[Inclag]

I've got a little time and would like to open up my Dorado to re-arrange the shims and whatnot since the stock settings seem to be way off. The low speed compression and high speed (well from what little I can test of it where I am) is a bit too much even in the all the way open. Also, the rebound is a little on the slower side.

Does anyone have any good schematics or setup advice. The stock springs should be fine since I'm 185lbs, so I'll most likely have to be playing around with the shims.

Any help would really be appreciated.

 

[CrabJoe StretchPants]

yo dave, PM auntesther over on bustedspoke, he ran a dorado for years and knew them inside out.

 

[profro]

While you are in there I suggest streching your floating piston spring in the bottom of the damping leg. They tended to come too short and a little strech (by hand) is all good. Once open its pretty self explanatory. From the bottom up, there is the floating piston, then a compression shim stack, then the rebound assembly. Call Answer to make sure you get the correct instructions for bleeding the cartridge. However I hear you on the damping being just a smidge off. Mine was just a little too stiff. I ran stock springs, a turn or two of rebound, and no compression.

 

[Inclag]

While you are in there I suggest streching your floating piston spring in the bottom of the damping leg. They tended to come too short and a little strech (by hand) is all good. Once open its pretty self explanatory. From the bottom up, there is the floating piston, then a compression shim stack, then the rebound assembly. Call Answer to make sure you get the correct instructions for bleeding the cartridge. However I hear you on the damping being just a smidge off. Mine was just a little too stiff. I ran stock springs, a turn or two of rebound, and no compression.

Cool, I remember you posting something to that affect a little while back and after taking a few spins on the fork I would have to agree that the stock settings are a bit off and funky. I've got everything full open and it seems like on all sides (rebound and compression) everything is just a bit overdamped.

I'm positive once I get inside, everything will be peachy. However its nice havng some sort of roadmap to follow when breaking everything down since the manual that came with the fork is a bigger joke than Marzocchi's are. Apparently the most important thing about fork setup is making sure your tire doesn't rub the crown

BTW, any special tools requierd (long allen keys, lockring tools)?

 

[Cave Dweller]

Read this

http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35389

 

[julian_dh]

the dorado exposed has nothing on the newer 05 dorados information on those is quite lacking. is the tpc+ damper the same style as it was on the 03 forks and can it be bled the same way?

 

[J5ive]

I knew I should have taken pics when I last did a pair of 05 forks.
Anyways, the 'bleed' procedure on the 05 forks is a bit hit and miss. Manitou never made any instructions, they thought the XWorks SPV manual would do the job. Which it does not.

1. Remove outer leg.
2. Remove rebound and compression
3. Clean it all up
4. Install rebound
5. Fill leg full with oil. I used 2.5 weight to crank up the rebound.
6. Fully extend compression rod
7. Install compression rod slowly via end cap, keeping fully extended.
8. Stroke the compression rod completly 2 times
9. Finsh back at the beginning of the stroke- fully extended.
10. Undo the end cap and slide up. Keep rod solid
11. Top back up with oil to the brim
12. Reinstal cap. Again, keep rod solid as the oil overflows.
13. Test the system. If you get a dead spot- as in a spot with no damping control, you have air in the system and need to start over.I If you fail to get full travel you managed to get too much oil in. Don't ask me how that works. If it happens start again and try only one stroke/pump.

Hope this helps.

 

[julian_dh]

damn so the bleeding with a syringe through the compression adjuster dosent work? as orven did with his 03's

isnt it the same tpc+ or did they totally change the way the innerds were placed inside the fork

 

[J5ive]

Nah that doesn't work. Its a totally different setup.

 

[julian_dh]

so if i could get an 05 or 03 which one would you guys go for?
i would be using it as a fork for the rest of this season and a backup after that.

the 05 has a better outer but the 03 seems like a sinch to maintain and rebuild ect

 

[profro]

The 05 isn't that difficult to maintain. Call one of the tech's at Manitou and they can walk you through the bleed procedure. I was told to set the shim stack about an inch below the pumping rod nut while bleeding (if your plastic spacer is missing). I think if you seat it all the way against the nut without the plastic spacer, it won't bleed right. But bleeding it is messy. Put a bucket under it to catch all the over-flow oil.

 

[j-wasilenko]

So my 05 Dorado needed some love when I got back from vacation today. The damper leg would only compress 4 or 5 inches. I took apart the whole fork as it needed a overhaul anyways however I cannot get the bleeding right on the TPC leg. Here is a picture of all the internals inside the leg ripped out.

The plastic washer inside the pink box is sitting cockeyed on a c-clip not sure if it is supposed to be level or not. From what I understand to bleed the system you follow these steps:

Take nut from yellow box, bring down on to the pink box plastic washer to get full extension, fill the lower leg with oil and tighten nut from yellow box. Then cycle the damper rod up and down and purge air out of the system. However I cannot do that with the leg full of oil the damper rod has nowhere to go and the oil doesn't flow up through the rod.

Can anyone help me out? I want to go for a ride so badly!

Also cross posted into this thread for more attention.

 

[freeridefool]

My purple box thing was cock eyed like yours. I used the 13 step instructions a couple of posts up and it took me a few tries but I got it eventually. It looks like you got it figured out, I had the same oil problem you are having. I dont quite remember what I did though. Im trying to remember but I just am comming up blank.

When I first took my dorado apart I was sure that nasa built it compared to my old 888. If your really stuck Ill go tear mine apart and rebuild.

 

[j-wasilenko]

That would be awesome if you could rebuild yours and tell me what I'm doing wrong here. I just can't see how you can compress the damper rod when the lower leg is filled to the top with oil. Mine won't budge one bit when it is topped off and no oil flows up through the compression ports like I thought it would.

Once I get this dialed I'm going to write up a guide for this fork like Orvan did for the 03 model. Just need to collect some more information which is sparse enough as it is.

 

[freeridefool]

Ok I have mine apart, but I dont have fork oil... ya kinda important I know. But did you purge all the old oil out of your damper rod. If there is oil still in the rod then you cant get any oil into it. Thats the only thing I can think of.

To purge it just turn it upside down and cycle the damper rod a couple times. Then start the whole fill the leg up and what not process again and let me know how it goes. Make sure you have the rebound knob fully open.

 

[davep]

THere has to be an expansion chamber in there somewhere for the oil to go. The volume of the shaft displaces oil, and that has to go somewhere....

So, you need to get the bottom out of the leg, remove the compression piston(s) and take a look at the chamber (either a floating piston or bladder....I had the SPV version and it was a lot different...but some is similar).

My guess is that either the chamber is collapsed or filled with oil somehow. Maybe in 'pumping' the rebound shaft you are somehow filling the expansion chamber with oil....

I would need to see the rest of the internals to tell you what to look for.

the 'yellow' thing is the seal head...the purple thing is just a top out spacer....and then at the end of the shaft is the rebound piston.

 

[profro]

The thing in purple/pink box is only to set the height of the shim stack during reassembly. Cut it off. Take a hacksaw blade and cut the plastic until it you can break it off. Just remember to pull the shim stack about one inch from the cap in the yellow box when you insert that rod back into the cart. for bleeding. Those are the instructions I got from Manitou.

 

[j-wasilenko]

Ok here is an updated picture of the internals with the rebound removed. Before I didn't have the rebound removed when I was trying to bleed it and when I took the rebound out there was a large amount of oil still inside. Going to run through the 13 steps again and see what happens with the oil from the rebound side of things gone.

 

[profro]

See how that plastic spacer in between the rebound shim stack and the threaded end cap is cock-eyed? That will reduce your travel. You should really, cut it off. As you can see from the above picture, all it does is set the depth of the rebound rod as you screw it into the tube. Just remove it and set the depth manually by hand.

 

[profro]

I bled mine as follows:

1. Reinstall compression assembly.
2. Turn tube up side down, clamp base (not the stanchion) in vise and fill with oil.
3. Set rebound shim stack depth by hand as 1 inch from end cap. (If plastic spacer is still there, then just pull rebound rod until the plastic spacer is flush with end cap)
4. Screw rebound into tube. *** Oil will pour everywhere***
5. Stroke rebound rod several times. This pushes oil into the compression side.
6. Open rebound end cap again and reset depth of shim stack. Fill tube with oil again and repeat steps 4-6 until you get a clean smooth stroke and don't hear an air sucking sound.

 

[davep]

Ok here is an updated picture of the internals with the rebound removed. Before I didn't have the rebound removed when I was trying to bleed it and when I took the rebound out there was a large amount of oil still inside. Going to run through the 13 steps again and see what happens with the oil from the rebound side of things gone.

What you pulled out of the bottom is the compression (TPC+) not the rebound. Rebound is the top piston attached to the long rod.

So below the white o-ring sealed piston must be free of oil....that is your seperate air chamber to allow for oil volume expansion. If you had oil in there, you should check the o-ring to make sure it is still OK.

BTW, you can play with the progressiveness of the fork (damping) by moving the second (floating) compression piston. The circlip should have 3 place to snap into place....moving the two pistons closer together = more progressive (earlier).

 

[HalfAnimal]

Since there was no original manual I've decided to make my own. Cous of my lacking English there will be detailed photos and text to explain. There will be an detailed instruction of the air-bleading proses.


It Maby seems pointless to make an manual of an 4year old fork but since the last post in this tread is from 08 i guess there is still a few Dorado maniacs out there!

I'm aiming to finish it in a weak and will then come back with an link.

 

[j0e]

Hi,
I have also Dorado 05. I wait for your manual, maybe have you complet ?

 

[SLOPE]

What happened to the manual??