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Strength of Boxxer lowers vs. 888 lowers?

ChrisRobin

ChrisRobin

Turbo Monkey
Jan 30, 2002
3,349
192
Vancouver
Anyone know if the lowers of one fork are stronger than the other?? I've heard of people tweaking their 05+ Boxxers (much less than pre 05) but never for the 888. Plus, I'm assuming you can dent both of them fairly easily.

Or....

I can just wait, stack up the cash and get an Avy inverted fork (despite the fact they can twist).
 
- seb

- seb

Turbo Monkey
Apr 10, 2002
2,924
1
UK
I've been riding Boxxers for over 6 years now. After 3 years riding I managed to twist the lowers of my 2000 Boxxers, other than that I've never had a problem.

A friend of mine managed to put a hole in the bottom of his 2001.5 Boxxers last week, just by having a bike stacked badly on an uplift truck we suspect :(

Other than that I don't think I've ever seen any busted Boxxer lowers, but I do hear about them fairly often, but normally it's just Marzocchi fan-boys on here bashing them...
 
nh dude

nh dude

Monkey
May 30, 2003
571
16
Vt
i twisted my lowers at mt snow in 05
a freind smashed a hole in his lowers at diablo causing fork oil to squish all over his brake
another freind of took a chunk out of his lowers at sunday river a couple years ago

a buddy of mine with a triple eight landed heavy on his front wheel of a solid 12 foot drop
a week later he noticed decreased performance and more force was needed to compress the fork and t the black powder coat was rubbing off of the stantion figured he twisted his lowers...nope
the pinch bolt on the lower crown slipped on impact we believe allowing one stantion to ride lower than the other.
unbolted it leveled it out and its been fine since.
that says alot.
 
Ian Collins

Ian Collins

Turbo Monkey
Oct 4, 2001
1,428
0
Pacific Beach, San Diego, CA
nh dude said:
i twisted my lowers at mt snow in 05
a freind smashed a hole in his lowers at diablo causing fork oil to squish all over his brake
another freind of took a chunk out of his lowers at sunday river a couple years ago

a buddy of mine with a triple eight landed heavy on his front wheel of a solid 12 foot drop
a week later he noticed decreased performance and more force was needed to compress the fork and t the black powder coat was rubbing off of the stantion figured he twisted his lowers...nope
the pinch bolt on the lower crown slipped on impact we believe allowing one stantion to ride lower than the other.
unbolted it leveled it out and its been fine since.
that says alot.
Click to expand...

ummmm...on which fork?
 
nh dude

nh dude

Monkey
May 30, 2003
571
16
Vt
an 05 boxxer race was the fork that I twisted at mt snow
thankfully rockshox hooked it up pronto with an 05 race for the cost of new lowers
 
bc2002

bc2002

Chimp
Nov 23, 2004
65
0
Vancouver, BC
nh dude said:
an 05 boxxer race was the fork that I twisted at mt snow
thankfully rockshox hooked it up pronto with an 05 race for the cost of new lowers
Click to expand...
How much did they charge you. I got a set of 2004 WC, and the lowers are pretty mucked up, but in fine structural condition. So I was thinking of replacing them.

Thanks
 
bballe336

bballe336

Turbo Monkey
Mar 3, 2005
1,757
0
MA
The problems with lowers are generally on the pre-05 boxxers. And the 05 and up boxxers can get tweaked in the crowns (twist slightly) and if you don't re-adjust them it could potentially damage the lowers. Both problems occur very seldomly as far as I am aware.

And the twisting issue doesn't seem to happen on the 7 inch boxxers, only on the 8 inch ones. And almost all of the 8 inch forks on the market will twist in the crowns if you give them a hard enough hit. I don't consider that much of an issue though.
 
ChrisRobin

ChrisRobin

Turbo Monkey
Jan 30, 2002
3,349
192
Vancouver
bballe336 said:
And the twisting issue doesn't seem to happen on the 7 inch boxxers, only on the 8 inch ones. And almost all of the 8 inch forks on the market will twist in the crowns if you give them a hard enough hit. I don't consider that much of an issue though.
Click to expand...
I can see that happening to the 05+ Boxxers since the lowers (axle to seal) is the same height as the older Boxxers and have less bushing overlap.

Cool, thanks for the info guys!!! I'll see if I can pick up a Boxxer or 888 cheap somewhere.
 
Bicyclist

Bicyclist

Turbo Monkey
Apr 4, 2004
10,152
2
SB
I know someone that broke their 888 lowers. Then on a Boxxer he bent the lowers (2005 Race) and RS sent him the wrong lowers so they just sent him a new 2005 Ride and the new lowers for free.
 
Zark

Zark

Hey little girl, do you want some candy?
Oct 18, 2001
6,254
7
Reno 911
Bicyclist said:
I know someone that broke their 888 lowers. Then on a Boxxer he bent the lowers (2005 Race) and RS sent him the wrong lowers so they just sent him a new 2005 Ride and the new lowers for free.
Click to expand...
John toasted the 888 lowers by over torquing the pinch bolts, that s little different:rolleyes:
 
Zark

Zark

Hey little girl, do you want some candy?
Oct 18, 2001
6,254
7
Reno 911
kidwoo said:
I've been reading a lot of threads on mtbr lately. How am I doing?
Click to expand...
I wouldn't know I haven't wandered over there in quite a while:rofl:
It was funny though!
 
Bicyclist

Bicyclist

Turbo Monkey
Apr 4, 2004
10,152
2
SB
Zark said:
John toasted the 888 lowers by over torquing the pinch bolts, that s little different:rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Is that the story he told you? :rofl:

I heard he broke them on the Bryant St. double in Ojai.
 
Zark

Zark

Hey little girl, do you want some candy?
Oct 18, 2001
6,254
7
Reno 911
Bicyclist said:
Is that the story he told you? :rofl:

I heard he broke them on the Bryant St. double in Ojai.
Click to expand...
No, I got his original story and ignored it:rofl:

No, thats just where it eventually failed...at the dropout, from over torquing. the jump was just the straw breaking the camel's back
 
konabiker

konabiker

Monkey
Jun 30, 2004
669
0
Santa Barbara
I know of 2 people that have twisted 888 lowers...and countless people that broke their lowers at the pinch bolt on the 2004 888's.

I twisted the lowers on a pre 2004 boxxer, and I guess that hasn't be all so un-common. After my experience on the 2004 888r however I got a new boxxer.

Both are good forks, choose which ever on you can get the best deal on.
 
D

dhfalife

Chimp
Mar 31, 2005
38
0
Milwaukee, WI - Drunkest city in the U.S.
Friend of mine crashed in a pretty nast rock garden...He put a quarter-sized hole in the lower part of the Boxxer fork leg... Also managed to hairline crack the replacement, without a crash.I had a similar crash with 888, just a big scratch resulted. FWIW, his crash would have probably punctured any fork leg though. Other than that nobody I know has had any issues, but the 888 lowers seem beefier.
 
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