[Electric_City]

A buddy has a 2013 55 rc3 ti but says that it goes through it's travel to easily. He called Marz and they told him to 'add oil'. Chris doesn't know the fork that well so he didn't ask what side or anything, but mentioned '260'. I take it that Mars is recommending to add 30cc to the spring side? Or should oil be added to the damper side? How much? I don't understand how the F that's going to help with compression. Shouldn't he up the spring rate? Thanks for your help, EC

 

[jonKranked]

add oil to the damper side. with marz forks, if there's not enough oil the damper won't function properly since its open bath.

in terms of how much and what weight oil, you'll need to locate the service manual for the fork, and it will provide both pieces of information. i'd recommend replacing the oil so its all fresh too.

 

[Electric_City]

Thanks Jon. Should I only put in the recommended amount, or is it OK to put in morethan rerecommend if it's still bottoming out?

 

[jonKranked]

I'd start with the recommended amount. but I wouldn't add more than 10-20 extra cc's of oil.

What happens if there's not enough oil in the damper - as the fork moves through its travel and approaches the end of the stroke, it will hit a point where there's no more oil to be pushed through the compression damping port, so you lose compression damping. At this point all that's operating within the fork is the spring (at it becomes easy to bottom out).

 

[jackalope]

Hoping not to complicate things, but I ended up adding oil volume to the spring side of my 2010 888 EVO and it did help increase the bottom out resistance. I'm sure many would say that's not the ideal solution, but so far it seems to be working as intended.

 

[jonKranked]

Hoping not to complicate things, but I ended up adding oil volume to the spring side of my 2010 888 EVO and it did help increase the bottom out resistance. I'm sure many would say that's not the ideal solution, but so far it seems to be working as intended.

while true, the damping side would be the first place to start.

on the 55rc3 there's also air preload which effectively accomplishes the same thing (increases the air pressure in the spring side as the fork goes through its travel) without adding the weight of the extra oil. although it will also increase the amount of overall preload (which the oil addition won't, it just reduces the overall air volume in the spring leg).

 

[banj]

Recommended oil levels/weight can be found at the link below.

http://www.marzocchi.com/Template/contenuto.asp?LN=UK&idC=1561&IdFolder=777

I'm suprised that this hasn't been asked yet but how much does your buddy weigh? He might need a stiffer spring.

After rebuilding my 2011 55 rc3 (160mm) with the recommended oil levels I had the opposite problem. I wasn't getting full travel. I wasn't using the last inch. I weigh 160 without gear and I'm using the fork for east coast DH, so it was taking some good hits. I checked with marzocchi canada to see if the levels on the website were right and they confirmed that they had the same info. I took some oil out and fixed the issue.

I see that the 2012 and 2013 RC3's (170mm) call for 230 cc's vs. the 245 cc's the 2011 called for in the right leg.

That being said, I'd recommend taking all the oil out and starting from scratch so that your buddy knows how much oil he has in there.

 

[Lelandjt]

That fork has the RC3 volume adjuster (the large adjuster ring below the rebound adjustment). Turning it in reduces air volume above the damper oil which has the same effect as adding oil, a more progressive spring rate. I'd set the oil volumes in both legs to stock. Be sure you have the correct spring and use the air preload to dial in spring rate. Finally if it's still bottoming turn in the RC3 volume adjuster to make it firmer at the end of travel.

 

[herbman]

Recommended oil levels/weight can be found at the link below.

http://www.marzocchi.com/Template/contenuto.asp?LN=UK&idC=1561&IdFolder=777

I'm suprised that this hasn't been asked yet but how much does your buddy weigh? He might need a stiffer spring.

After rebuilding my 2011 55 rc3 (160mm) with the recommended oil levels I had the opposite problem. I wasn't getting full travel. I wasn't using the last inch. I weigh 160 without gear and I'm using the fork for east coast DH, so it was taking some good hits. I checked with marzocchi canada to see if the levels on the website were right and they confirmed that they had the same info. I took some oil out and fixed the issue.

I see that the 2012 and 2013 RC3's (170mm) call for 230 cc's vs. the 245 cc's the 2011 called for in the right leg.

That being said, I'd recommend taking all the oil out and starting from scratch so that your buddy knows how much oil he has in there.

That's good to know as I'm having. That issue with my 55s as well.

 

[Electric_City]

Chris called Marz and they told him that the stock spring was right for him and not to add airto tthe left leg(Wtf?) cause it will be too harsh.The techie said that he was the same weight and rides the same fork, and that's how he had his set up. The part that made less sense was the tech said that 2psi is the max he'd do if he had to put in air, but to add 60cc of oil?! None of this makes sense to me at all! Thanks for the links and all. I had already saw those and was going to rebuild it according to spec. Unfortunately, Chris drove up to my place and forgot the fork. He's going to try to add some oil and see how it works. Worst case scenario is that I'll do a complete rebuild on it for him. Thanks, EC

 

[William42]

adding air just makes that fork feel awful and sticky and harsh. Adding oil will make it more progressive and harder to bottom out with out the terrible feeling that adding air has.

I decided to edit it because I want to really make it clear that adding air to that fork makes it feel fycking terrible. I had a 66rc3 and my roommate had a 55rc3, and both of us had the same problem - adding air to that fork makes it feel stickier then anything else I've ever ridden.

 

[jonKranked]

adding air just makes that fork feel awful and sticky and harsh. Adding oil will make it more progressive and harder to bottom out with out the terrible feeling that adding air has.

i'm inclined to agree. when i had a 66 that was coil sprung with air preload, if it had any pressure in it it would feel like crap - harsh & too stiff & progressive.

 

[Huck Banzai]

i'm inclined to agree. when i had a 66 that was coil sprung with air preload, if it had any pressure in it it would feel like crap - harsh & too stiff & progressive.

I still have an 06 66RC2x; if you add enough pressure to register on the pump, I would get the same outcome. I took to counting pumps; I would add 7 pumps to each side for DH and 11 for AM/Trail, it works pretty well. Stock spring just bottoms off of a curb under me and sags 50%+ if I didnt add air.

Does the 55 have a similar air assist? If so, I would try 'my' approach, very little air added makes very big diff.

 

[GodSmack]

The compression side of the fork is a hybrid air/coil spring. adding oil makes the chamber smaller which makes the spring ramp up faster. And bottom out less. The air cap on the top of the fork is for increasing the spring rate. So putting in a heavier spring is pointless. Just bring a shock pump on a ride and increase in 5 psi increments until the fork feels good.