[Closed] Servicing Coil Pikes?

Piece of cake.

All the guides are on the SRAM site

Basically you'll need a DECENT 24mm socket or ring spanner to take the top caps off and something to undo the bolts on the bottom of the legs - Spanner and/or allen key.

Don't replace the seals unless they are leaking, IME.

Once you've done it, you'll wonder what the fuss was about!

On a somewhat related note, does damping oil go off? I've not bothered to replace the damper oil for ages. Obviously the semibath gets dirty, i'm just talking about the damper

Yes, in a way it does. It breaks down and foams up from being forced through the damping circuits a billion times. I replace mine 1-2 times a year. You can feel the difference when you change it if you leave it too long. That really is silly easy to do though. 5-10 min job

Hmmmmmmmmmmm thinks.

Master class in the Podsters garage on the 25th......... 😉

I agree it is very easy, i'm just lazy 🙂

PeteVectra - It can be done if you arrive early enough.... 🙂

Cheers Peter,
I'll have a look on the SRAM site
Forgot about damper oil. Suppose I'll need some
Seals need replacing - starting to leak in last day at Morzine last Summer - they havnt been ridden much since then - rode them last night and they were awful!
Any tips / awkward bits I need to keep an eye on?

It's not hard really.

Be careful not to damage the flats on the 'nuts' on the topcaps (Hence my suggestion of a socket or ring spanner)

Make sure to put exactly the right amount of damping oil back in (volumes on the SRAM site somewhere)

Be caerful not to loose the tiny bearings and springs under the u-turn adjuster. Stick them in place with grease when you refit them.

Be careful prising the seals out, and tap the new ones in with an appropriately sized socket.

You ideally need 5wt oil for the damper and 15wt for lower leg lubrication, but to be fair you can use the same for both or car engine oil as lubrication oil (NOT for the damping though!!) Get your fork oil from a motorcycle shop. It's uaually about £7 a litre, which will do about 8-9 oil changes.

Pikes need 120cc of damping oil. A 50cc syringe is best for measuring it.

Handy link -

I need to do the same myself.

Who sells the seals by the way? Is it a LBS order?

TFTuned, but RS seals are expensive.

You probably won't need the visible grey dust seals, and there's another black seal underneath that. Those are a standard hydraulic ram seal and can be had for about £1. I used to have a link for that as well.... gone now, sorry

[url= http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=11956 ]revive kit[/url]
[url= http://pondering-panda.blogspot.com/2008/09/tutorial-fork-service-rockshox-pike-426.html ]my friends guide[/url]

or....upgrade!!!! 😀
[url= http://www.enduroforkseals.com/id48.html ]enduro seals...mmmm[/url]
and their guide: [url= http://www.enduroforkseals.com/id10.html ]guide[/url]

Hmmmmm.
I've just been raeding through that guide and to be fair, it's not bad, but neither is it perfect.

This bit

Rockshox do a special tool for replacing seals on 32mm stantions (like Pikes) and trust me - you cannot make do without it. I suspect if you tried then you would seriously bugger your new seals or lowers or both.

true i never used the tool either but i still think its a pretty good guide. 😀

Nice thread I'm about to attempt servicing mine for the first time. I read somewhere that you need a special tool for extracting something like a 'circlip'??? I've seen the seal pack you can buy on tft is it just the one pack you need for both legs? Also. Can I get away with not using a vice? Cheers.

a basic servivce is just an oil change. Anything else is repair and not needed unless there is something wrong. its dead easy to take the lowers of and change all the oil and clean and lube the seals.

Helps to pop the seals in the freezer prior to service, they go in way easier i found with advice from here.

[url= http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_530651_langId_-1_categoryId_165469 ]circlip pliers[/url]

yes you will need circlip pliers, cheap at halfords. technically you will need internal and external pliers but you can make do with just one type such as the one i linked ^^^^

another top tip: use a hair dryer on the seals when removing it helps a lot. a metal tyre lever is also useful.

Ok thanks. I think It needs new seals. I'm not getting full travel and I know they haven't been serviced yet in their 2 year life so I'll give them the works.

If your not getting full travel its normally the damper cart seal (o ring) thats shot.