Forks seem to have "sag" in them after rebuild.

[jbrooks26]

Hi Guys,

I am no suspension expert, but I think there may be something wrong in my forks. After rebuild, with the forks off of the bike, I can push the inner tube up into the outer tube about 1.5 inches without any resistance. Everything is tight, with the fork completely re-assembled and the proper amount of oil in each of them. On the plus side, they are identical but I don't think this is normal. Anyone seen this, am I full of crap? Thanks,

Josh

[jbrooks26]

Reposted this in the Suspension forum. Thought I might get better results there. Thanks guys, reply to either one if you have any suggestions or comments please.

Josh

[creeky]

You didn't leave the preload spacers out did you?

[jbrooks26]

No, I did not leave any parts out and I had no parts left over.

[phynx]

Correct oil, amount, weight? All spacers went in coerrectly? ?

[jbrooks26]

Everything went back together just as it came apart. All went smooth, I used 5wt fork oil qty within the tollerences listed in the manual. I don't think oil amount would cause this anyway, as it is like this without any weight on it. I am thinking that there may be a preload adjustment that I need to work with, any thoughts on that? Thank you,

Josh

[drtrcr400]

Take them back apart, something is wrong. Did you screw the cartridge rod back into the cap?

[jbrooks26]

Going to do another rebuild over Thanksgiving. I have been running them like this for almost 2 years with no ill effects. I am thinking that there must be some adjustment to correct this. The suspension seems to work fine other than this little bit of play at the extended end of the stroke. Thanks,

Josh

[Crashly]

Josh, I just rebuilt mine last week with 5w Bel Ray as well. This is only the second time that I have rebuilt them but neither time was there 1.5" of free float at the top of the stroke. The only time when I get free float in the forks is when I have drained all of the oil in the bottom leg and I have the plunger free without any oil. Is is possible that there is air in the lower forks? The manual says that you must fill the lower leg then pull the plunger all the way up and down 10 complete cycles, after every cycle I would have to add more oil. When all the bleeding was done I had close to 1 quart in each fork. After that was done the outer tube must be pulled up and down 10 times but no more than 7.5" or you have to start the whole procedure again. After that is done then you adjust for the fork oil leval and then reinstall the spring. Good luck hope this helps.

[jbrooks26]

Yeah, I remember doing that but I don't remember having to add much oil so Maybe I wasn't getting any air out. This is very possible, but I also would have thought that riding for 2 years would have worked the air out of the lower fork into the upper chamber and making the fork excessively soft. Just my theory, I could be totally full of crap. Thanks guys,

Josh

[creeky]

The only thing that I can think of that would cause the 1 1/2" of slack is that the preload spacers are either too short or missing.