Fork stanchion maintenance

[Woolf]

What product is best for our dusty conditions and what process do you follow in keeping them clean and lubed?

[DR ◣◢]

Lubrication is done on the inside of the fork and the wiper seals will keep grime out of the fork.

 

Clean the fork with a non solvent based cleaner like Muc Off or Powasol etc when you wash the bike.

 

If the fork is seaping fluid out the top then its time to get it serviced. What can come out can also get back in.

 

What fork is this?

[Woolf]

Thanks. The fork is a Fox float 29 which is still brand new. Was just wondering if the stanchions need some sort of lubrication as they are bone dry after washing (by hand not power wash).

[Brian Fantana]

I use enduro seals on my Rock Shox Revelation. Enduro seals for my fork does not incorporate a foam ring.

 

After I washed my bike I take about 2ml of 15WT Liqui Moly Fork oil in a syringe and apply it in drops on the stancions. After this I work the fork through its travel a few times, and the oil picks up dirt at the wiper seal that was not removed by the wash. Then I wipe the dirt and oil off with a microfibre cloth with an upward motion.

 

After this I use a few drops of teflon lube to lubricate the stancion (as recommended by Enduro). My fork is smooth like butter and I give it a lower leg service every 50 hours.

[Pipsqueak]

I cooked my fox fork on Sani. Wore grooves in the stanchions. That when I found out a whole lot of things...

 

You need to keep the stanchions really clean. Then you need to service your dust wipers every 30 hours. This means popping the seals up and soaking the foam rings with Fox float fluid. Then every year you should do the dust wipers with a new kit.

 

I had to buy new stanchions, which I'll install myself when this wiper kits begins to leak.

 

If you look at Mojo Suspension's site you'll get a whole lot of tips on how to do all this stuff.

 

http://www.mojo.co.uk/techtips.html

 

This will tell you a load of stuff. You'll find that it's very difficult to get hold of float fluid in this country, I had to buy some in the US. You can use any viscous oil (wet chain lube works) to resoak your foam rings.