[Closed] Fox X2 DIY Servicing

What tool is it?

There's various ones. There's a locking tool with a lump of plastic on it so you don't scratch the stanchion. Two different sizes of shaft clamp. A seal bullet tool to ease the seal head on without damage. An IFP height setting tool and an eyelet torque tool. Those are just off the top of my head.

Service procedures and tools

2019
https://www.ridefox.com/fox17/help.php?m=bike&id=978

2016-18
https://www.ridefox.com/fox17/help.php?m=bike&id=682

I use the fox tools.

People use a Park HCW-5 for the negative seal head (just dont slip)

You dont need an IFP tool, you can make one from a nuts/bolt/washer, or set the depth carefully and measure with calipers (dont scratch). IFP tool is just nice to set the depth and push down to the stop. Andreani tool is much cheaper than the fox one if you want one though.

I haven't tried fitting fox seals without a bullet tool, I have made my own on a lathe if they are out of stock with Silverfish.

I use a vacuum pump to bleed, never tried by hand.

Bounce do a 3d printed shaft clamp set for X2s, £45, it works ok, I found the 9mm deformed after a few shocks.

I have seen people make wooden clamps for the inner sleeve, faced with inner tube.

You could turn the eyelet without the proper torque tool.

Cheers. I did wonder if the 3d printed stuff would hold up. I imagine the bullet tool and IFP would be okay printed but clamps might be asking a bit much.

Bounce also offer aluminium clamps for half the price of Fox.

I'd love to get my MIT's in a vacuum bleed system but I'll never be doing it often enough to justify that.

Sounds like a ball ache

Shouldn't take too many services to break even and the turn around will be hours rather than days. If I switch to a lighter tune but don't like it, I can switch back later the same day.

Bounce do a 3d printed shaft clamp set for X2s, £45, it works ok, I found the 9mm deformed after a few shocks.

Hi Bigyan - please can you get in touch via email office@bouncecycles.co.uk and I will sort you out with a new set if your 9mm has deformed? I'd definitely hope for better than a few shocks (I've been using the same set several times a week for the last year) so if it has failed I would want to put things right. The 9mm is usually the tricky one of the bunch even using aluminium clamps (Fox or ours - lowest clamping surface area) and benefits from isopropyl cleaner and a hot air gun to loosen the shaft, especially if the last person that serviced it used studlock - note to OP you don't need to do this BTW.

However absolutely no suggestion that it's user error or anything like that and although you don't have to for me to send a new set, if you could send me the old ones back (i'll reimburse your postage costs) I'd love to cut it up and see a cross section/how badly it has been deformed/what has caused it. It'd be the first set back but would be keen to keep a record of any failures so I can develop/re-asses. As I say I've been using the same set for the last year so think if you still have a need then it would be worth taking a new set. Alternatively as Onzadog points out we do an aluminium range of clamps so could sort you out with some of those. Would hate to leave a customer disappointed.

I’ve seen a few videos online and it really doesn’t seem that tricky. However, the Fox specific tools are prohibitively expensive.

I think it's the best candidate from the Fox range for home servicing personally notwithstanding the initial tooling costs. Just a few pointers - if you follow the Fox guide you will find that you are left with quite a few o rings from the service kit as there are few sections that they don't show you, like removing the compression/rebound cartridge and the body but this can be found here:

https://www.ridefox.com/fox17/help.php?m=bike&id=684

Also removal of the shock body from the eyelet - sometimes this will un-thread when you begin removing the seal head, if this happens you will definitely need some body clamps to re-tighten. As I say they don't show you removing the seal at the end of the body in the service guide (I'm guessing because that seal never really fails) but there is one to be replaced from the kit.

You might find you struggle to remove the IFP - I use the vacuum fill adaptor on the nitrogen bottle to gently blow it out but as a home mechanic without a the fill adaptor try using a blind bearing puller in the recess, you won't need to tighten it much, just hand tight and of course don't contact the sides of the IFP chamber with the tool. I've seen where a few people have tried to dig it out with a pick and have wrecked the IFP casting.

On the IFP depth tool just use a vernier caliper and if you don't have one prioritise one over the IFP tool as it will be far more useful.

Also you really need the bullet tool, if you catch the bearing on the shaft threads you will need to replace the bearing, which if you don't have the tool will be a pain.

Cheers. I did wonder if the 3d printed stuff would hold up. I imagine the bullet tool and IFP would be okay printed but clamps might be asking a bit much.

I have modelled the bullet tool and printed one out of various engineering plastics but it's a no go really as the walls are too thin. I'm nearing completion on a CNC lathe build so had intended to make some then but the reality is that the fox tool is around £12 so of all the tools it's not the biggest concern price wise.

As for printed clamps I'll be honest 12 months ago I would have completely dismissed the idea myself having regarded 3d printing as something for modellers and maybe prototyping. However I went to a big machine shop in Blackburn as we were having a bed ground for the aforementioned lathe build and they were printing fixtures for use in their milling machines. Watching a milling cutter going through piece of aluminium secured by a 3d printed clamp was a bit of an eye opener so we sourced the same filament and bought the same machine they were printing on. With our first drafts we were able to deform a scrap reverb lower post and an X2 air sleeve before the clamps failed. 3d printing does have it's limitations and the proper engineering filaments (as opposed to the hobby grade ones) are way more expensive than billet but the power consumption of the machine is way less than our mill, there's no swarf to deal with, no nasty coolant to get rid of so all these things equal a smaller carbon footprint. 3d printing is still relatively young but it's progressing rapidly and I really thing on a long enough timeline we will be growing everything instead of knocking lumps out of metal. I'm certainly more excited about 3d printing applications for our parts than our machined products.

@bouncecycles, thank you for taking the time to offer such a detailed response. Think I might have to give you a call in the next week or two about tooling up.

No problem anytime