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Fox 36 RC2 bladder fix?

scottishmark

Turbo Monkey
May 20, 2002
2,121
22
Somewhere dark, cold & wet....
I've just found out that, incredibly, Fox don't have the ability to supply replacement bladders for pre-2011 36 forks (may also apply to 40s?). So instead of a cheap part, Mojo (UK importer) are wanting £370 (approx $550) to replace the damper :shocked:

Has anyone here heard of, or had a go at trying to somehow fix these without the proper replacement parts?

I'm guessing there's no chance, but worth a shot
 

canadmos

Cake Tease
May 29, 2011
20,188
19,155
Canaderp
There are a few places online that still have them. Not at home at the moment, so I don't have links off hand but check CambriaBikes and Enduro Seal's (ews?) websites.
 

ChrisRobin

Turbo Monkey
Jan 30, 2002
3,346
190
Vancouver
Check with Push Industries. Maybe they have spare parts kicking around. If all else fails, I think I still have my damper in a box somewhere all intact (I put in an Avalanche cartridge in my fork).
 

gemini2k

Turbo Monkey
Jul 31, 2005
3,526
117
San Francisco
...are you sh*tting me? They don't support a wear item part for a fork that's 2 years old? Why would ANYONE continue buying fox products?
 

scottishmark

Turbo Monkey
May 20, 2002
2,121
22
Somewhere dark, cold & wet....
Have now found out the Mojo might still have a handful, but sooner or later it's done. Tf Tuned and the likes can't do anything to help now.

Would consider an Avy cart or the likes, but the chassis is a bit too beat up to warrant a big internal change
 

Kanye West

220# bag of hacktastic
Aug 31, 2006
3,740
470
That might be the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. There's no way I'd support that kind of thing (a thinly veiled manufacturing arrangement to get the customer to needlessly buy a new product).
 

trailbildr

Chimp
Aug 14, 2012
17
0
That doesn't sound right at all. I've serviced 2006+ 36 forks recently. Did you blow up the bladder? What parts do you need? I have some 36 parts in stock. Just the bladder?

mk
 

William42

fork ways
Jul 31, 2007
3,908
634
yeah, that sounds crazy. Don't buy fox again if its true. 2 years of product support is ridiculous.
 

RoboS

Chimp
Sep 1, 2008
44
0
I have lots of problems with bladder. Usually it takes 2-3 months riding to squeeze bladder inside, or it will pop out of damper assembly. So I'm thinking about removing bladder and drilling 1-2 holes to damper to make it work as "open bath". Of corse I have to use more oil, but I don't give a ****. I don't want to repair it every 3 months (on bike holiday in alps its neccesary every 3-4 days).

And also, I never gonna buy fox again.
 
Last edited:

djjohnr

Turbo Monkey
Apr 21, 2002
3,001
1,693
Northern California
damn right it doesn't. Two independents I use (think most here know of TF) have confirmed that the part isn't available, just waiting on Fox/Mojo to say if they have any left - last I heard is that they had a few left recently
Not available as in not right now, or not available as in Fox won't ever be stocking more?
 

scottishmark

Turbo Monkey
May 20, 2002
2,121
22
Somewhere dark, cold & wet....
Me: "Hi, I’ve recently been told that bladders for Fox 36 RC2 cartridges are no longer available, can you confirm if this is correct?"

TF Tuned: "Hi Mark,

Yes, that is absolutley true.

The only option is update the entire damper!!"

Loco Tuning: "36mm Float/Vanilla
(Please note the older non inverted FIT carts.(pre 2011) can no longer be serviced due to bladders being no longer available, cartridge upgrades are available to the newer version)"

Doesn't sound good
 

scottishmark

Turbo Monkey
May 20, 2002
2,121
22
Somewhere dark, cold & wet....
I have lots of problems with bladder. Usually it takes 2-3 months riding to squeeze bladder inside, or it will pop out of damper assembly. So I'm thinking about removing bladder and drilling 1-2 holes to damper to make it work as "open bath". Of corse I have to use more oil, but I don't give a ****. I don't want to repair it every 3 months (on bike holiday in alps its neccesary every 3-4 days).

And also, I never gonna buy fox again.
That might get very messy unless you could also fit a proper oil seal below the wiper
 

Kanye West

220# bag of hacktastic
Aug 31, 2006
3,740
470
That might get very messy unless you could also fit a proper oil seal below the wiper
Yes, that will project volcanic ****s upwards somewhere in the first few hard impacts.

Please get video.


On a more serious note, would people be interested in a spring-backed compensator in place of the bladder for those forks? Spring rate or preload would be adjustable (internally). Probably run $100-200 somewhere, would add some weight (OH NO!!!) and reduce the service frequency substantially.

Likely would add some more progressive feel to the damping as well.
 

Freeridin'

Monkey
Oct 23, 2006
316
2
Colorado
That might get very messy unless you could also fit a proper oil seal below the wiper
Yes, that will project volcanic ****s upwards somewhere in the first few hard impacts.

Please get video.
A good amount of Fox forks, possibly the majority of them, are open bath dampers. Unless the ports are made too small, sealing all of that oil in should be no different....
 

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
18,850
9,556
AK
A good amount of Fox forks, possibly the majority of them, are open bath dampers. Unless the ports are made too small, sealing all of that oil in should be no different....
Is the compression damper at the top? If so, it's just going to suck air back in on the rebound when you cycle it, because open bath dampers have the compression piston at the bottom.
 

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
18,850
9,556
AK
But anyways, with a "traditional bladder damper", the compression piston is up top and fixed in position, oil is cycled through the piston and to the bladder, due to the compression of the leg, and the bladder provides for the heat-expansion, somewhere for the oil to go as the pistons displace it, and keeps the oil from foaming. Unless you have an open bath damper, there has to be a reservoir and system to compensate for fluid expansion and heat, even fox RP23s have reservoirs and pistons, except that they are very small.

Marzocchi tried to make a "bladder damper" with their old TST system. It looked like one. It had a bladder like one. It had the compression piston like one, but in reality it was so crude it was basically like a Jr T damper inside of a damping cartridge and worked like total crap.
 

Udi

RM Chief Ornithologist
Mar 14, 2005
4,915
1,200
I'd verify with Fox directly before suggesting that they don't actually make/supply these parts anymore. You can find their contact details on the website.

Where I live you can still readily buy the bladders for the old forks, and I haven't heard from any source that they are no longer available.

Sounds to me like something wrong through your chain of distributors/retailers than a fault of Fox themselves.
 

PUSHIND

PUSH Industries (Duh)
Dec 5, 2003
220
244
Colorado
This isn't anything new unfortunately. FOX discontinued the item months ago and ran out of stock. We snatched up as many as we could and have a solution in the works. It seems like all of the suspension companies are now on a 2 year support system for all of their products.

Darren
 

Udi

RM Chief Ornithologist
Mar 14, 2005
4,915
1,200
Well that actually is retarded then, considering it's the biggest failure point of those old dampers.
 

goodgrief

Monkey
Aug 13, 2008
104
1
Innerleithen, Scotland
Avy cartridge it is then, they already replace the bladder with springs 'n sh1t. I take apart my 40's once a year and the oil that comes out of the avy cart looks as good as when it went in.
 

ChrisRobin

Turbo Monkey
Jan 30, 2002
3,346
190
Vancouver
Well he said his fork was beat to **** so by the time he gets an Avy catridge, or pays big money for some other fix, his lowers or stanchions will need replacing and there won't be any parts available. Fox not having a small part like that is ridiculous but I'm sure he'll find someone that has one.

Speaking of Avy catridges, I wonder why Craig made an inverted design for the 40 instead of using his conventional right-side up cartridge.
 

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
18,850
9,556
AK
Well he said his fork was beat to **** so by the time he gets an Avy catridge, or pays big money for some other fix, his lowers or stanchions will need replacing and there won't be any parts available. Fox not having a small part like that is ridiculous but I'm sure he'll find someone that has one.

Speaking of Avy catridges, I wonder why Craig made an inverted design for the 40 instead of using his conventional right-side up cartridge.
Same reason that fox did I'd imagine.
 

demo 9

Turbo Monkey
Jan 31, 2007
5,910
46
north jersey
Bos reccomends fork seals every 2 years-just some food for thought-by the time its extinct for fox-its time for its first service for bos
 

gemini2k

Turbo Monkey
Jul 31, 2005
3,526
117
San Francisco
Well that actually is retarded then, considering it's the biggest failure point of those old dampers.
Retarded or genius? But seriously, this is absofvckinglutely insane. I can't believe they are pulling this BS. I can still get reasonably priced parts for my 08 888 and 06 roco every time I've checked.
 

scottishmark

Turbo Monkey
May 20, 2002
2,121
22
Somewhere dark, cold & wet....
£1000 fork? Retarded, or at least retarded enough to make sure I don't buy another until this support issue goes away (which will have to be years from now)

Well he said his fork was beat to ****
It's not really that bad, some marks on the lowers but nothing serious but it does also have some stanchion wear. I bought the fork 18months ago for £280, so with the stanchion wear (£120ish to sort) plus the damper (£400+) I'm up at the price of a new fork. X-fusion Slant for example is going for under £500 here
 

Udi

RM Chief Ornithologist
Mar 14, 2005
4,915
1,200
Those old dampers are quite problematic anyway, if funds allow I'd upgrade to the new design which is superior to pretty much everything else I've seen on the market. I'd much sooner do that than buying an Avy cartridge.

However there is a bit of an art to rebuilding those old bladder dampers, if you do it right you tend to get much longer service life out of them.

scottishmark -
What exactly is wrong with the current bladder, do you have others kicking around as well? Unless they are torn or severely deformed from a piece popping out at the bottom under pressure you can often re-use them. Pictures help. Although I'd be surprised if you couldn't find a new one if you dug hard enough.

I found the trick is to make sure they have maximum air volume / expansion before installation, and to be very careful installing the nut that holds it all together. It needs to be red loctited, but if there is ANY oil on the threads this process will be a failure. My trick (after bleeding and topping up) is to first tighten down the nut to seat the bladder and displace the required oil, and to then remove the nut completely. The bladder endcap should barely rise up, maybe 0.5mm. I then use methylated spirits to thoroughly clean the threads on both the shaft and inside the nut, a few times if needed, and then carefully dry with towels free of oil. At this point I apply a generous amount of loctite to the base of the threads and inside the nut for good measure, and tighten it up as much as possible.

Most problems I've seen are due to that nut losing torque due to improper assembly.