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over the weekend i changed the wiper seals on my Tora 302SL forks. Did it all in this order....
forks off bike
preload adjuster off (unnecessary)
lockout unit out
drained oil
fork bolts from bottom of legs out
drained from lower forks
cleaned everything
seals prised out
foam rings soaked in 15wt oil
inserted in lower legs
new wiper seals inserted
upper fork assembly replaced
15ml of 15wt oil measured into lower legs
fork bolts/washers replaced
lockout unit replaced
130ml of 5wt measured into upper fork assembly
lockout unit replaced
preload adjuster on
forks back into frame.
so...
when i tried the forks, they felt great, nice and smooth but there's still a little bit of oil showing on the stanchions at the top of the forks travel, and it looks like the 15wt (it's syrupy coloured).
What's going on? I was careful with the seals not to damage them as I put them on, but oil is still escaping from somewhere...
It's from the foam rings! Any new fork will always leave a little oil on the stanchions as it seeps past the wiper seals.
Whenever i've had stuff serviced/tuned it usually comes back with the explanation note telling you whats been done and i'm sure i've read a section on the notes saying something like 'after service it is normal for some oil/lubricant to migrate outward from the seals for a while' Not sure if this applies in your case but could be??
As a side question how easy was it to get the seals back in?? Did you use a special tool??
woo hoo - that's a relief. Cheers all. Thought I'd borked the wiper seals.
re: getting the seals back in, no it wasn't easy. But what we did was use the old knackered seals to put pressure down on the hard bit of rubber that sat in the lower fork assembly. Doing this, and pressing just using my thumbs it went it. Quite fiddly but I got a full seal round the leg, flush too.