Anyone tried this!?

My yaris have a dent about 5cm from the bottom of the leg

Found a thread on mtbr saying its possible but no examples

buy new lowers

How deep is the dent and does it interfer with the action of the fork?

Premier Icon
poah
Free Member

buy new lowers

Even better would be a second hand set of Yaris (£200 for good ones when I last look, obvs add COVID tax now) and keep all the other parts as spares

Yeah 2nd hand Yaris are £250+ or new lowers which are £250!

Its not urgent, been sitting in my garage for a year, just wondered if I could fix them

They stop the last few cm of travel, looking inside the bushings are a few mm proud of the tube, so I just need to get them straight enough for the stanchion to clear

I’ve ordered the expander anyway

Cast aluminium/magnesium alloy is not something I would be trying to bend back.

True, but there’s nothing to lose.

I’d not be using that again.

I’ve got some old domain lowers kicking about if they’re the same?

Cheers, 5lab!, I think theyre probably different

I’ll try and fix them

Either they crack when I’m fixing

Or
I fix it and they explode on the first drop/jump/turn

Or
I’m a mechanical god and it all works out fine

Can’t you find a set of forks with the stantions scratched that are selling cheap?

My sure you take some life insurance out and take lots of pictures for our amusement 😂

Good luck

Will it go deep enough down the leg? I thought they were quite short and you still needed to be able to hold the end of it to grip while tightening?

Nothing to lose ?, ask Doddy on gmbn about fork failure.😀

I’ve blown out dozens of exhausts with varying degrees of success and I can’t see this working. Just intuition, no scientific grounds for this. A thin steel exhaust can take about 30psi to move and I’d be amazed if you could get enough pressure in the lower to do it but I’m fascinated to see what happens. Los of PPE please, the aluminium might give way altogether rather than move in a controlled fashion.
I’ve straightened wheel rims (off-road ones) with heat and a vice and not had a failure in use but aluminium is not very predictable as far as failure goes so be careful.

Can you splint the fork leg with some steel tube cut in half lengthways and jubilee clipped on? Then the expander tool won’t go too far (hopefully).

I hope you know a good dentist.

Not mine and no connection but could be helpful.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mountain-Bike-Forks-Spares-Or-Repairs-/174780454125?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286

That eBay. How do you break a stanchion like that? No obvious damage anywhere else (only had a cursory glance)

That is impressive, I’m guessing fat person with very high air pressure + not enough rebound damping causing very harsh top out force onto the O-ring.

Thanks clubby, I’m watching that, ime it’ll go for quite a bit, CSUs come up up on ebay now & again, but lowers are much rarer

Are they boost or non boost?
I’m sure I’ve got a set of non boost Lyrik lowers in the garage if they are any good to you.

Cheers tish, that’s v generous, they are boost tho

27.5 or 29

29 endomick but….

Expander arrived today

(For extra bodge, Didn’t have a long enough socket extender, couldn’t wait to get one tomorrow, so I rammed a chisel into the extender and turned it with some molgrips)

So it seems to have pushed it out enough

Stanchions run smoothly with no interference (there’s still a small dent inside, I suppose it could be an issue under load) I’ll try and get out for a test ride this week

A car exhaust is not a structural load bearing item. By denting your fork, you’ve taken that bit of metal past its yield point. Expanding it back will further weaken it. I really wouldn’t ride that fork if I was you.

there’s still a small dent inside, I suppose it could be an issue under load)

Can see why that would happen, common to have to push past where you need it as it’ll spring back slightly when you remove the press. However, if it’s clear then have a go. I’d not be overly concerned about riding it if it was mine, seen far scarier things being bent/push/pulled into shape in work!

I’d agree mashr, keep an eye on it for any signs of cracking, there’s very little chance of it failing catastrophically.

How did you get the bottom to not turn so you could tighten in with your chisel?  Was it just an interference got and that was enough?

A car exhaust is not a structural load bearing item. By denting your fork, you’ve taken that bit of metal past its yield point. Expanding it back will further weaken it.

Without any material test data, we can’t say that for sure. If it’s pushed back out without any signs of cracking, it’s probably fairly ductile. I’d ride it.

Excellent work. 💪

Was it just an interference got and that was enough?

I lined it up outside so I knew what depth my chisel handle had to be and had it wide enough so it just caught on the sides with a bit of wiggling

First ride on them today,

I didn’t die

Tried to hit as many drops as possible and left compression off so they’d sit low in travel

All seemed fine, I’ll take the lowers off and see if the stanchions have any marks, but I didn’t feel any binding or hear any clunks

Very cool.

That was completely on my ‘no way that can work’ list so thank you, I’ve learned something.  It’s also something I think I would only risk on my own bike

It’s also something I think I would only risk on my own bike

How different people are, I’d absolutely only risk that on someone else’s bike.

First ride on them today,

I didn’t die

Lies. You’re clearly posting from beyond the grave. Top bodging. Personally though you’re braver than me. A new pair of lowers is a lot cheaper than a new pair of teeth!

Super job, in flip flops too.

A new pair of lowers is a lot cheaper than a new pair of teeth!

Given these didn’t crack when he opened out the dent .

I’m struggling to see a situation where these go from zero to hero in 2 seconds and deposit him on his face unless he gets something really wrong and/or goes blind and deaf

@kimbers
I’m in the exact situation as you were here—old fork sitting in my garage with a minor dent…I started digging the interwebs and found this old thread. Are you still running this fork? Where did you get your expander tool? I’m hoping to repair my fork so I can throw it on a cheap hardtail build…not a heavy use bike.

Heya

Yep running fine, including ews tweedlove since then, so seems alright

Where are you based you can use my expander, if near