The definitive Fox Shocks Thread

[h4tch3t]

Hi all,

 

I'm keen on servicing/rebuilding a couple of Fox shocks over the next week or so.

As usual, Google hasn't coughed up something specific to my needs, so I'm attempting to go it alone.

 

At the time of posting this, Johan Bornman seems to be on leave so I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place with regards to help and parts.

 

Can we start with answers or help on the following:

 

1) Where can I purchse the service kits and spares for Fox forks and rear shocks?

 

2) Where can I get the user manual for 2008/09 overhauls / services? I have the ones that explain general maintenance, but sometimes more is required. (oil weights, amounts, etc)

 

3) Does one have to use the Fox specific oil, or are there substitutes?

 

 

Needless to say, the motivation for doing this is realising that 4-5 services later I could have bought a new shock if I paid for services at LBS's.

 

Quotes for servicing ranged between R380 to R750 depending on who you ask. This is also releative to what gets done, and the old addage about doing it yourself rings true for things where you can't see what has been done or replaced, especially with costs ranging so widely on different quotes.

 

Any help would be appreciated. (I could be nice and post step by step pichers while doing this if the feedback is relevant and accurate)

 

Regards

[MintSauce]

Not all Fox forks are the same. It depends on which model you have. There are detailed how-to videos somewhere on the Fox site. I used them to rebuild my '06 Fox Talas. Will see if I can find the links.

 

You can use any oil, as long as it's the correct viscosity. Just get it from a motorbike shop as it's much cheaper than getting bike-specific oil, which is a rip-off. The stuff you can't really get anywhere, is the blue Fox fluid. You need to do some research to find a grease/oil of similar viscosity. Not sure how critical this is though.

 

Any bike shop can order the seals from Omnico. You would be looking at approximately R230 for just the dust wipers and another R230 for the full sealkit, if you wanted to do a complete overall. The sealkit comes with the Fox fluid.

 

If you're in Cape Town, speak to Lance at Epic Bikeshop, as last time I spoke to him he was waiting for a shipment of Enduro dustwipers, which are supposedly better than the standard Fox wipers and were going to be slightly cheaper.

 

For the Talas models you would need a tool called an IFP tool. Don't know if the non-Talas forks need this tool. The tool costs in the region of $90 in the USA. That being said, I did some research as I was unhappy with the performance of my fork, and decided to experiment. I now run my IFP chamber at zero psi which has drastically improved the performance of the fork.

[Lukep]

go to

http://service.foxracingshox.com/consumers/index.htm

[brussel]

bel ray fork oil 10w is fine

 

for the blue fox fluid use a nice thick gear oil - really not serious, but you want it to be thick

 

it is a really simple job. The seals kits are available from your LBS

[h4tch3t]

go to

http://service.foxracingshox.com/consumers/index.htm

 

Exactly what I was after...

Thanx

[AndreZA]

For seal kit, get the Enduro ones from Rush http://www.rushsports.co.za/Shop/ByCategory/Fork-Seals.aspx

 

For how to do it. http://www.enduroforkseals.com/id10.html

[Johan Bornman]

At the time of posting this, Johan Bornman seems to be on leave so I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place with regards to help and parts.

 

 

 

He's back. Went to France to spend a week with Marzocchi in their R&D and OEM tuning department. In spite of the indoctrination and great food, he's still able to help with Fox problems.

[covie]

Hi all,

 

I'm keen on servicing/rebuilding a couple of Fox shocks over the next week or so.

As usual, Google hasn't coughed up something specific to my needs, so I'm attempting to go it alone.

 

 

 

Remember its not a case if google knows the answer, its a case if we know how to frame the query properly

[Pappa Bear]

He's back. Went to France to spend a week with Marzocchi in their R&D and OEM tuning department. In spite of the indoctrination and great food, he's still able to help with Fox problems.

Does this mean it is safe to purchase Mazzorchi again - since we can get back up service?

[Johan Bornman]

Does this mean it is safe to purchase Mazzorchi again - since we can get back up service?

Yup, I now have access to spares and I'll be doing the local servicing and gaurantee repairs. I'll issue a statement explaining it all.

[AndreZA]

He's back. Went to France to spend a week with Marzocchi in their R&D and OEM tuning department.

 

Isn't Marzocchi Italian?

[Johan Bornman]

Isn't Marzocchi Italian?

 

It used to be. Now it's American. It was taken over by Tenneco, an American company with amongst others, Monroe in its stable.

 

Big companies like this are all over the show. Design in Italy, development and OEM tuning in France, production in Taiwan etc etc.

[Super_mil]

It used to be. Now it's American. It was taken over by Tenneco, an American company with amongst others, Monroe in its stable.

 

Big companies like this are all over the show. Design in Italy, development and OEM tuning in France, production in Taiwan etc etc.

 

It's going to be a lot tougher for you now to moan about the oil requirements and other 'challenges' Marzochhi's often present you with

 

Thanks for keeping them alive in SA though

[Capricorn]

oh **** hell yes! so i can send my fork now to you directly and not wait for the RMA part JB?

[Pappa Bear]

Yup, I now have access to spares and I'll be doing the local servicing and gaurantee repairs. I'll issue a statement explaining it all.

SUPER!

[Johan Bornman]

I'll still moan. I like to moan when things don't make sense.

 

The system is onerous. To find out what oil level a given fork requires, you have to find the serial number of the fork. Some forks had stickers with the numbers on. Enough said about that. Some now have engraved numbers. This seems like a good solution? No. The numbers are encoded, the two-part ones mean one thing, the one-part one means another.

 

Anyway, after you've sorted that out, you can go online to a secret website (if anyone has ever cliced on a .IT domain they'll understand my trepidation) and type in the number. If you are luckly, the number you have typed in exists on the database and then you will be given the model and year of the fork.

 

Now, armed with that, you go to another website and under Tuning Tips, you select Oil Levels (makes sense, doesn't it?).

 

Voila! you have your data. All this of course in a workshop where you're dripping in oil and grease and just love to smear it all onto your new keyboard.

 

The alternative of course (the opposition have caught on), is a simple table where you can see, at a glance, what the levels are. This apparently doesn't make sense if you eat spaghetti.

 

Then there was the notorious ATA cartridge. Repair it today, repair it again tomorrow, and the day after and after and.....

 

Marzocchi gave up on that and the new American influence told them not to throw good money after bad. Anyone with an ATA cartridge gets a free conversion to a good old spring. Reliable, loved and easy to fix.

 

Did I mention that I like to moan?

 

In short, yes, you can send your forks and shocks to me and I can get spares. I'll soon learn what spares to stock and what not.

 

I look forward to sorting out the M issue in ZA.