[Closed] fox 32 stantion problems

Nope just give them a seal service regularly esp after a muddy ride - Should stop further wear - Basically if they wear further you might get an oil leak. If it gets bad then think about upper replacement but Doesn't sound bad enough to have to shell out for new uppers at the mo?

do a lowers service on them, maybe change the wiper seals then just ride them till they die 🙂

until they wear enough to let oil out/dirt in it shouldn't be a problem

Buy Rockshox instead A mate has killed a pair of those even though they had new stantions 2 years ago they are now fit for the bin

i used my 04 32 vanilla's for a year or so after wear appeared ,had to service them every 1 and a half months as dirt was getting in the leg, sell em off and get some rock shox revelations, you'll still need to replace the oil in the legs every few months.

If you want to get another year out of them youll want to service them every couple of months and try and smooth the wear over with nail varnish.

Plenty of Stories of RS doing the same thing tbh. They just have tighter seals so take a bit longer.

join the club. It's personal choice on whether you spend the money but i would recommend upping your maintenance.

Clean the area thoroughly after EVERY ride and apply some fork oil to the stantion. Let it roll down the leg then cycle the fork a few times to get it around the seal.

You are correct, as its coil and oil the tolerances are less than they need to be for an air fork so you can carry on riding without losing performance.

Just do what i said above and it wont get any worse.

cheers guys:) I have been told that rockshox is harder wearing just pissed off with fox they are not cheap forks 🙂

same problem on my '09 32 talas forks! I've just replaced the seals and changed the oil today. hopefully this will stop any further wear... Fox needs to get their stanchion hardening sorted out, Soft soft soft.

Having been there myself - I replaced uppers and they too have died with regular servicing etc - I dont care how good fox forks work - I wouldnt botherb again and I have now gone the way of REBAs...

paul

Fox needs to get their stanchion hardening sorted out, Soft soft soft.

Hence the Kashima coating this year? Meant to be harder wearing as well as lower friction isn't it

I've a pair of forx forx on the front of my singlespeed that must be going on for eight years old if not nine, they were one of the first sets in thec bountry.. the stanchion wear was first noticed about 2 year after I got them, so they were relegated to the SS from the bg bike. They are still fine, although the stanchions are now more silver than gold...

How much wall thickness do youy think you've lots nbt? Should be running a book on when your fork failure induced face plant will occur?
😉 😕

"They also told me that I should service the seals and wipers every 20 hrs"

Sorry, I just carefully clean and lube mine externally after rides and they go a year between professional services with no sign of wear yet.

The only time I tried to lift the seals to DIY, I scratched a stanchion 🙄 so don't bother now.

Taking the lowers off is easier and safer than lifting the seals. Doesn't take long either.

I got some 36s and some Lyrics in 2007. Both get similar abuse and care, the anodizing has gone on the lyrics and is still perfect on the 36s.

Scienceofficer - Member

How much wall thickness do youy think you've lots nbt? Should be running a book on when your fork failure induced face plant will occur?

Have you ever looked inside fox forx? I have, I've serviced several sets - including building some hybrid flotillas from float external and vanilla internals - and the stanchions are not insubstantial. If I've lost more than a few micrometers I'd be surprised. Won't stop me riding though

I tried removing the lowers but could not get them to release despite considerable whacking with a mallet. They wanted professional love rather than my ham-fisted efforts.

I should have put a smiley there NBT, it was rather tongue in cheek.

Nevertheless, raw alu is much softer than anodising, so I do wonder, if un-attended how thin they'd go with normal wear mechanisms, since the initial wear was enough to do the ano, it must accelerate thereafter.

m8 im in the same story 🙁 basically my forks have been worn for a good 6 months now and only recently they been leaking oil as well, i rang tf tuned and they said it was going to be about 120 for new crown and stanchions and about 30 for bushings and 85 for service, they are still ride able, even tf tuned told me that, they said the damage is done cant see em getting any worse, whatever u do just pay for new stanchions and get the service inc 🙂 sorted but for now, ull be fine riding , i was 🙂 goodluck

I was staggered at how easy it is to clean and re-lube the seals:

http://www.mojo.co.uk/dustwiper.htm

if you do it once, it will take you less than 10 minutes next time, and save you a shed load of money.

If only Fox would send them to the same place as Marzocchi used to send their MX comps a few years ago.
I had a set of MX Comps, used em for years, only occasionally wiped the stantions and oiled em when I used to remember - not a mark on em - ever.
Rockshox are lots better but still suffer the same fate.
It's all down to substandard metal treatment processes - nothing more.
The consumer is happy to spend £600-£700 on forks that are quite obviously not durable enough for the environment that they are designed to operate in.
The fact of the matter is that they are used weekly in muddy abrasive conditions and will get cleaned by the majority of riders most weeks - each time they will get wiped down and the seals and stantions wiped and lub'ed - that's all. I guess thats all the maintenance most people will expect to be doing. So why can't the manufacturer spend a little more R&D in the durability properties of their products rather than the latest bullshit wastegate/lockout valve/port technology that really no-one can honestly tell the difference in from one year to the next....

From what i've read and experienced with fox forks, heres a few suggestions to keep then running sweetly without servicing them after every ride.
1) Only clean with water and sponge, muc off etc seem to break down vital lubrication
2) Add more than the minimum oil volume to the lower legs to allow for normal loss and lets it splash about more inside, reducing the risk of running dry. say 50cc rather than 30cc
3) Wipe clean and lube stanchions BEFORE every ride
4) Store bike upside down for an hour to allow lubrication oil to recharge the foam rings next to the upper bushings. Whilst this may cause a bit more oil loss past the seal, it helps upper bushing lubrication, hence adding a little more oil for lubrication.
5) Strip down clean and relube regularly, say twice a year depending on use and conditions.
6) Replace seals every 3 stripdowns or if lubrication oil looks mucky when drained during a service.