Long story short, picked up a cheap RS SD ultimate off eBay that had been sent to TF and diagnosed with not economical to repair. Damper body worn but still very smooth.
I fancied a possible upgrade and little project…with no experience of taking apart shocks!
Shock came partly disassembled (from TFs inspection). Initially noticed the Threshold lever was a bit floppy side to side but assumed that was as the chambers had been emptied of oil.
de duplicate
Put it all back together with fresh 50hr seals, bled it, made lots of mess. Inflated the piggyback to 250PSI and it felt very firm to compress. Wondered if it would change when I add air to the air can….feels the same. Haven’t mounted it on a bike yet but had assumed (limited knowledge from old shocks) that without air it should compress very easily. Is the piggy back system different? The threshold lever is now firm and flicks from one side to the other fine…but could that be a problem with compression? Any pointers would be great before I make any more oily mess!
Cheers
Chris

Haven’t mounted it on a bike yet but had assumed (limited knowledge from old shocks) that without air it should compress very easily

It takes a surprising amount of force to compress a shock with no air/spring in my experience. Put it in the bike and see what happens

Thanks @mashr that’s positive news….Waiting for a bushing tool to arrive then I’ll try that.

I would agree with above, it’s not usually easy to compress a shock even without air. They’re designed for a lot more leverage than a fork so don’t move the same without air

Great, thanks DC…think I’m showing my lack of experience with shocks then! Reassuring.