Shock bushes – do you lube them

I fitted a set of Fox Low Friction bushings (the ones that are light coloured plastic top hats – with black plastic and metal spacers) a couple of months ago. I once again have some play in my fork bushing.

Should these be greased / oiled when assembled or as part of regular maintenance? I put them in dry but would have liked and expected them to last a bit longer.

What could I have done wrong? They go together by hand so don’t think they were damaged. Not much room to misalign anything etc.

Shock bushes, or fork bushes? Your first sentence is confusing.

Doh.. meant shock bushing.. it’s the ones that go either end of an RP23.

I’m yet to hear of a setup that works better than the likes of TF Tuned heavy duty kits, everything else always seems a bit pants in comparison. To answer your question, no lining required unless you’re running bearings instead

You shouldn’t lube them, as this will likely help grit stick and wear them out quicker.

A bush wearing out is doing its job.

EDIT: For perspective, owned a Superlight for 12 years, changed them roughly annually.

I have read arguments for lubed and dry. The set that came installed when I bought my bike new lasted around 4 years (ridden a lot in all weathers including 2 winters commuting) and on the first replacement set I installed I lubed with a bit of grease.
They haven’t lasted very long (around 6 months) at all so last week I installed a new set dry. I cant comment on the new set as I have only ridden the bike a few times.

Sorry that’s probably no help

Andy

There is no space for the lube to sit anyway – anything you put on will be removed when you force the top hats in.

legend – Member

I’m yet to hear of a setup that works better than the likes of TF Tuned heavy duty kits, everything else always seems a bit pants in comparison.

I’m using a jtech low friction mount at one end of mine, tbh I can’t feel any difference in performance but it does seem to be lasting better than the standard bushings used in the TF kit.

I fitted the RWC needle bearing kit to both ends of the Fox rc4 on my Session, they certainly removed a little bit of binding i had suffered with previously. I packed them out with copper ease.

The old DU bush that used to be fitted should be dry. Needle bearings like the rwc should be greased. I’m about the fit some ingus type bushes to one end of my dhx5.0c and my plan is to fit them dry to the shock and use a thin light lube between the bush and shaft as I do on my turner bushes.

I’ll shove them in dry then and hope they do better than last time. I’ll look for a different kit if these also last only 3 months or so (look out for the post about September time – what shock bush kits? 🙂 )

Cheers all

If there is play in your bearings then the lateral movement will be harder going on your bushing.

+1 on TF Tuned Heavy Duty kit. Much better than top hats. The bushings wear, and far less the mount kit unlike some stock mounts and metal DU bushes. The TF is a through pin which is a nicer fit in my opinion, with seals that seem to help prevent grit getting in there. I get far less incidents of shock mount creaking, and eventually when I do, just replace the bushes and job done (if a simple clean up doesn’t solve it).

Uses heavy duty polymer bushes. Or Betd Hula Hoop bushes are just as good apparently.

And no grease. As said, no space for it and even then it would suck in dirt.

I fitted the RWC needle bearing kit to both ends of the Fox rc4 on my Session, they certainly removed a little bit of binding i had suffered with previously. I packed them out with copper ease.

Copper ease is used as an anti seize not lubricant. It is full of bits of copper which will kill your needle roller bearings very quickly.