Quantcast

squeaky rear shock from spring?

Dh builder

Chimp
Sep 30, 2013
54
2
I'm looking for some tips here.

I've noticed my rear shock got very squeaky all of a sudden. I'm running a Fox DHX RC4 in 10.5".

What makes it go away is if I play with the spring tension from turning that preload ring that pushes on the spring.

What seems to happen is eventually the noise will come back.

It seems that possibly the spring is getting loose again, probably by the preload ring coming loose. Maybe because I adjusted it with bike weight on the shock.

How do I set the correct tension on that spring, should I lift the rear of the bike to remove the bike weight from the spring than adjust the preload ring? Fox instructions say to turn the ring until it just touches the spring and turn it clockwise one turn, than turn no more than two full turns from that point.
 

csermonet

Monkey
Mar 5, 2010
942
127
I recently had the same problem, take the shock off and grease all the hardware and reassemble, I would also take the spring off the shock and grease the contact points between the spring and the shock body, and the spring and the preload collar. should make for a nice quiet shock
 

yetihenry

Monkey
Aug 9, 2009
241
1
Whistler, BC
I had tiny little bits of dust/rocks stuck in my spring that were making horrendous squeaking sounds. Where the spring flattens at each end, pry it up with a screwdriver and clean with a rag/air. Its the sort of bit that rarely gets cleaned, but can make a lot of noise.

Also check where the gap is in the compression collar in relation to the gap in the end of the spring.
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
That's pretty common in dust land. Every day I ride my dh bike at northstar or mammoth, every bike I've owned does that by the end of the day. Just wash everything off really well. Take the spring off if you need to. No biggie.
 

Dh builder

Chimp
Sep 30, 2013
54
2
Thanks guys, I tried at first wiping oil between the spring and the mounts and that didn't seem to solve the problem. That was based on the first reply about greasing it.

Then today I decided to clean it as per the other replies, first I took windex and wiped all the oil off and the contact points. Then I took my hose and completely sprayed the shock with water to get all the dirt off. My ride today the shock was perfectly silent.

I'm a bit stumped as to why it seems that greasing doesn't do anything, but actually cleaning it eliminates the squeak.

How can dirt cause a squeak? :confused:
 
Last edited:

epic

Turbo Monkey
Sep 15, 2008
1,041
21
Make sure the end of the spring is not in the slot on the collar. It probably ends up in the slot as it turns.