How do I remove crown race from Fox forks?

I’ve only ever removed crown races from RockShox forks, which have a little slot on the back of the crown to allow you to ‘get it started’ with a fine punch.

I need to remove the crown race from my ’07 Float 36s and there is no slot. How do I do it without mangling things?

I used a very thin, wide blade jewellers screw driver to prise it off enough so i could get a larger blade in.

Patience is key on this one!

Thanks, I thought as much! I guess if i do mark the very top of the crown slightly it will be hidden by the lower cup anyway.

Its worth putting a little heat on there as well,a heat gun or butaine torch used for cooking helps loads,not too much though just enough to expand the race slightly.

As wozza says patience is key. 😉

take it to your LBS, its a ballache of a job that a good LBS may do for a big cake?

So, I risk scratching the crown, or blistering the paint on the crown and probably still scratching it or walking into my LBS and offering them a Sticky Willy in exchange for them scratching the crown for me…Why don’t Fox put that little slot on there?

Seriously though, thanks for the advice – I’m sure with a little patience and a bit of encouragement from a buddy I’ll get it off.

The key is taking your time, stick a brew on, take a sip, tap, take a sip, tap.

The LBS will do the same, but wont take the sip breaks 😉

in exchange for them scratching the crown for me

Yeah thats the problem as I’ve paid an LBS before and they’ve bodged it no better than I could have done.

If there is any lip of the crown race showing on both sides, I turn the fork over and use a wide-as-I-can-find nail punch, tapping once on each side of the crown race, then rotating (normal get my wife to hold the fork) until it eventually falls off (bit of insulating tape on the fork crown helps to stop any scratches from the punch). Works great for RockShox due to the indent (punch sits nicely in the indent) but on Fox it all depends on the width of the crown race.

its a quick simple job.
get a Stanley blade and knock it in between the race and crown.
do the same on the opposite side with another blade then knock in another blade on top of the 1st.
pull the blades out and you should then be able to get a fat flat screw driver in and slide it race off.
you should be done in under 3 mins with no damage or pain.

Ive done 5 forks like this in the past 6 months and never had any issues at all.

Agree about using a blade then a screwdriver.

There is a proper tool you can buy, like a block with a circular shaped blade on it. You clamp it in place then tap the block with the hammer. It was in mbr. Probably by ice toolz or BBB???

Hang on, why was I reading mbr…:-(

I used a Stanley blade, then an old penknife that could be sacrified, and finally a screwdriver. It’s an annoying job that requires patience.

My other headset has a split race, far far easier.

thanks for the tip on and on, never thought of that.
ta !

Third the use of stanley bldes. Make sure you work your way around the race with it so it doesn’t try and come off at too much of an angle.

“offering them a Sticky Willy”

I’m hoping that’s a confectionary item but daren’t google to find out.

probably best not to google ‘iced finger’ either then wwaswas..

defo worth going to the lbs especially if you are short on patience.

They WILL have the right tool for it and it WILL only take them 5 minutes and they will almost certainly manage to not damage anything providing the crown race is not made from cheese.

I am pretty patient, hence starting this thread, taking my time to mull over the responses before calmly going about the task. That said I pick up my new frame tomorrow – can’t wait to put it together…

Quick update, the 3 blades approach suggested by ‘on and on’ worked like a charm. New crown race installation using a length of plastic plumbing pipe (as seen elsewhere on STW forum) was also very easy.

Thanks for all your input.

mallet & good sharp chisel works just fine – if you can be trusted with one