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2005 Manitou Dorado (Problems, Parts, Service ?)

peecee

Monkey
Apr 27, 2012
232
42
Australia
Hey guys sorry for a new thread on an older fork but this is by fair the most helpful forum on the whole internet for info of any kind.

I have bought a pair of 2005 manitou dorados (the ones that came stock on the Giant DH Team) for a retro build I had started off a complete douche bag that lied about the condition they were in.

Im looking at selling them but first they need a service as they are leaking oil everywhere just standing there against the wall. I contacted ManitouTech and they explained this is the last dorado produced by the old manitou and there was never a manual produced for them so could not give me to much information at all.

Ive also trawled the net and not dug up to much information on this particular fork, I live in australia and there are not to many specialist service centres, the one I did contact have never actually came across this fork before.

I know that they would be able to take them apart and have a look but im after any info on fork, seal sizes, improvements thats can be made, the type of damping system inside, travel, know problems, and parts available.

 

peecee

Monkey
Apr 27, 2012
232
42
Australia
try contacting tim flooks

http://www.tftunedshox.com/

or supsension center in switzerland

http://www.suspensioncenter.ch/

back in the day they both used to service answer products
and TF helped me to get my MRD X works dorado at least somewhat working...
really hope you have a standard one :) the x works was the worst made fork in history since the hanebrink forks of old...
Yeah Tims not around there to much these days and Im not sending them from australia to the Uk I only want them serviced so i can sell them. These are just normal mrd ones i think with tpc+ someone mentioned, they dont feel like the worse fork in the world and they look the business. Ill see what they say thou. Cheers
 

HardtailHack

used an iron once
Jan 20, 2009
6,637
5,449
NS Dynamics can't help?

I imagine Dirt Works had no idea about the fork in regards to servicing or parts?

I still think these were one of the nicest looking forks ever made.
 

davep

Turbo Monkey
Jan 7, 2005
3,276
0
seattle
I had the SPV version and while the chassis was OK, the damping on that version was SOO bad. It has been a while, but I am pretty sure your fork has TPC internals. Damping wise, it is super simple to work on, and a few stock as well as custom changes you can make if you want.
I am not sure if your version uses the same rubber bladder volume chamber, but each time I bottomed my fork, the bladder would pinch/puncture and fill with oil....eventually hydro-locking the fork.

I don't remember if I was able to cross reference a number right off of the seal or not, but You can easily remove and measure the wiper (or measure the stanchion and seal seat). Any commercial seal/bearing supplier should be able to find you some seals (look for NOK brand). There is space for a proper oil seal and wiper that in my case worked very well (no noticed increase in stiction, and no more oil doused rotor).
 

troy

Turbo Monkey
Dec 3, 2008
1,006
739
If You want to just take out the lowers You have to :
1. unscrew little screws on top of the fork with 2mm allen key iirc
2. take out 1 blue adjuster and 1 black plate (the are sealed with an oring so they can be hard to get out)
3. You will see 2 8mm~ allen slots, put an allen key in it and use 36mm flat wrench to unscrew top caps
4. slide upper stanchons down
5.remove springs and red rubber that holds rebound damping clicker (little steel ball)
now You can take the uppers off and do whatever You want.

If You want to put there some oil seals it's super easy. Remove Evil genious seals and foam rings.
Buy 32x40x6/7 mm oil seals and put them instead of foam rings. Oile leakage problem solved :) I was using rock shox redrum lubrication oil mixed with motorex 5w fork oil (60/40) for lubrication and it was awesome.

If You want to service the damper (it's TPC+ i guess) :
Clamp the black dropout in the vise and use a wrench (it can be hard,but it is unscrewable). Remove silver nut with the shaft and remove the oil . Unscrew the compression damper( on the bottom of the leg - some oil will flow from there too). Clean everything. Lube the compression damper shaft (there is a spring on it that supports IFP). Screw it back into the stanchion. Fill the leg from the top with some oil. Screw the nut with the shaft and rebound damper in and cycle a few times. Add some more oil and cycle a few times again, so the oil can go through the compression damper. Now, fill the whole leg with oil and screw in the rebound damper with tee shaft in fully extended position.

You can play with shim setup too, there are a lot of them there. You can mod lsc circuit by enlarging rectangular lsc port/slot on the bottom of the damper. If You have some questions or something is not clear just ask.

1 More thing, if You want to use this fork, necessarily buy fork bumpers or You will damage the carbon uppers and it will be leaking oil from there... I was using monster t's bumpers and they were great.
 
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