[Closed] FOX FORK FAILURES - SURVEY

13th - it ramps up a bit maybe - the seals did not blow. There is a lot of empty space in the non damper side - I estimated around 400ml so 150 ml of oil didn't cause hydraulic lock. You could add oil till it was full and work this out but I guestimated on 150 ml. With the fork fully compressed the oil level is around the top bush and the whole of the stanchion above this is still empty space

You can tell it works 'cos there are oil rings appear on the stanchion on the worn side showing oil is getting to the top bush

Fox 36 Talas bought on a s/h 06 Enduro.

The lowers cracked where the pinch bolts are (warrantied by Mojo) in mid-08, even though I only had a s/h receipt (thanks to my LBS - Bucks Bikes). Serviced at the same time.

Only used intermitantly since as I have a pair of 'trail' forks. Probably could do with another service as the Talas is 'struggling'.

Good quality product, but need far more tlc than my everyday RS forks.

The seals do still hold air - not totally airtight perhaps but you do not get air whooshing out every time the fork is compressed

13th - the other thing to do is invert the bike every night - the dribble of oil will get to the top bush that way

they don't make a fork to compare with totems, so I can't comment.

2 pairs of PUSH'd pikes here with no issues.

lots of Fox forks spewing oil in the alps last time I was there, seems to me a seal issue rather than anything else (dust + water = bunged up seal).
Suspect the anodising thing is spin.

I know of one old pair of 125mm Vanillas that must be 5 years or more old, still in perfect nick, still in very regular use.

Well I have the very first model of vanilla 125. It's fubar, but only after 6 years of intensive riding and only 2 change of seal.
The 3 other fox I have/had are so far perfect.

You're probably all pros, but I came across this how-to guide on servicing Fox Forks a couple of days ago that has a nice pictorial walk-through.

http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/article/workshop-service-the-seals-on-your-fox-32-fork-25020

Drillski has left the building...presumably to go and buy some float fluid?

Fox 32 Van 06
Still on original seals and bushes
Puffered, 10 undered and 5ft to flat dropped,
Flawless.

Thanks Tandem, I think I'll go for 60ml or so and just invert them every night.

I'm sure a mid-trip service wouldn't be out of the question, but last time I serviced them I knocked the bike over, cue huge flood of suspension fluid from the damping side. Do that on the trail and things could get intesting...

offers superior durability, hardness, and less friction

In reply to the post above that said the new coat was for friction only, not from the link.

I don't own any fox forks, my bombers have lasted me 10 years with sod all servicing, no problems 🙂

[i]Haha, this thread is an awesome fail![/i]

🙂

2006 Vanilla Rs - no problems or wear, serviced once (+new seals) Sold to mate, still ok.
2007/8 Vanilla Rs - no problems or wear. Bought 2nd hand. Not touched.
2007 Float Xs - no problems or wear. Low mileage though.

just a quick question to all the people with flawless forks, how are you checking for wear? as if you don't pull the lowers off you can't always see the damage.

LBS's I use comment on the durability of fox forks, as they see lots of knackered sets, however they all agree that they do work the best, even if you pay a huge for it

Depending on the year of fork, inverting them might cause damage...earlier forks - pre-07 can be done, but later forks apparently can cause damage - but I'm not clear what damage. I have noticed if I store my bike on it's back wheel my lockout fails to work for a few big compressions to get everything back in place, I'm guessing it's down to oil being in not quite the right place or something.

i do pull the lowers off to change the oil and they are fine, but i do the paper/stantion thing when just lifting the seals and putting float fluid in the foam rings and you can see the muck being pulled out so worth doing imo

After inverting the forks or laying the bike down for any period of time for that matter, you need to bleed the damper cartridge if they're not FIT carts. that is.
Put the rebound to full slow and compress slowly 3 or 4 times job done.

Turning your forks upside down will not cause damage either.

My 2003(?) TALAS lasted for 5 years with pretty much no effort on my part.
Finally started leaking oil and I noticed loads of wear on the front and rear of one stanchion.

I'm not too upset after that length of time, but on the other hand, the 2001 Marzocchis (now on my hack / commuter)are still showing no wear at all.

2008 Float 32 RL
Changed the oil once in the last two years. Still original seals.
Tend to store bike upside down when not in use.
No signs of stantion wear and no problems whatsoever.

🙂

2x 200? - original Vanilla R 125mm, god knows how old....never really serviced, just kept clean around the seals

one set sold after 3 years to a friend, who also never serviced them but i belive did change the oil in 2008? still working perfectly

the other set I still have, I took the lowers off last week and changed the oil, still seem to be the same as when i got them on the inside, most of the paint has chipped off the outside but you can't really blame fox for that 🙂

2007 OEM Vanilla 32's - lubed the seals once but nothing more, completely faultless, great forks.

stuartanicholson

LOL NO ITS NOT.
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Mate of mines Had them 3-4months light work nothing too drastic tho, & then started sticky,feeling Knotchy,etc .
Few stantion wear marks LIGHT at 1st so i serviced them for him..
& WOW these were lurking under the lowers LOL

2004 Talas - ridden on an Enduro for three years, then put on my commuter. No maintenance, and no wear, but bushings are probably shot, and there is oil leaking out of the seals.

2008 Pikes - stanchion wear after 14 months of fortnightly usage, this with oil changes and services regularly.

yeah, you really need to take them apart to know whether you've got the stanchion wear as it isn't usually obvious on the exposed bits of an assembled fork

Mate of mines Had them 3-4months light work nothing too drastic tho, & then started sticky,feeling Knotchy,etc .
Few stantion wear marks LIGHT at 1st so i serviced them for him..
& WOW these were lurking under the lowers LOL

Bought a pair of very basic '06 Vanillas in '05. Had two big issues with them:

1) Rode them in the Alps in '05 not long after purchase and the damping stuck 'on' halfway thru the holiday (forks would compress, but take 30seconds to rebound...). Sent them back to the shop under warranty who sent them off for repair. Some manufacturing grease had clogged the little hole, by all accounts.

2) Not long after, I sent them to Flooksy for a service. He told me the stanchions were ****ed. Anodising had worn off and new ones would cost a couple of hundred quid. Think the 203mm rotor (to which the forks WERE warranted - I checked) create too much torsion and the bushing scraped away at the stanchion.

I didn't bother kicking up of a fuss. It was about the time that everybody else was complaining and Fox were being very unhelpful. Just decided to run them into the ground. Five years later and they're *just* about to expire :O)

Jonnyvegas, do you mates use jet washes and muc off or other caustic bike wash by any chance??
That white oxidation would suggest so.
Bike cleaner is a degreaser! so ain't great inside forks.
I expect Mojo told them the same thing. 🙄

JV what did you use as lube oil? Plaster diluted with water?

i have some worn fox vanillas....they r great... only one side is worn.

how are you checking for wear? as if you don't pull the lowers off you can't always see the damage.

I get mine serviced annually by an LBS for half the price of Mojo. From all the horror stories I assumed they'd be knackered on my mileage but they were, I quote, pristine.

To be fair, I've not had the Vanillas done yet but based on my floats, I'm not overly concerned.

Still no Drillski.... 🙄

Fox Float R 130 supplied on an Orange 5 , purchased 2006
Never serviced, and never had any problems (touches wood!!)

Good to hear so many good reports i suppose. Not quite what i was expecting if i was honest, so i assume Fox will as per. I can only point out that my atttention to maintainance, after the first episode especialy was slavish. I became an expert on removing the lowers, nearer to every 10 hours if truth be told. Still the same problems. I have never used a jet wash on any mountain bike or motorcycle of mine, and also avoid the cleaners you mention for the reasons mentioned.
Perhaps i have just been unlucky..... but unlike this thread, i seem to meet alot of people elswhere who have similar stories.
Thanks to everyone for their replies so far, keep them coming, both sides of the coin are appreciated.
Drillski

2008 120RL 32 Floats that came with my Stumpy FSR. Stanchion wear after 2 months and total shock failure after 4... NOT! 🙄

Sorry, been totally flawless with one service a year ago and careful clean by me after a mucky ride. 🙂

Kev

2008 F120s
Cleaned carefully every ride, serviced after 1 year
They work. No signs of wear yet

2002 vanillas still going strong no prob, 2006 vanillas no probs 2004 talas no probs(not as nice as vanillas),2005 talas 36s no probs .mind you had fox air can on 2003 enduro absolute sack of sh2t. 😀

i've got some 5 year old vanillas that i bought from new. they have been used and used, and i keep my bike clean but i haven't really done much to the forks

they had new seals at 2 years, and a full service last year by TF. apparently the stanctions are starting to wear, but aren't too bad yet

considering how quickly other top end stuff wears out (e.g. XTR) i'm quite happy with 5 years hard use, and they're not dead yet

i've had 2 sets of TALAS's - don't know about stanction wear but they both rode like crap, and according to my scales weren't much lighter than the vanillas

2004 talas rl

Battered for eighteen months on an enduro
Swapped over to a 456 and ridden in all conditions with a complete lack of maintenance apart from the usual post ride wash.
I got the best part of four years flawless riding out of them before one of the top seals started to leak.

I took said fork to mojo and they replaced the seals, bushes and painted them, got them back as good as new. Minus 230 notes. 🙁

serviced loads of forks for people in a professional environment.

Seen a LOT of worn stanctions.

The comment about caustic cleaners is spot on, there is always corrosion with the wear, and the old oil kinda smells soapy.

I even serviced a fork where the oil smelled like off milk, and looked like it! The stanctions were lovely and smooth. The owner was amazed by them after a service, they actually had damping!

i have seen forks where the seal has dried out to the point that the rubber is cracked! We all know what a plastic gear cable housing will do when rubbed against a frame, wear it away. This is exactly what happens when seals dry out too.

2004 Fox Float RLC's

Bought S/H so no idea of history

used for a 18 months, never serviced

sat in shed for 6 months

been on GF's bike for a year

never maintained 🙂

Still hold pressure, no obvious scoring

2006 floats

stored upside down, washed after every ride, splash of oil on seal few pumps dirt wiped off, oil change every cpuple of months, fox fluid and oil used, new seals every year

brake side station started to wear after 3 1/2 years use

hello

I hav had 2x sets of stanchions go on my 04 RLC 80mm floats - both left hand side - to be fair they had had starship miles on them with reasonable servicing but ridden in the peak / lakes / local sandy forest 3x weekly... wasnt impressed vs bombers....

Another 2 mates have chewed up their newer model stanchions in a sim manner - I wouldnt buy another fox shock again - my 3rd set is lasting ok but showing signs of wear already on their last service - I put more oil in too...

hmmm my opinion is that its where you ride and lack of oil and less than obsessive servicing that does it. still anti fox personally - prices are stoooopid

paul

I do think its odd how I have racked up several thousand miles on motorcycles (off road) and it has never occured to me to look at fork servecing or stanction wear on motorcycles.

Why cant mountain bikes have the same level of durability?

light weight/performance should not come at the expense of reliability imho. 😥

[IMG] [/IMG]

Some Rockshocks yesterday

random question....why does the coating on fox fork uppers seem to be different to the coating they use on their shocks?

Surely they would be he same/similar, they both do essentially the same thing....

I'm sure there is a very good answer, I'm just curious

yeh i have fox forks and the only problem ive had it stantion wear on the left hand side, needs sorting when i get round to it and have the money also

I have a Fox Talas 36 float 08 and had a problem
slow responding to going up and down had sent back
and they said I need to service them every so often.

Strange that as I do and had done it two weeks before
and never drained the Fox fluid before I sent them back.

Fox 32 Vanilla R 140mm
OE on 2007 Marin Rock Springs bought March 2008
Used on daily West Yorks off-road commute and soem w/e/s. Wiped down every few days; rinsed off most days
Sept 08: oil appeared with wear on anodising and grooves on left stanchion.
Bought seal kit & replaced carefully, polished worn area very smoothly but oil leak problem reoccured within a month or 2 and is getting worse. Right side fine. Mojo & LBS not interested.
I wouldn’t spend more money on the fork without new stanchions. Might put these on older HT that kids use and get more reliable RS etc for FS