A ring of black dusty oil, and some “wet” on top of the seals CTD side only. It’s 6 months old and not been serviced yet – what is wrong?

Needs servicing. Lower leg service at least. Dead easy.

Well, thanks – but whats the issue? I’d like to race them on Wednesday so no time to get them serviced before then – I want to know if they’re about to explode in my face… or something.

Well short of taking them apart myself , which if your local to Leicester I’m more than happy to do, sounds to me like the seal/foam ring is a bit gunked up and is allowing oil to pass through the seal. They don’t need a full strip I wouldn’t have thought. Just a lower leg service which should take you an out 30 mins with 4 tools and some oil to put back in the lowers. Unless they’re open bath then you need the correct oil as you’ll need to but the correct amount and weight back in the drive side leg.

You’re pushing your luck not servicing a pair of Foxes for 6 months. Quite possibly the hard (sic) ano will be gone and the stanchion scored where it’s hidden by the arch.

I hope I’m wrong but unless Fox forks have improved a lot it’s a distinct possibility. But the good news is they aren’t going to explode.

Yes. And that.

Thats a bit alarmist TBH. I’ve owned F120’s before and never had them serviced for 3 years with no issue noted at all when they were serviced.

They’ve only been ridden / raced say 20 times, if they’d gone already thats a warranty issue as far as I’m concerned.

Don’t panic.

You can race them on Wednesday and not die. The oil lubes the stations as the slide up and down the bushes, probably your foam rings are dryish and / or the seals not holding the oil in. I would be very surprised if there was no oil at all. Store the bike upside down to allow what oil is left to lube the forks.

But you should replace the seals, foam bits and oil soon – as in the next few days. Call TF Tuned and buy the kit – its cheap. Google for instructions.

You can do the whole thing in less than 30 mins. Very easy and worth doing every so often. I do mine 2 or 3 times a year.

If it was me, I’d be tempted to do a really basic fluids-and-clean-only service just on general principles… Check and clean out the seals, get fresh oil in, see what happens. At least that way if there’s damage happening right now, you’ll stop it getting worse, and it costs basically nothing in terms of consumables.

I just need the dust wiper seal kit – £24? Does it include oil?

what is the service interval on newer fox forks.

iirc a few years back it was 8hrs riding!
ive a set of ’08 36 Vans which are still happy on a clean/lube every 6mths (40-50hrs) and on 3rd set of wipers

OP – your forks will survive, but that tell tale sign should not be ignored any longer than absolutely necessary.

I’m not saying they’re borked. In all likelihood they’re not. But just because you’ve not had it happen on another pair of fox forks doesn’t necessarily mean it won’t happen on this pair. I’m not saying they’re trashed. But in my experience it’s better to whip the lowers off every couple of months or so clean the wiper seals and foam rings and put em back together. Once you’ve done it a couple of times it’ll take you about 10 mins.
It’s unlikely that you’ll need new wiper seals at that age. They’ll be the newer style skf seals which are loads better than the old ones but they come new with a load of grease inside the lip of the seal. This can actually be a bit of a poison chalice because and dust and crap that does get past the seal will mix with it and make a shitty paste that doesn’t do anything any favours.
And the seal kit is just the seal kit. No oil. Not from mojo anyway.

Ok. The process looks simple, but I’m going to need a new toolkit… Might be justifiable vs £100 services each time to do it myself.

I’m not saying they’re borked.

Then thats mine too. Which I don’t believe its true.

Ok, so I’ll clean them, stick some new oil in and watch what happens. FWIW the last two rides have been dry, dusty and a total of 8hrs at race pace and just below. There’s nothing on the non damper side, I do clean them and apply Fork Juice post ride.

and apply Fork Juice post ride

I stick sewing machine oil (or whatever its called) or the stanchions post ride- tbh it’ll be this.

I’ve always done this on Fox’s. I had 36 floats for two years riding through the harsh winters and the only bike/fork that I used- never started stanchion wear and naughtily I hadn’t had the forks professionally serviced once.

Saying that…….

What am I missing? Mojo’s quick vid omits oil replacement – surely it will piss out and need replacing:

http://www.mojo.co.uk/dust-wiper-seal-clean

Make sure you use ‘proper’ Fox green oil. I have used motorcross oils and they don’t have the shear of the Fox stuff. Takes 20 mins when you know how to do a lower leg service and will keep them fresh for longer.

I’d like to race them on Wednesday so no time to get them serviced before then – I want to know if they’re about to explode in my face… or something.

I must have done something wrong when I serviced my float RLs last year coz they seeped oil onto the stanchion pretty much straight after the service (strange coz I’d done my Rs a couple of week before and they were fine) CBA getting new seals and servicing them again so ran them for 12months (not a massive amount of riding on them it has to be said), just done the annual service and they were fine inside, done a few rides now and no seepage.

Aslong as they aren’t pissing oil all over the place I can’t see another ride destroying them.

Sometimes Fox can start weeping oil if they get a bit of crud under the wiper seals. A quick poke around with a bit of stiff plastic can clear the issue.

Still, an oil change can’t hurt.

what is the service interval on newer fox forks

A quick look at the fox manuals online… If Kryton’s 34’s are 2014 ones then it’s recommended that you chain the oil in the lowers every 30hours of riding and a full service every 100hours.

I’m sure this is just what fox recommend to cover their backs and ensure the fork performs at it’s absolute best all the time. They need to be taken with a pinch of salt.

After 30hours of Alpine descending, which you’d probably do on a 1 week Alps holiday, then yes I would be looking to change the oil in the lowers and probably fit some fresh seals. But 30hours of British woodland singletrack, no.

You’ve left it 6 months and you’re now seeing the signs that your fork needs some TLC. It’s one of those things which is worth doing regularly before you see signs it needs doing, otherwise that’s usually when the damage is being done.

The latest 34s and 36s which I’ve just looked at the manual for have a service interval of every 125hours which is good to see.

These are Float 32’s 100’s CTD 2014 Fwiw

Had similar a couple of times & simply do the Fox ‘quick clean’ shown HERE

hora – Member
I’m not saying they’re borked.
Then thats mine too. Which I don’t believe its true.
POSTED 1 HOUR AGO # REPORT-POST

Not sure what you mean Hora old chap.

Well, I cleaned carefully around the seal, cycled the fork and left it upside down for a few hours – nothing.

I’ll see if anything appears during the race on Wednesday.

Buy the service kit and some oil and spend 30 mins servicing the lowers this weekend.

It really is simple and quick.

which oil / volumes? Somke suggest Fox Green, others Fox Gold for a 2014 29er Evolution CTD 100mm?

soobalias – Member
what is the service interval on newer fox forks.

iirc a few years back it was 8hrs riding…… in a hermetically sealed, dust-free velodrome. I think they’re a bit better now. (Hoping so, because I put some 36s on a new build earlier this year.)

If a fork gets a really good wallop, it can sometimes ‘burp’ oil out past seals. Whatever the cause though, a service is in order.

pre 2015 is green. 2015 onwards is gold unless it’s an open bath then green.

Great thanks, found this:

http://activesport.co/epages/80c85f8f-7a95-4b1c-9c30-e64b314f3f2e.sf/?Locale=en_GB&ObjectPath=/Shops/80c85f8f-7a95-4b1c-9c30-e64b314f3f2e/Products/fox32mmService&ViewAction=ViewProductViaPortal

ignore this post.

FWIW, on the latest 2016 forks they are saying a service every 125 hours. Much much better.

Also, your problem is definitely seals. Get them replaced when you can

So, one video says soak the foam rings in the blue Fox oil, another says soak them in the (same as applied to lowers) fork oil.

Which is it / is best? I have both.

50/50 mix of lower & float fluid as absorbs better into the newer density foam rings.
Make sure the surface the wiper seals press onto is clean & dry before you press them in too.

Thanks Loco, I’ll do that.

Well I did all that. Thanks for the advice, I did my first ride on them tonight. Nothing fell apart, and apart from some initial oil (which i wiped off) no more appeared

They feel plusher than ever, not sure why so many complain about the 2014 CTD tbh, they now trump my SIDS by miles especially on small bumps. The new seals (grey) are a different colour to the old seals (black) has this anything to do with that plushness?