[LukeD]

ok so i've been sitting here thinking...and maybe i'm just really groggy and losing my mind from nyquil...but does anyone think it would be possible to turn a '02 boxxer into a '05 with 8" of travel? i mean obviously i would need to buy new '05 parts, but how much would actually have to be replaced with new '05 stuff? stantions? seals? or can i just bump the '02 up to 8....although i think the overlap would be an issue. anyone have any ideas? i just went through 2 pages of boxxer info using the search function and didnt get a straight answer really.

 

[Monkeybidnezz]

I checked with the Sram guys seeing if an upgrade was possible. They told me because the lowers are diff, it couldn't be done. They did change the lowers pretty significantly if you look at pics, so I'm assuming that what he said is pretty much true. Bummer, I would have liked to have just changed the internals had that been the fix.

 

[LukeD]

I checked with the Sram guys seeing if an upgrade was possible. They told me because the lowers are diff, it couldn't be done. They did change the lowers pretty significantly if you look at pics, so I'm assuming that what he said is pretty much true. Bummer, I would have liked to have just changed the internals had that been the fix.

ya but if u change the lowers and bushings...how much else is different other than the crowns? what i'm thinking is if i change out the lowers, crowns and bushings....at least the dampers can stay the same? i dunno...lol i am just trying to find a cheap way to get a new fork basically

 

[speedster]

It would end up costing more in the end if you tried to piece together an 02 to make it an 05 compared to just buying the 05. Look at the prices for some of the major parts and they are pretty steep.

 

[vitox]

luke

your parts list will look something like this:

new springs
new volume spacers (although you can cut down your existing ones, theyre just spacers anyway)
new cartridges (you dont need the base valves)

other mods:
move lower bushings 1" up (can be hard)
some adapting might be necessary for one of the bottom bolts


this would require that your boxxer has straight wall stanchions, otherwise it wont work. its a really spendy mod and im not sure its worth it v/s selling your existing boxxer and buying a new one.

 

[Rik]

Is an inch of travel really worth the hassle? Fair enough if you improved the damping a fair bit (not a dig at Boxxers, just a comment in general), but otherwise... why?

 

[vitox]

just a wild guess but maybe because of geometry?

 

[LukeD]

basically because of geometry yes. i have a sunday on order and i was going to put the existing boxxer on it...i have used it for a few years and its completely rebuilt and works fine...but i was thinking that if the head angle felt too steep maybe there was some way i could bump up the travel without spending $900 something. the fork is fine and works great now...but ya it would mainly be because of geometry.

 

[vitox]

hey luke you know you can always sell the compression cart to boxxer race owners.

 

[ChrisRobin]

Wouldn't the bushing overlap be a big problem??? Or is when you mentioned 'straight-walled tubing' be the key.

 

[davetrump]

basically because of geometry yes. i have a sunday on order and i was going to put the existing boxxer on it...i have used it for a few years and its completely rebuilt and works fine...but i was thinking that if the head angle felt too steep maybe there was some way i could bump up the travel without spending $900 something. the fork is fine and works great now...but ya it would mainly be because of geometry.

you can peobably lower the legs in the crown a bit to raise the fork/front end up a bit if you feel the head angle is too slack. if you already have a drop crown, this shouls not be a problem.

but if you want 8 inches, buy the new fork and sell the old one. the redisigned crowns and lowers were made in an effort to keep the axle/crown height to an absolut minimum.... the old crown/lowers will work, but your fork may be ever taller than the 05 model.

 

[ChrisRobin]

This pic might help people since it's puts old and new boxxers side by side. The lowers look like they're the same height (look at the 13" mark). With 8" of travel, both forks would be pretty much the same height...is it cost effective?? I don't know.

http://www.pinkbike.com/modules/photo/?op=view&image=350139

 

[LukeD]

that's a good point about selling the compression cart and i do have a drop crown so lowering the legs i was thinking about also. pricing out all the parts to modify the fork it comes out to about $450 or so with ti springs...so that's not too bad considering a new fork is around $900. the only thing is after really looking into it, it really doesn't seem worth the hassle.

 

[vitox]

Wouldn't the bushing overlap be a big problem??? Or is when you mentioned 'straight-walled tubing' be the key.

the bushing overlap would be the same in this modded pre05 boxxer as it is on the newer boxxers, the only thing that would be different is that the newer ones have huge bushings to deal with this issue of very little bushing overlap, but its still only a crutch solution and i doubt it makes much for stiffness overall, however, the new arch might.

the "straightwall" stanchion requirement is because of the dampers, from 02 on the boxxers have constant wall thickness in the stanchions, and thus they have dropped the old glide-ring that was there to expand and contract the diameter of the cartridge head so that oil doesnt escape past it, you can fit an older style cartridge in the new stanchions but to my knowledge the opposite is not true.