I've never done a full fork service myself, always sent it off, but I'm going to give it a go this time. So, what gets done? Is it just a strip, new oil and wipers/seals? Or does a standard service include stripping down the damping circuit? Float RLC's if that makes any difference.
I've looked at the instructions on the Fox site, and seems straight forward, but there's a link to the damper service, and I'm not sure whether this is part of the service done by tft/mojo etc.
The only thing they do that you can't do yourself is to resize the bushes to the stanchions. So, if there's no play in the bushes, it's a DIY job IMO.
Depends what they go in for, a full service is just that-a full service. Somewhere like TF or Mojo would strip them down to component form, before inspection, cleaning, replacing seals & rebuild.
Most forks are pretty easy to do if you understand how they work & follow the manufacturers instructions.
Agree with PP, the only thing you really can't do yourself if size the bushes if you want to go that far with them.
thanks, so stripping down the damper cartridge would be done as part of a standard service then?
Complete strip, clean with a parts washer and inspection of parts including a rectification of any manufacturing defects too.
Oil and wiper change is easy enough but stripping dampers really need the correct shaft clamps to prevent possible damage.
Other parts like the air piston seal are also replaced.
The main areas not covered by a home service are the bushing sizing and other little tweaks to get them working that bit better as well as the full internal cleaning.
YES-or you could just have a look on the site of the people who do the work & that might tell you....[url= http://www.tftunedshox.com/faq/fox_forx.aspx#link1 ]here[/url]
The damper unit (if open bath) would probably not be stripped as part of a full service, just bled from my experience of having worked for both TF and Mojo.
However the FIT damper have to be stripped certain amount to change the oil, I always also change the bladder and seals in these. With the open bath ones I'll also inspect the internals of the damper and tidy a few bit up if necessary.
unless there is anything wrong with them, just change the oil, making sure you put some in the lowers to lubricate the seals.
in my experience, they'll work noticeable better afterwards.
That's very interesting LoCo, thanks for that. I honestly thought they were stripped down completely.
Totally, fresh seals and oil will always make the forks feel better 😀
I can't comment on either companies service procedure now, but that was my experience, unless a damper had an issue.
You dont need to strip the damper down (unless you've got a selection of clamps to do it), esp if you're not having any issues. If you're paranoid about there being muck in there, just flush it through with some clean oil.
If the oil that comes out of the damper is manky (emulsified and / or dirty) then do it, otherwise fresh oil will be fine.
Yep, totally the other thing to do when cleaning the lowers is to remove the bump stops when you flush them out, as dirt quite often get in underneath them. (todays top tip 😀 )
Thanks, I'd read goldenwonders link previously, but it wasn't explicit about the damper, and stripping the unit seemed to be a bit more finicky. Forks had previously seemed fine on an ht, but stuck them on an fs frame and they felt pretty brutal in comparison. Although they'd had the 15 hour faff done regularly they hadn't been serviced since the end of last winter.