[Closed] marzocchi forks, the wilderness years

I think its just 08,09 you want to avoid

my 2010 44rc3tis are the schnizzle

and my 07 66s are still going strong

ok, Thanks for that.
....anyone else concur with Mr Kimbers?

I think if you go for the ones with the 2/3 year warranty on them then you'll be ok as that was post the crapness.

I thought it all went wrong in 04/05? then issues were fixed seemingly on a fork by fork basis rather than a production year one? some were great, others terrible.

I know the latest 2012 - 2013 version are sorted but unclear about the earlier ones.

I thought SR Suntour (who were making recent Marz forks) had ended their relationship and set up with DVO Suspension instead?

2010 onwards are good. 2008 & 2009 were the "leaky" years.

08 and 09 are the years I've heard bad things about.

Certainly made my 09 66s nice and cheap. Of course they did suffer the stick down problem. Which was Easily fixed with a 10p o ring.

aside from stuckdown issue what else went wrong on the 08 and 09s?

07 were the last made in Italy bunch (though my AM1SLs were still of shonky reliability)

08/09 they moved assembly to taiwan, but still made the internals in Italy. To be avoided.

10> I don't know. They went all simple and supposedly good. But I'd moved on to fox by then

aside from stuckdown issue what else went wrong on the 08 and 09s?

Stupendously annoying wind down on ATA carts - so you'd start a descent with 160mm of travel and end up with 130 at the bottom. Usually addressed with a big zip tie around the winder or dismemberment and "adjustment" of the detent spring in the winder assebmly.

Some 2007s were made by Suntour according to my notes.

I thought it all went wrong in 04/05? then issues were fixed seemingly on a fork by fork basis rather than a production year one? some were great, others terrible.

These were some of the best years for them - the original 66 was ace, as were my 888's of that era. I'm still running a apir of 2004 Z1 Freerides which still feel lovely and are well easy to strip down and service.

My All Mountain 1's that I bought in 2006 were utter rubbish and spend more time with Windwave than on my bike due to issues with the ATA cartridge.

To be honest I kind of lost faith in them after this point especially given how expensive they became although I understand that the newer forks are very good. If I had the cash, I'd happily have some 55 RC2ti's.

Just re-read my notes, I've got entry level OEM forks going to Suntour as early as 2004, with all production moved there by 2008.

Got 2010 55 RC3 ti are they've been superb and trouble-free. As have the 2012 Evo version I also have. I probably wouldn't have risked 2009.

My 2007s were reet shonky.

So, i only ask.... as my 2005 Z1 Freerides are still rocking it on the front of my Enduro, after only ONE service in 8 years. Yes Fox owners, it's true.

But i stupidly want to change this for something slightly longer, and a more modern version.

The 2010 55 RC3 ti is the one i can find on a cheap deal, but the 2013 55RC3Ti Evo v2 is the one i really want.

The 2010 55 RC3 ti is the one i can find on a cheap deal

I don't know how they could have made the newer models much better, I've got a 2010 and it's just amazing.

I have a set off 44 rc3ti 2012's. On my 2nd set of uppers as the nickle coating started to peel off. Replace hassle free quickly by windwave. The only other problem I have is black staining appearing on the stanchions. It is already starting to apear on my new uppers despite cleaning with a cloth and spraying with fork juice after every ride. Doesn't seem to affect the fork but just looks crap.

my 05 marzocchi 66rc's were running perfectly even without having never servicing them...but i now hope they fail catastrophically...killing the thieving scumbag who now has them in the process...
my 07 Z1 sport rv's were the same up until i got rid of them last month...in the 12 years i've been using marzocchi forks i've never serviced a single pair and never had any performance or reliability issues....
having said that, my latest pair are a pair of 2013 55cr's and they come with marzocchi's new 3 year no service guarantee...the worrying thing though is that the box still said "made in taiwan".....so it seems they are still being made in the far east only that they seem to have got their act together now......i hope... 😯

08's were very bad. Poor stansion to lower fitting. Knocked from new.
Didn't go back. Wouldn't as far as I can say.

aside from stuckdown issue what else went wrong on the 08 and 09s?

****ing awful TST2 damper. Could be partially addressed by replacing all the blanking washers with shims but this voided your warranty.

08's were very bad. Poor stansion to lower fitting. Knocked from new.
Didn't go back. Wouldn't as far as I can say.

My 2004 MX Pros will still be walking the earth, with the cockroaches, after the apocalypse.

**** awful TST2 damper. Could be partially addressed by replacing all the blanking washers with shims but this voided your warranty.

to be fair, that's more a design problem than an actual oh-shit-my-forks-have-just-...