How To Perform A Lower Leg Service | Mountain Bike Suspension Fork Service
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- čas přidán 11. 06. 2021
- Over time, dirt and grime can make their way past the seals and into your fork's lower legs.This increases the stiction and can reduce the longevity of your suspension if left unattended. Here's how to perform a lower leg service to keep your fork clean and well lubricated 🔧
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The things we watch at 5am after waking up XD
Exactly my thoughts while watching this
Im watching at 3am rn, and i gotta wake up at 6. Have to go to north-norway, ill buy a new bike :)
Update:now its 4 am
Imagine your speakers were up and everyone heard “WELL LUBRICATED AND CLEAN” at 3 am, that would suck or “A SMALL AMOUNT OF FLUID THAT HELPS THE SLIDING ACTION” that would suck worse.
Or at 3:30am before going to sleep...
Another trick I use for the foam rings is, use a small clear bag (usually the packaging it came in) and put some 20wt into it with the foam rings and just move the oil and rings around in there to soak the foam effectively. It does not use much oil that way in comparison to filling a dish with oil.
Your kids will probably throw those oil bottles out still 80% full.
I just put some oil in a red solo cup and drop then in. I'll then use my syringes to also suck oil out of the cup rather than try and do it from the oil bottle. When I'm done whatever extra is left in the cup I just pour back into the oil bottle.
I love your how to series! It makes my life easier. Thank you!
Nice job Doddy. Souza from Brazil. I made a career in the field of industrial maintenance, going from apprentice mechanic to mechanical engineer in the 30 years of profession. During this period, I had the opportunity to perform maintenance on hydraulic components such as servo motors, hydraulic cylinders, pumps, etc. As I already work in this area, I also maintain my bike, including the suspension. Regarding the maintenance hour interval for the suspensions (125 FOX and 150 Rockshox), I always question whether it is really necessary to have such a short time interval. At first, I strictly followed this interval time, but I increased this interval as I verified that the oil and seals were intact. Today I do lower leg every 300 hours, and complete maintenance once a year. Even increasing the interval to one year, the oil in the hydraulic chamber is intact. As I mentioned, I've worked with hydraulic cylinders with services much more severe than a bike suspension. I wonder if I had to do maintenance at intervals as short as bike maintenance. I know that with regard to the lower leg, you have to be very careful if you make a decision to space it out. However, opening a Raceday cartridge every 150 hours, or a FIT4 Fox every 125 hours, doesn't seem very correct and/or necessary to me. In your experience, what do you think about these time intervals, especially the maintenance of cartridges?
What an incredible yet unnoticed comment
Apply the same mtb standards to automotive damper/shocks and it would be totally unacceptable
Great info, your killin it lately man.
Another great video Doddy. Would love to see a video on how to carry out a basic air can service too. Keep up the good work🤘🏽
Doddster you are the f##king man! All you videos are both entertaining and therapeutic. Legend. GMBN would not be the same without you.
I have lost count of how many times they have made this video lol
Just what i needed
Would be good to see the full 200hr service as well.
I did a full service on my Manitou Markhor over the winter and the difference was incredible. I know Daddy mentioned the Step Cast tools being a barrier to entry, but assuming you need to do this at least once per year they will pretty quickly pay for themselves, same with the special Fox sockets if you're looking to service the uppers.
EVERY 3-6 MONTHS, DEPENDING ON USAGE
Excellent step by step explanation and filming
Of servicing MTB front forks , saved me the best part of £200 at my local repere shop . THANKS 👍.
Nice job Doddy. I like it, very good video instruction 👍
Great video Doddy thanks 👌
Great video and a big help. Thanks👍
Fun fact for everyone. It is best to not use your torque wrench to place the nut/bolt down. Only use the torque wrench to torque it down. He does so in the video like you should. I have a buddy who uses his torque wrench for everything and it drives me crazy. I have worked with people who calibrate these for a living and it damages the torque wrench over time.
Super helpful, thanks
So helpful thanks ! 😊
Love these video's....I know your saying it's very similar with rockshox, but I'd like to see another video with a rockshox in the stand!
The seals can be installed using a socket that fits over the seals. Not as good as the special installation tool which guides the seals straight as well, but it can be done.
I see on Fox website for torquing fork foot nuts: dampener side gets 9.0 Nm, and air spring side is 5.7 Nm.
Excellent vid Doddy, thanks! A couple of things I'd like to add though; if you don't have a seal driver you can install new dust seals perfectly using a long length of threaded rod right through the lower leg with nuts and washers on the bottom (and possibly a couple of layers of old inner tube to avoid scratching the paint) and an appropriately-sized socket on top of the dust seal. Set up carefully this guarantees the seal will enter and seat into the lower leg squarely as you press them in by doing up the nuts on each end. If your fork is brand new this is also a great method for installing the star fangled nut after cutting the steerer tube to length (a lot of bike shops just beat them in). Also if your fork has QR dropouts, go to your LBS and get hold of one of those plastic inserts which are in the dropouts on brand new bikes and fit it as soon as you remove the front wheel; this protects the dropouts from scratches/damage and ensures there's no chance of snapping the lower legs across the central arch (ordinarily the lowers get a lot of their structural integrity from being assembled to the crown steerer and when you remove them they're quite susceptible to this). Hope this helps someone!
Good one. PVC pipe and a mallet works just as well.
Or a big socket of the right diameter, that's basically all the custom tool is
Hello 👋 from Bucharest România 🇧🇪 👍
nice and clear video. is it the same practice for a fox talas fork?
"Something to use as a pick... Obviously a pick is the best thing for that purpose"
😂
great tutorial nice job thank you. USA
That Slick Kick is brilliant grease, I’ve got a huge tub of it for my three mtbs, you save money getting the 500g tub rather than those little tubes which cost £20, you can get the tub which is £40 but has ten times the amount in it !!! It’s a no brainer !!!
Hey Doddy, great job, please make a video of a rockshox charger 2 damper bleed.
if you have a coupler which you use on blue pipe that you find on farms, that works quite well to drive new seals in i've found instead of buying the actual tool
Nice video, about time I get my tools out. You mentioned to put some links in the description, but there are none
Find the Fox service help here: gmbn.tech/FoxService
Find the Rockshox service help here: gmbn.tech/RockshoxService
You've already made multiple videos on lower leg service (along with everyone else) how's about some videos on full damper services. You've still never made one of those and I'm sure there are lots of people that would like to see this for both rockshox and fox.
Manufacturer has these videos too... Zzzzz
@@BGraves I've never seen damper service videos on both Rockshox and Fox websites. I've only seen lower 50 hour service and upgrading damper videos. They do have how to PDF's to service dampers, which I've used for years, but they are very general and typically always seem to be missing steps. if you come across full damper service videos from front and rear from either company feel free to share. thanks
Damper services can be beyond the abilities of a lot of home mechanics. Its something where you can easily make a mistake and not notice until its too late. There is a good reason why you don't see too many damper DIYs...its because its a lot more difficult to do than a seal and oil change. Heck...they don't even show you how to remove the fork seals in this video. There are also many small parts that can easily be lost. If you want a damper that's relatively easy to service...get a DVO or Manitou...skip Fox and Rockshox.
@@zoubtube once you are into the fork and you pull out the damper it is all pretty self-explanatory especially with the help of the PDF. Perhaps that's why videos don't exist. It's not rocket science once you're in. Same for rear damper
@@zoubtube Grip and Grip 2 service explained here, including detailed videos. www.ridefox.com/fox17/help.php?m=bike&listall=service
Good to know, that I will need to get a pro to do this for me
Nice tutorial Dodd. We all should know, but you've missed the safety googles 🤔 cheers.
At the risk of sounding like a safety nerd:
I would strongly recommend wearing eye protection when using any kind of canned solvents like brake cleaner.
I made this mistake once and got a can with a faulty nozzel and ended up with brake cleaner in my eyes. Not only did it hurt but for a while I was convinced I was going to go blind.
Really easy to just pop some safety glasses on. You never know if there is a leaky nozzel on these things.
As you were.
Or just don't spray it in your eyes 😂
But as he was, he wasn't wearing safety glasses. So that was an exercise in futility.
@@DonTagliatelleRaviolli As YOU were. Not him
@@superchickensoup Holy shit, check out Einstien over here.
Should have gone into the air chamber to fix the flaws from the factory. Specifically, the gloop of grease in the negative air chamber that Fox has never fixed and is in every fork. Thanks
congratulations for the video. can i use oil with w specification from other brands?
Just soak the foam rings, dont f around with a syringe, you might waste an ml of oil, but its the way its supposed to be done for full saturation.
Great video Doddy, when oiling the foam rings I assume you use 20wt for the air side and 5wt for the damper side, as you wouldn’t want to have the wrong oils in either side.
I don't even have suspention on my bike but I am still watching. Great video as always
lol suspention ? i don´t even have a bike and i am still watching it haha
@@TheOfficialRealWorld 🤣🤣
Hi Doddy. I have done this little service on my fork and rear damper a couple of times. No hassle. But #GMBNTech do you trust ypurself to do the big service (200h) also?
large 32mm or 27 ect sockets for seals... just watch the little springs inside and out.
Hi GMBN, do you think that you could so a similar video for marzochi forks and fox rear shocks? I know that my fork needs to be doen and my shock is making scratching sounds.
You've done about 5 videos on servicing air forks but not 1 for coil forks. About time maybe?
the only difference will be that you will have a coil instead of an air chamber. As this maintenance is about wiper seals and it's lubrication the principles are the same for both kind of forks
Some coil forks like the one I have aren't worth servicing the cost alone is a big factor it's sometimes is cheaper to replace the fork instead
@@gulfcitynd So buying some oil for a coil fork and servicing it yourself is more expensive than buying a new fork? Ohlins has a coil fork that goes for 1,400 euro, so...
@@Powerhugful Sr suntour xcm not worth the cost of service when I could upgrade it
@@gulfcitynd These videos are for a wider audience than just you. You might be upgrading yours so you don't need to service it but other people may want to learn how to service their coil fork.
Can you do this for coil shocks? I have suntor shocks on a Carrera hardtail and would love to know how to service them.
Can you please provide a link to the syringes you use to refill the oil?
Merci
Yeah if I need that done I'll bring the bike to my shop and let them do that and give the whole bike a good tuneup at the same time
Gud vid.
Great Video. But I can't find the chart in the description that is promised at 1:52. Please help.
Find the Fox service help here: gmbn.tech/FoxService
Find the Rockshox service help here: gmbn.tech/RockshoxService
I bought some used bikes that are pretty old. I don’t have the owners manuals for them, how can I find out the correct oils and volumes to use for a service? Never done a fork service so I’m kinda nervous to attempt lol
Where's the link?
Can you actually feel difference in fork work after servicing them so often that oil didnt even change or its just to make sure that you will not wear out any part of fork
Dude you’re doing the work replace the foam rings.
What are the torque specs for the bottom screws air side and damper side . I couldn’t find any
waiting for a fit4 damper maintenance tutorial.
i love that root beer colour
av had over 1000 hours with my fork never re oiled lowers then a did after thus vid and was near enough no change
I'd rather rather eat those foam rings than calamari, thanks. 😊
Great video Doddy, very helpful, cheers
I just crushed the bottom cork of the rebound, and broke the little rod that controls the rebound, Is it possible to replace it?
Hey Guys! Does anyone know, if there is a video on the Internet about the full service, on the FOX 36/38 (todays models) including the damper section? And also is there any video about the service of an FLOAT X2? I love my FOX Dampers, but I hate FOX for not having nice or at least any manuals like RockShox...
Good day i have a di2 ulterga but the battery keeps drainning when its fully charge. What be the problem ?
Is it really necesarry to buy 946 ml of Fox 5wt oil? I last longer than my knickers. I can`t find any smaller bottles. Rock Shox has 120 ml bottles.
Hello planning to use this video to do my first lower leg service on my fox 36 performance forks
Only question I had was you said the job may require some special tooling but did not see any use of it during the job.
Is using the 10mm and 15mm to tap the legs free enough ?
You don’t need to use the fox lower leg tools, they are very good and take all the risk out of hitting the lowers or the adjuster in the damper side though.
Cleaned my foam rings the other week using alcohol and they increased in diameter quite a bit and after soaking in oil were very difficult to reinsert due to their increased size.
cut a second ring out of the one !
Should you smear some silkoleum / SRAM butter on the upper bushings of the lowers before re-assembly? I think the grease would stay in place better than suspension oil alone for less wear of the stanctions.
I have a coil type MTB fork with lockout and there is a leak in the bolt like timestamp 7:32, what should I do? There are no washers on the bolts from the factory.
Can you make on Manitou or something else or your contracts are for Fox ?
more people click the video the nicer the product.
Heyyyyyy you gotta hold the handle on the torque wrench to get the right torque. Good video though 😁
Doddy, is there need for this fork to add 3cc of oil in air chamber (where tokens are), no one mentions it on videos, but there is somewhere in documentation?
Fox recommends 3cc of 20wt gold above the air spring.
Don´t have to bleed that fork oil?
My fork is leaking oil on the bottom of the lower legs. The allen lock which is on the bottom of the leg with the air nozzle. How can I fix it?
I want that rootbeer 36 so bad 😭
I'm thinking about getting those rubber covers that you can find on older bikes and to somehow put them over my suspension.
Is that a bad idea??
Nope, as long as it doesn’t scratch the metal, you can use a rubber boot or a neoprene boot. I like the neoprene ones but you just gotta make sure not to let them sit wet/dirty on the stanchions or they will do more harm than good.
Is it OK to use chain cleaner?
Is it necessary to use suspension specific grease or can I use any grease?
suspension specific grease is formulated to not harm the seals and to be compatible with fork oil.
That complete ParkTool workshop would cost a small fortune. 🤑
Hi there is this the same process for coil forks instead of air?
No difference on a lower leg service.
I don't see any links to the info regarding the oils for Fox & Rockshox?
Find the Fox service help here: gmbn.tech/FoxService
Find the Rockshox service help here: gmbn.tech/RockshoxService
I recently serviced my Fox 36 and I am seeing small amounts of oil on my stanchions ever time it is compressed. I popped the lowers off again, to inspect for a broken foam ring but it was fine. I also replaced my dust wipers using the seal driver tool ensuring it was flush. At this point I don't know what else could be wrong. At best, I wonder if it is the residual oil wrong the foam rings as I did use the soaking method to pre-oil them and I did not squeeze any oil out before installing them. Any ideas?
I have the exact same issue with mine. No idea why either. I used the soaking method as well
If you pre-soak the foam rings, are you technically adding more oil per leg than the manufacturers spec? How much oil does a fully saturated foam ring hold? Do the manufactures expect a fully saturated foam ring before adding the specified oil volume? Thanks doddy, your a G.
Fox can handle up to 10% over recommend amount your foam wipers will hold about 2ml each
@@superchickensoup Ten percent of 5 ml is 1/2 ml, so the last question still wants answering.
@gmbn tech Guys, do i need to remove the air before doing lower leg service?
A month late here (and I'm sure you figured it out by now), but yes. And turn your rebound all the way down too
#AskGMBNTech
This is very relevant to your video. I've got a 2016 Fox34 Factory Series. Can I use any type of suspension oil/fluid, example: motorcycle suspension oil as long as they are the same weight? Reason I ask is that Fox specific oils are very hard to come by and are very expensive whereas there are a lot of motorcycle workshops near where I live and they have various suspension oils for various motorcycle forks
What you want to do is not match the Wt of the oil but the viscosity that is measured in CST for example.
Fox Fork 20Wt Gold bath oil 98.9cst @40C / 13.6cst @ 100 C ===> Elf 20 W fork oil: 99 cst / 40 C - 14.6 cst / 100 C
Fox R3 5W (damper oil) 15.8cst @40C / 4.07cst @100 c ====> Maxima 5W 16.2cst / 4.4cst
@@paradox963 see I always thought that the oil weight WT, sort of indicates the viscosity of an oil and anything labelled 20wt or 5wt can be used on my Fox fork. From what you've stated, other oil cst numbers are different from the Fox oil but would the difference be a big deal?
I live in Malaysia (it's hot & humid) and I can easily go into a motorcycle workshop, a petrol station or a hardware store and buy 20wt or 5wt suspension oil from Elf, Motul, Maxima, etc.
They're quite affordable whereas it's very difficult to source Fox specific suspension oil and if I could find it, the price is 3-4 times more.
Also when I say motorcycle, in Malaysia they're mostly scooters & mopeds (100 - 125cc engine types) and there are a lot of them around. I think that's why it's easy to get motorcycle suspension oil in the market
❤❤❤❤❤
I really wish they would show the removal and installation of the seals in these videos. They can be awkward to remove for a lot of people...especially if its your first time. Everyone has a different way to remove them...and if you don't do it properly...you can really mess up your fork lower. Same with pressing them in. They can be a nightmare to press in...especially if you don't have a piloted seal driver.
@@irfuel Just tap them in a bit first to break the seal.
This is a job I have been putting off as I thought it would be too complex but you've given me the confidence to go ahead with it.
One criticism though is your use of the torque wrench. 1 click only. Clicking it multiple times was just over torquing the nut, you could see how far extra it moved afterwards
While we're talking about how to use a torque wrench, that's also the wrong grip. By putting his thumb on the opposite side of the wrench, he reduced the amount of torque transmitted to the fastener. You should use an open grip on only one side of the handle.
On the newer forks with the air bleeders, why can’t you just remove each bleeder to drain and refill the oil? I figure you can remove the bleeders, put the fork in the stand and angle it slightly so the oil runs to the bleeder holes.
A lower leg will benefit from clean foam rings and clean grease packed seals just as much as fresh oil. You want to get as much dirt out as possible.
Doddy, I still have a bottle of Rock Shox Red Rum from my old fork. Is there anything on my Fox fork where I can use this as a substitute? #AskGMBNTech
I still have "Judy butter" from my old RS Q21R LOL
Ha! that's more oil coming out than you'll ever see from a new Fox built fork. Clearly someone flushed that one before. I've never seen Fox put more than 5ml in any lower leg. IDK what they're doing wrong but all my new Fox forks get a drain and proper fill.
None of the links to rockshox and fox are in the description.
Find the Fox service help here: gmbn.tech/FoxService
Find the Rockshox service help here: gmbn.tech/RockshoxService
@@gmbntech thank you
I could use a 'How to perform a lower BACK service' video
Where is the link in the description???
Find the Fox service help here: gmbn.tech/FoxService
Find the Rockshox service help here: gmbn.tech/RockshoxService
@@gmbntech thanks! :)
you said 10 cc in an air side, but i think you put more than 10 cc?
@7:45 Crush washers are a one time use item, they're meant to make up for manufacturing irregularities. Pls don't reuse them, be it in the bike world or automotive. It's a "wear" item.
No point in replacing seals, if you can reuse them. If they are in good condition, they will seal again.
If you can afford the oils, tools and seals then you can afford new crush washers for a few more pennies. No point doing half a job.
Also cleaning and regreasing the air side will only take an extra 10-15 mins so should do that while the lowers are off. 👍🏽👍🏽
Don't put water inside your forks people 😱 that's shocking advice
As long as it dries out %100 it’s totally fine. Obviously you wouldn’t want to reassemble your fork with water in it.
The use of warm soapy water or isopropyl alcohol is in the procedure from Fox people.
Are you able to use calamari as foam rings?
Yes but they need to be change every 2 hours
@@superchickensoup thank you
only if they have been deep fried with extra virgin olive oil
@@danimp321 I heard you can baste them in SRAM butter
can these tires go tubeless?
What? It's a fork vid.
Can I service my fork once a month?
I mean... you can. But there's not really a reason to
I'd rather sand it with sand paper rapped around and ice block stick in a more concentrated area. You will be there for ever with that sanding block . It would be to easy to sand were you don't want to sand . Just use the file get it close finish with sand paper . Anyway why didn't we see the finish product to see how good it was.
Is it true that if you fill the oil bath in your forks with a carton of milk you can have a nice creamy yoghurt smoothie when you do your next service?
Jeeze! This is quite an operation! "Every 50 hours." Hmm..
Can I use a heavier weight of oil for my forks as I am a heavier rider? In Motocross we can , but not sure about the bikes. Please help! Thank you.
Fork is Rockshox Judy on 2021 Giant Talon 1.
Thanks from Raleigh NC USA 🇺🇸
Yes you can. I use a lighter oil in my Fox 32 Talas and it works fine. But you got to check some things out before you do this. Be aware that you may loose your warranty. The stupid measurements in Weight e.g. 10wt don't mean anything. Instead look at the viscosity in cSt as well as the viscosity index. The index shows how constant the thickness of the oil is. So you might want to select a oil with a higher viscosity, but about the same viscosity index.
@@michaelfauter3318 I am sorry for the late response, though I truly appreciate the advice! Thank you for answering my question as this now will help tremendously. I will try this ! Can't wait! Hopefully will do a fork upgrade soon.