Stumpmeister Posted November 18, 2013 Share How long is your Fox shock suppose to last and when must it be serviced, I just had mine done after the first year and had to have the dust covers and lower leg bushes replaced, all very pricy stuff, if this is to be done every year then I am considering road cycling!!!!! Is this normal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mojoman Posted November 18, 2013 Share I suppose it depends how much you abuse it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardtailrider Posted November 18, 2013 Share I suppose it depends how much you abuse it! +1 Also depends on whether you keep on top of basic maintenance. It pays, after every ride, to wipe down the fork stanchions/shock shaft, then apply a little "dry" teflon lube to the edges of the dust-seal lips, cycle the suspension a few times and wipe down again. Prevents the build-up of crud just out of sight below the seal lips that can scratch the stanchions/shaft and, once it gets past the seals, kill the bushings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mojoman Posted November 18, 2013 Share +1 Also depends on whether you keep on top of basic maintenance. It pays, after every ride, to wipe down the fork stanchions/shock shaft, then apply a little "dry" teflon lube to the edges of the dust-seal lips, cycle the suspension a few times and wipe down again. Prevents the build-up of crud just out of sight below the seal lips that can scratch the stanchions/shaft and, once it gets past the seals, kill the bushings.Agreed, and Fox also recommends storing the bike upside down so the foam rings can stay full of oil. Doesnt seem to make much difference on my bike though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Li Mu Bai Posted November 18, 2013 Share keep it clean, always.they say its every 100hours of riding between services. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pipsqueak Posted November 18, 2013 Share If you do the seals every year you should be fine. Unless you're riding on the beach... But once it gets dirt in, its amazing how quickly it goes pear-shaped. But these guys are right, wipe it down, keep it clean. The seals & oil aren't hard to do yourself. Cassie 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartinPV Posted November 18, 2013 Share It also helps a lot if you regularly replace the fluids, about every 80hrs. They are cheep to buy and simple replace. The fox service site as all the details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
droo Posted November 18, 2013 Share Stick to the maintenance schedule and you'll only pay for wiper seals and oil - around R 800. If you skip or overrun services it's going to get (more) expensive - another month or 2 down the line and you might have ended up with an extra R2.5k for stanchions too... If you're the DIY type, all of the Fox fork manuals are available on their site, and you can get seals and oil from your LBS (or me, if you like...) Skylark, RichieT, Hairy and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stumpmeister Posted November 18, 2013 Share Is the dry lube normal dry chain lube? I wipe the fork down after every ride, do not use a high pressure cleaner on the bike and lube the shafts but obviously need to up the maintenance. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardtailrider Posted November 18, 2013 Share Is the dry lube normal dry chain lube? I wipe the fork down after every ride, do not use a high pressure cleaner on the bike and lube the shafts but obviously need to up the maintenance. Cheers Yup - I normally use the Finish Line dry teflon bike lube but any similar synthetic lube would also work steveO:K 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
droo Posted November 18, 2013 Share If you're keeping the seals and stanchions clean and staying away from the pressure washers, then you're doing about as much as you can - aside from hanging your bike vertically on a wall which keeps the seals and foam rings lubed nicely. Seals are a wear and tear item, and once they start letting dust and other nasty crud in, they need to be replaced - otherwise the dirt trapped under them will make short work of your stanchion coatings and you'll be in for a small hill of cash to replace the crown, stanchion and steerer assembly, as well as the lower leg bushings. Unfortunately there are no external signs of seal failure that are visible before its far too late - hence Fox's 30 and 100 hour maintenance intervals - you've got to remove the lowers and inspect the inside of the dust wiper to see if there's anything getting through. If no, replace lowers and oil and keep riding. If yes, replace seals as well. Damper oil also needs to be replaced every 100 hours because it breaks down from constantly being forced through valves, which causes gas pockets which causes cavitation which causes wear which causes large sums of money to be spent on repairs or replacement, along with poor performance and occasional sense of humour failure, as you have recently discovered. As to your question about stanchion lube - Finish Line make a stanchion lube, otherwise silicone spray or Finish Line wet lube should do the job. I haven't done any long term tests on whether it actually helps, but I'd imagine that lubricating the seals before compressing the fork after its been standing for a while should help slow down the wear on the seal lip, which would increase the life of the seal. Edit: Be careful of PTFE based spray lubes, some of them have been known to turn seals into mush. Edited November 18, 2013 by droo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichieT Posted November 18, 2013 Share Small cleaning tip. .. When you've completed you "normal" wash.Take one of those blue lightweight kitchen wash up rags, that have little holes. Spray a little Clean Green or similar onto it, and then "floss" the bit at the top of the dust seals, and the dust seals themselves.You will nearly always see a bit of oily dust residue lurking thereabouts, even after a wash.Keeping this area free of dirt is a good way to make your fork, seals stanchions last longer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skylark Posted November 18, 2013 Share Been using a little PTFE spray every so often on my RS rev fork stanchions for a few yrs now, still on the stock wiper seals and they are still peachy. PTFE is supposed to be a non reactive compound isn't it, ie it doesn't interfere with or breakdown compounds? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flou Posted March 26, 2014 Share I have done about 30 hours of riding with my Fox fork (F29 RL) and as it seems it needs a service. Do I only have to replace the seals and foam rings and the oil at 100 hours? A LBS in Stellenbosch charges R850 for the service, but I am a student and would like to save money where I can. I can buy the oil and the seal/foam ring kit for about +-R500. I have watched some youtube videos how to do it and it does not look to complicated. Would you advise me to service the fork myself and save some money and learn a nice skill or is it to risky and should I just take it to the LBS? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skylark Posted March 26, 2014 Share Do it, lowers service is not hard, and once you know how it's a piece of cake, easy peasy 30min job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alouette3 Posted March 26, 2014 Share Basic service is fairly simple to do. Done it a couple of times with advise from droo and the other hubbers. I haven't needed to replace the foam rings and rubber dust seals as yet, just cleaned them up and checked their condition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now