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I serviced my 2006 Revs last year for the first time since I got them back around 2009.
Oil was a bit manky, foam rings were utterly shagged but other than that they were fine. The lowers will be getting a proper service from now on though as I didn't realise the sealing was as bad.
My old Super Ts got a 10 year service the year before. Usual story for HSCV, never once replaced a seal on old zocchis.
As someone else said, mine doesn't go near pressure washers unless there is no other option, if it's utterly caked it'll get a wide spray from as far back as I can and nowhere near seals or bearings. IMO it's going to cause far more damage if you are blasting grit into them for a year than being lax with the servicing. It depends on the conditions they are being used in too, I've not exactly been getting much use out of mine for a long time.
Thread has prompted me to do a lower service on the forks I have, better order some sram butter then.... on a hunch I checked my emails and apparently I purchased some end of last year, ****ed if I can remember where I put it tho 🙁
This is why I never buy 2nd hand forks.
Got some ancient 3rd hand qr fox floats on my ss, stanchions are fine, do a respectable job and I think Ive only done 1 lower service on them. Some forks seem to last fine others fall apart after a few years
Lower leg I do myself every 1500 miles or so
Anything else is only when it breaks.
Lowers and air can, pretty regular, before an event and after rubbish or very dusty conditions. Damper service, usually if I feel performance drop. Got caught out by a Charger bladder splitting in France once, annoying and expensive.
I only change seals that are worn or critical but lube often.
ok for all you servicing experts. Can you refill a charger damper through the bleed port?
I dont want to take it apart as i believe that its asking for trouble. However the bleed is easy. Can you just tip it all out through the bleed port and refill through the syringe?
https://epicbleedsolutions.com/blogs/guides/how-to-bleed-rockshox-charger-damper
Thats for the original charger damper, the charger 2 uses a reverb connector and the port is at the bottom.
By servicing are you referring to Muc Off and Tapoline?
Lower legs, when they feel sticky. Generally probably slightly more frequent than the recommendations. It doesn't take long or cost anything to drop them, poke a rag around the inside of the seals, put them back together with a few CC of oil. Ditto the air spring if it has one. Every other month/20 rides/40 hours/400miles or so?
Stanchion seals as soon as they start weeping (or weeping more than usual).
The damper, change the oil annually. Never bothered with anything more than that unless there's obvious faults (i.e. oil pissing out of where it shouldn't). They tend to survive well enough. Never owned one so well sealed it could only be serviced at a factory. If I'd spent that much on a fork though the extra ~£90 annually probably wouldn't be such a bother.
Never sent a fork for servicing.
I get that not everyone has the knowledge, tools or confidence to take apart their suspension, but it seems bonkers to not proactively maintain (or get someone to maintain) something that costs a lot of money and relies on being maintained to work to its full potential!
See this is why local shops should be doing this sort of work rather than sending away. Don’t get me wrong, TF, J-tech et al do great work but it’s inconvenient for a lot of people to send away and have their bike out of action for a week+.
Local shops do offer it, or certainly around here the ones geared up as workshops do.
Never send them away. I do however change the oil regularly
I do lower leg services when it needs it. How do I know when it needs it? Cos I can tell.
I have Fox forks that have a closed damper so there's 15ml or so of oil in each leg. The seals are designed to not be super tight, there's a tiny gap so a film of oil is preserved on the stanchion to keep it lubed. You can see this as oily deposits on the stanchion in dusty conditions*. So eventually the oil leaves the lower leg and needs refilling.
Always much smoother and plusher. I did my shock the other day which was much more of a faff - it needed a super high pressure pump, a special adapter and some tools that I managed to bodge. But again - huge difference in performance. I think some people on here would simply buy a new bike in this situation and be wowed at how much better the new fangled technology is than their ancient 2 year old out dated thing....
* or maybe some of you can't because you've let them run dry!