Fox fork stanchion wear

[HowellingWulf]

Top of the mornin' to ya hubbers.

 

My fork has about 7000kays on it and is showing signs of wear. The anodizing on the right stanchion is wearing off. There is a lot of oil seepage through the seal. This could be a result of wear on the stanchion or seal failure. What to do? I've heard (somewhere...) that once the anodizing goes you might as well bin the fork. Would it be worth it trying to replace the seals or should I just settle for a new fork right from the start.

 

Second part of the question, It is a Fox F80RL on a Spesh Stumpy hard tail. I'm looking at a 100mm travel fork. Would it alter the geometry too much or should it be ok. I see CWC has some sweet deals on F100RL's

 

Thanks

 

[brussel]

Hi RickyBobby

 

the issue is your enduro seals. The enduro seals are much better at keeping the crap out, but they are made of a MUCH harder plastic rather than the original rubber seals.

 

I had them on a fox and had stiction and wear problems like that. you need to replace the upper assembly and the seals and it's gonna cost a bit I've seen some schweet deals on fox forks on the hub.

[The Drongo]

Ricky Bobby

 

Go to this link below, it will give you some more insight. Your dustwiper seals have already been replaced. Those blue enduros are generic wipe seals and not OEM.

 

2 things usually wear the anodising off the stanchions, dry wiper seals, and worn lower bushings. If you can find a crown steerer assembly, and Omnico (or others) are able to replace the bushings the rest might be good to go. But from experience you are probably going to pay the same as you would getting a new fork off CRC.

 

For future ref. Regular lubing of the seal with some DRY TEFLON lube, a little drop around the seal and cycle the fork, then wipe off excess goes a long way to help avoiding this.As does regular servicing.

It does not cure worn bushings though, that happens when you have done about 7000000km!

 

100mm travel shouldn't alter your geometry seriously, unless you really enjoy riding with your nose on your front wheel.

 

Enjoy shopping!

 

http://service.foxracingshox.com/consumers/Content/Service/Forks/F-Series/F100RL_F80RL.htm

[HowellingWulf]

Hi RickyBobby

 

the issue is your enduro seals. The enduro seals are much better at keeping the crap out, but they are made of a MUCH harder plastic rather than the original rubber seals.

 

I had them on a fox and had stiction and wear problems like that. you need to replace the upper assembly and the seals and it's gonna cost a bit I've seen some schweet deals on fox forks on the hub.

 

...thought it might be something to do with the seals. Had Fox seals on them initially. They replaced them with the Enduro's last year sometime and then the excessive wear started - they said it was cheaper than the OEM seals and that the elongated lip keeps gunk out much better...

[HowellingWulf]

Ricky Bobby

 

Go to this link below, it will give you some more insight. Your dustwiper seals have already been replaced. Those blue enduros are generic wipe seals and not OEM.

 

2 things usually wear the anodising off the stanchions, dry wiper seals, and worn lower bushings. If you can find a crown steerer assembly, and Omnico (or others) are able to replace the bushings the rest might be good to go. But from experience you are probably going to pay the same as you would getting a new fork off CRC.

 

For future ref. Regular lubing of the seal with some DRY TEFLON lube, a little drop around the seal and cycle the fork, then wipe off excess goes a long way to help avoiding this.As does regular servicing.

It does not cure worn bushings though, that happens when you have done about 7000000km!

 

100mm travel shouldn't alter your geometry seriously, unless you really enjoy riding with your nose on your front wheel.

 

Enjoy shopping!

 

http://service.foxra...100RL_F80RL.htm

 

 

Thanks The Drongo, so you would say that an early b-day/late Christmas prezzy in the form of a new fork would be the only viable option. I heard it costs upward of R2k to replace a stanchion since it is a press fit assembly (and most probably because it is a single use run till breakdown piece of equipment). Would you also recommend that I use OEM seals next time round?

[Danger Dassie]

Seems to be a regular thing with Fox forks, have exactly the same on mine. I remember Brad at Mikes Bikes had a slight mod where they used the wiper from a Rock Shox, something along those lines.

[lagosloonie]

A friend of mine had the same problem with a SID fork some years ago. He had the tubes re-anodised. They came out black instead of gold but prolonged the life of the fork by some years. He cannot remember who did it - it was in Cape Town - but it wasn't expensive.

[Sawdust]

I am in the same boat with a Reba shock. No leaks though. Was told to turf it. It still works very well, so I am keeping it for some reason.

[Robrider]

I have just had exactly the same problem... Maybe I will take a photo on the week end and post it here.

 

Basically, the stancion was so worn that oil would leak despite changing the seals. So I decided it just wasn't worth changing seals again, at R200 a pop.

 

Spoke to JB about it quite a bit, and also got quotes from Fox. Basically, Fox quoted me R3000 for new stancion/crown/steerer. JB went there privately and managed to get it for me for R1500 (significantly cheaper than a new fork).

 

So I replaced that. Its no more difficult than a shock service, and the fork feels like a brand new one.

 

Also if the wear is visible out the top, it wont be the lower bushings, maybe the upper bushings. But those are also cheap to replace and can be done at the same time. My bushings were fine though.

 

Lastly, I was in exactly the same boat with a F80RL, and started looking at all the good deals on 100mm travel forks. Did alot of research and on the manufacturers website (Kona) they said you must definately not change it to 100mm travel. Apparently it changes the whole feel of the bike, loads, etc. Personally, I cant think that it makes that much difference, but because of that warning I stopped looking at 100mm shocks.

 

Hope this helps a bit. Good luck

[Sawdust]

A friend of mine had the same problem with a SID fork some years ago. He had the tubes re-anodised. They came out black instead of gold but prolonged the life of the fork by some years. He cannot remember who did it - it was in Cape Town - but it wasn't expensive.

 

It would be great if someone can find out where this was done!

[The Drongo]

...thought it might be something to do with the seals. Had Fox seals on them initially. They replaced them with the Enduro's last year sometime and then the excessive wear started - they said it was cheaper than the OEM seals and that the elongated lip keeps gunk out much better...

 

Yep. Would like to hear what Johan says, but i suspect the fact that there is such a large area of hard rubber cuff, with no sponge wiper between it and the stanchion, that this aggravates the wear. The sponge sits under the seal in OEM fox, but is set INTO the seal with Rockshox. So with Rx there is very little hard on hard surface to aggravate.

 

I have not pursued the re-anodising of stanchions. Not sure how they would get around the crown, but might be worth looking into.

[brussel]

your wear is too deep.

 

but even if it was not normal anodizing would not last long enough to have any really substantial increase in wear as it is not as hard as the hard anodizing found on forks. Also normal anodizing has a much rougher finish which will both increase stiction and wear on the seals.

[KnobbyMech]

To me it is clear that wear is not from the seal, but from the ceramic sleeve inside the lowers. You could replace only the uppers, but this will be around R2500. I had a Merida HFS hardtail with a Fox80RL, but replaced the fork with a F100RLC. It made the geometry perfect for me with a slightly more relaxed attack angle. Gave great confidence on the technical stuff.

[brussel]

Knobby

 

The wear is from the bush, but the seals tend to run dry compared to oem stuff, they tend to put small scratches into the stantions which means ingress of dirt and then the bush eats the hell out of the stantions.

[Hairy]

I am in the same boat with a Reba shock. No leaks though. Was told to turf it. It still works very well, so I am keeping it for some reason.

 

Hey, if you are going to turf the Reba then please let me know when your bin day is so that I can wait outside with my trolley .. my defunct SS commuter needs a suspension fork

[Johan Bornman]

Stanchion wear is common and happens with all seals. It is a function not of the seals but of the maintenance. No maintenance will give you stanchion wear. Fork companies recommend service intervals down to 50 hours. Not many people stick to that, yet many people report stanchion wear.

 

It is not the harness of the seal that wears the stanchion, but the hardness of the grit trapped in the seal that causes these abrasions. Abrasions like these are self-feeding. The smoother the anodising is polished, the less oil stays behind on each stroke of the fork and the quicker the whole lot wears.

 

RE-anodising is useless in this case. Since the aluminium inderneath is already worn away. Anodising is a couple of micron thick and will not cover up the gauges. The stanchions are useless.

 

Ironically, the rougher anodising is what you're after, not the smoother. Smooth stanchions leaves behind no oil with each wipe. You want a molecule layer of oil on the stanchions even after a wipe stroke so that it can lubricate the seals. Smooth stanchions wipe clean and thus have more stiction and less resistance to seal wear.

 

Dont blame the Enduro seals, blame a lack of maintenance.

 

Bond with your bike after each ride. Wash it carefully and inspect for signs of wear.

 

The fork in the picture is still usable. It will deteriorate faster than a new fork, but it seems as if the wear area is not too rough to prevent the seals from keeping the oil in.

 

The absense of a foam (sponge) ring under the seal is neither here nor there. I actually think they are part of the problem, trapping a peanut-butter cosistency of oily mud right there at the top bush.

 

Marzocchi for instance, don't have foam rings and their stiction is low and we see no more stanchion wear in those than in other forks.