My 66s haven't had new seals in 5 years, but have had oil changes and whatnot. Now they are a bit stickier than they used to be, so I recently changed the oil and gobbed loads more oil in the 'chambers' in the top seals. This made them super smooth for a couple of hours, but they started to get sticky again by the end of the ride.
Would I be right in thinking that the wiper seals are not holding oil up where it needs to be any more? Seems to be either draining back into the fork or coming out of the top.
Going to send them to Loco when I get home.
I think I had grease rather then oil in between the two seals on a set of XC700's as there is no foam rings there. Are your 66's air or coil?
Air, 2007 vintage. Grease is an interesting idea but I didn't have any with me. Perhaps something like that very slippery stuff you used to use with Pace forks would be good.
Is grease in the service instructions?
When I serviced my Bomber and put new seals in there was nothing mentioned about putting oil between the seals. There was grease on them from new so I just added a bit more of Juice Lube grease (not sure which but it said on the tube it's good for fork servicing), sprayed some juice lube and it works much smoother.
If it's air (depending on the model) maybe lube the air side cartridge as well. My is a dual air one and stripping, cleaning and lubing the air cartridge helped a lot, however it's still not super smooth, new seals might need bedding in.
Not sure how the air spring looks like in your fork, if it's the solo air model but if there is a shaft then maybe put some lube/grease on it 🙂 I know it makes a big difference as my Revs were not as super plush after a seal and oil change because I forgot to do that.
The air cartridge is nicely lubed and as smooth as anything; the damper is of course swimming in oil so that only leaves the bushings or top seals as the cause of the stiction.
A while ago, after a long period of non-use they almost seized up on a short ride. So I changed the oil and they were still pretty sticky. Changed it again as above with loads of oil in the wipers and was buttery again - for a couple of hours.
Will try grease next time I DIY but they are going Loco I reckon just to be safe.
Incidentally, I had quite a bit of grease gobbed in the air cartridge from new - enough to take up a significant portion of the air chamber when fully compressed. Removed it and replaced with oil in the chamber and gained about 5mm travel.
i use grease not oil in the upper (ie. between oil and dust seal) area on all my forks, whether they have oil wipers or not. Got a tub of Slick Honey about 12 yrs ago and still got some left...