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Trying to do an oil and seal change on some Fox Forx. The air shaft knocked out easily enough but the damper shaft has clearly never been removed and appears well and truly jammed. Have really laid into it with the old rubber mallet and it won't budge at all.
Anyone else had this problem, and did you find a solution? It's sitting there with some penetrating oil on now but not optimistic, it's not rust or corrosion, just a really tight fit,
you mean it won't come out of the lowers once you've removed the nut and squishy washer?
Have you tried putting the nut back on a bit, then the socket and then hitting it with a steel hammer?
http://www.cyclistno1.co.uk/features/maintenance/fox-forks-wiper-seal-service.htm
That's the next trick, foxyrider - at the moment, I don't have a 10mm socket that'll fit between the QR tab and the nut. I've really laid into though with a block of wood and a hammer, and I'm concerned that if I hit it any harder I'm going to cause serious damage to the internals of the damper, if I haven't done so already!
wwaswas: correct.
I've also tried applying heat to the lowers while cooling the threaded bar to no effect. Previous owner used to lift the seals and put fork oil in that way, but I want to install new seals entirely. Can see this turning into a very expensive purchase from the classifieds if I need to send them off to Mojo or TF just to get the damper out...
put two smaller nuts on the shaft lock them against each other and then grip those with mole grips and try and turn the shaft in the lower.
Why not give Simon @ [url= http://www.locotuning.co.uk ]Loco[/url] a quick email before you wack it even harder - see if he can help - he does a very competitive fork service as well?
just happend to read this this morning... hope it helps
http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/article/workshop-service-the-seals-on-your-fox-32-fork-25020/
My suggestion would be as Foxyrider says. Perhaps see if you can find a similar threaded nut and use that to hit with the hammer directly (rather than use the actual securing nut in a socket), just ensure its screwed on as many threads as possible so you dont chew the damper shaft threads up. You only need a mm gap between the nut face and the lowers.
The steel hammer should "shock" it free better than a rubber one.
Its a very tight fit to get a socket on the nut because of the dropouts, so I use an open ended spanner to undo it. Not ideal.
Good luck
If you aren't already pull up on the lowers firmly while you strike the nut with a rubber mallet. The problem with forks is that they are there to absorb bumps so you need to stop it moving.
the other option is to use a strap to 'pre-compress' the forks and tying the bridge to the crown - fairly easily done with all the air out.
Pace recommended putting the steerer on the floor and pushing on the bridge of the fork with your foot to compress it.
foxyrider - thanks, worked perfectly!
Nice one 🙂