rockshox suspension oil v engine oil 0w30?

Want to do a lower leg service on one set of Lyriks and fit a new damper to my to a set of Yari’s.

So I need 40ml of 0w30 for the lower legs and 180ml of 3w for the damper on the Yari’s.

I have a decent amount of 15, 10 & a very small amount of 5wt fork oil thats probably gone off by now…so need to buy some more.

I’ve seen people say that you can just use 0w30 engine oil but then inevitably someone comes along and says how bad that is! You can buy 1l of 0w30 engine oil for £10-15 and can just go to Halfords and get it, where as rockshox is £26 and I’ll probably need to order on line. As it only for lubrication, is the engine oil ok to use?

Also do I need to use 3w for the damper or is there an alternative?

No idea about engine oil but ‘proper’ fork oil is much cheaper from motorbike shops than from LBSs, and in bigger bottles.  They may not do 3W though, that’s a bit light for a motorbike

Been using 0w40 Mobil 1 for years in mine with no issue. As you say, it’s only a small amount for lubrication and it’s what my old car took, so I’ve a huge bottle of it.
Damper oil has a far bigger impact on performance and I wouldn’t skimp here. Get exactly what it recommends as 3wt from one company may vary from another.

The second number in Oil weight is it’s viscosity at operating temperatures. I wouldn’t be surprised if that temperature (and thus how well it works) differs between engines and forks

I believe Rockshox use Maxima fork oil (about £15 on Ebay), and you can buy a 1L can of their own oil for about the same price. It’s only when you buy the smaller pots of oil that it’s starts to get near the price of gold.

A days waiting to use the right stuff vs do it now, and possibly **** up your forks. I know which one I’d be going for.

forks cost £500-1000, Im a hamfisted bodger of mechanic and very impatient, but its worth spending a few quid more and waiting an extra day to use the right stuff

So Maxima plush dynamic suspension lube light is 0w30, technical data states direct replacement for rockshox fluid, so I think I’ll get that.

Just trying to find somewhere that has that and the 3w in stock so I can get them from the same place.

Cheers all.

Got Maxima plush suspension lube 120ml for £7.75 and 2 x 120ml rockshox 3wt suspension oil for £4.44 each from Bikeparts.co.uk £2.95 delivery. so not bad in the end.

Also bought 2 SKF wiper seal and foam ring kits from Halfords for £15 each.

It’s worth remembering:

• Oil won’t “go off” when left in its container
• Engine oil has additives
• Gear oil has additives
• You can mix similar oils, ie., equal amounts of 5wt + 10wt = 7.5 wt  (so, 2.5wt with a touch of 5wt will get you close to 3wt)
• You can go slightly heavier or lighter on the damping oil to move tuneable range
• Multi-grades maintain some of their properties across varying temperature ranges
• You can mix fully synth with mineral (it will no longer be fully synth obvs)
• Our suspension doesn’t really test oil like motorsports suspension does (Although regular changes are important to keep things clean)

I know you’re looking to avoid buying new oil but the very best stuff for the bath providing it doesn’t cycle through the damper is Supergliss. It’s a slideway lubricant and very very slippery

You can mix similar oils, ie., equal amounts of 5wt + 10wt = 7.5 wt (so, 2.5wt with a touch of 5wt will get you close to 3wt)

Be careful – while you can mix, the results aren’t linear.

Your local motorbike shop will have a range of decent suspension fluid in stock (I bough 2.5W, but I’m sure they had down to 0.5W).

More than you would ever want to know here:

http://www.peterverdone.com/wiki/index.php?title=Suspension_Fluid

From that link, an extensive list of oil manufacturer’s products and their actual viscosity:

I wouldn’t hesitate to use decent brand motor oil of the appropriate grade for the lowers.

The second number in Oil weight is it’s viscosity at operating temperatures.

Not quite. The first number is the viscosity at 40 degC and the second is the viscosity at 100 degC. But it’ll still be objectively thinner at warmer temperatures, just not as thin as a monograde would be.

It’s worth remembering…

… not to listen to most of what Stanley says WRT using lubricants.

@tthew

Lol!