Fox fork stanchion wear

[HowellingWulf]

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.

 

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

<quietly raises hand>

Guilty!

Thanks!

[Hardtailrider]

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

 

+1 Clean those stanchions and apply dry teflon lube after every ride. My Reba's stanchions don't have as much as a scratch after more than a year of training/racing in the Klein Karoo. If you ride in wet conditions, regular cleaning/maintenance becomes even more essential

[Odders]

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

 

I have the same problem. I was quoted R3500 by my local bike shop to get the stanchions replaced . I was told that Fox will not help individuals privately. Would your contact be willing to help me out. I need to save every cent as I'm just about to replace my chain, cassette, chain rings, jockeys, gear cables, tyres, break pads for the joberg2c. I'm not lying. Check out my blog Joberg2c blog