I think at the weekend I’ll do a full breakdown and use the 65ml of oil – I reckon its prob only low viscosity 5wt as my 7wt oil is still a bit sticky in comparison 🙂

From what I see you dont need any professional tools!

Unless an allen key is considered a professional tool, I don’t think you do! Just to clarify, I didn’t play around with the upper section air chamber at all – just took off the lower, cleaned it, replaced the oil and put it back together. It took a few goes to get the air pressure just right, but wasn’t too hard.

Yeah me too, didn’t touch the air chamber – I think I might do a quick article on it if I get it right 🙂

That’d be cool – it’s a real shame X-fusion aren’t more helpful when it come to manuals/user guides.

khani’s tip (upside down, depressing the lever to balance the air) is what 2Pure recommend for filling Joplins so if they are similar design should get you somewhere close?

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/crank-brothers-joplin-review-2008.html

Got the theory now – I reckon I have air in the central oil reservoir – I guess emptying it and putting the 65ml in and then as you say cycle would be best 🙂 So fully extended upside down open valve then compress half way to remove air, turn back up, wait a while then extend – should remove any air?

I didn’t compress or cycle it, just fully extended, upside down with the lever pressed and adding air sorted mine
I did have a link to a user guide and service instructions but it looks like they’ve been removed from xfusions website now 😥
http://www.xfusionshox.com/download_process.php?fp=ZG93bmxvYWQv&fn=SGlsb19TZXRfVXBfR3VpZGUucGRm

Thanks – but I presume your had not been taken apart?

I presume you mean the setup guide?

http://www.reset-racing.de/x-fusion/_x-fusion_images_2/Hilo_Set_Up_Guide.pdf

No, just a dead spot at the top of the travel from new

Found this:

http://forums.mtbr.com/weight-weenies/x-fusion-hilo-658766-2.html

Sounds spot on 🙂

Edit: Fixed

Need to top up the fluid to max and then pump to 25psi with valve open – cycle a couple of times and let it settle then test a couple of times 🙂

I wrote it up – Does anyone see any glaring errors in my method?

http://www.cyclistno1.co.uk/features/maintenance/x-fusion-hilo-service.htm

Looks useful.Mine had soms rotational play from new, do you think the brass bits can be adjusted or put back in some other way to help ?

I dunno – Mine has a bit of twist still TBH – I think the bushings are not a majorly close fit – I wonder whether the new 120 post has closer tolerances? I dont think the little bit of play you describe is a sign of a fault from what I have read?

foxyrider – did greasing under the seal improve the performance?

@ foxyrider – really nice article, definitely a few things in there that would have made my go a bit cleaner! Just out of interest, did you buy the red ano bits seperately, or did you get them with the post? Me likey!

Are you all happy with these posts or not ?

Just received mine ysterday, the up-stroke is sluggish/hesitant is it simply a matter of breaking it in or do i need to boost the pressure?

It takes 3-4 seconds for mine to fully return. Is this the same as everyone else’s?

I tried to top up the air just in case but my 2 shock pumps wouldn’t work for some reason. I then tried depressing the valve core very gently to make sure that it was moving ok and oil started to come out. I didn’t do anything else after that in case I blew it up. Is this normal?

3-4 second return isnt right. Try more air as per instructions and some chain lube or whatever around the seal.

Ok just tried increasing the air pressure whilst pulling the lever, worked a charm 🙂 no delay just Poppins straight up.