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888 rc2x problem

Sonic Reducer

Monkey
Mar 19, 2006
500
0
seattle worshington
i drove to a race with my bike upside down in a van. fork was working fine when i rode it around the parking lot beforehand. upon removing the bike from the van at the race, the lowers came off. wtf! no race. bummed was an understatement. i got home and tore down the forks, and the 1/4" dia. or so rod from the rebound leg looks like it broke off inside what i would guess is the damper. anyone know what my options are as far as replacement parts? i printed out the 66 page "manual" from marz website and it is barely fit for toilet paper.
pics to follow once the camera charges.
-is this a common occurance?
-what could have caused this? the bike being upside down seems a little far fetched.
 
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davep

Turbo Monkey
Jan 7, 2005
3,276
0
seattle
Because of the cheapo (sorry but it is true) way that current Marz forks are made, you cannot replace the damper shaft itself. You need an entire new cartrage in that leg. Expect a buck and a half or so IIRC.


Does not seem so common in the lat couple years....was semi common in the first gen 888s because the red shaft loc-nut was over tightened from the factory. Try to loosen it and the shaft would snap if you were not VERY careful...
 

Sonic Reducer

Monkey
Mar 19, 2006
500
0
seattle worshington
davep the fork is an 05 or 06(not sure) so that may be the case.
I tried pulling the c clip on the damper to take it apart but it would not.
i am hopefully going to speak with marz tomorrow and see what their input is.

on that note, anyone have a good exploded view of a 05/06 888rc2x?
 
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Udi

RM Chief Ornithologist
Mar 14, 2005
4,915
1,200
The dampers are crimped together, you can't buy individual parts for them to my knowledge.

Your issue is definitely not a user-caused one from what I can see, so hopefully marzocchi will sort you out - just explain the problem politely and see what happens.

If it's a no-go, you'll have to buy a new damper cartridge (complete).
 

davep

Turbo Monkey
Jan 7, 2005
3,276
0
seattle
User caused or not, it is FAR out of warranty.....but I have never heard of them covering a broken damper shaft....and many stories of customers having to put out for new cartrages. They have certainly not been very liberal with warranty considering all the QC issues of late.

Most that I have seen broken were at the other end...at the top where the to cap attaches. Any chances your stanchions are/were not even in the clamps?
 
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Udi

RM Chief Ornithologist
Mar 14, 2005
4,915
1,200
I know, but sometimes distributors go out of their way to look after you. Never hurts to ask, but then I don't know what the US ones are like... I do know the AU marz distributor would rather set their office on fire than honour any legitimate warranty claim, so here, buying a new cartridge it is. :)

User caused or not, it is FAR out of warranty...
 

rollertoaster

Monkey
Aug 7, 2007
730
179
Douglassville , PA
That sucks. you need an rc2 cart, an x cart, probably both top caps, and lock nuts to repair that. I had a broken x cart(66rc2x) shaft at the top and was able to "repair" the fork, by getting the broken peice out of the topcap and threading what was left of the damper threads in. Now I don't have a functioning x cart but, you can just use oil level to control bottom out.
 

vpfree05

Chimp
May 21, 2006
90
0
I own a 07 RC2X and just let me say, hearing a story about the lowers just coming off is scary. Well at least it didn't happen during a race run on a gap. Wow. I wish the new Boxxer was out, like now.
 

sonnythe

Chimp
Oct 28, 2007
20
0
For the lowers to come completely off both sides need to be defect in some way. The whole system is fastened by a c-clip on top, the cartridges and the bottom nuts. The model year of your fork is 06 and not 05. The 05 was called R or RC and the manual from their webpage is a joke. What you need is the real service manual http://manualer.happymtb.org/marzocchi/2006-888-rc2x.pdf

I have never seen a fork snap in that area before. I have unfortunately never opened the cartridge because they are crimped together as mentioned but I think the area where your rod has cracked is where the rod turns in to some kind of piston.

Which side is broken, or are both sides broken?
Is the “missing” peace still is inside the outer part of the cartridge and is it moving when you shake the cartridge?
 

Sonic Reducer

Monkey
Mar 19, 2006
500
0
seattle worshington
i never pulled the stanchions up more than about 5" over stock and strapped the lowers to the crowns for the ride home. the other side appears to be ok(ie nothing really obviously broken), but that it was held at the original 8" of travel by only one side does not seem correct either.
I am going to review that other manual you posted sonny(THANKS!) and see if i can figure out the issue.
I'm hoping to get in touch with marzocchi usa tomorrow and i will play the dangerous defect card for sure. :disgust1:
another point of contention for me is that this particular fork was near new. i bought it from a gaper who rode it maybe 3 times(condition of the bike proved it).
 

sonnythe

Chimp
Oct 28, 2007
20
0
I’m working on a DYI manual for the 888 rc2x fork and it would be great if you could post pics of a cross-section of the cartridge.
 

nmr8

Monkey
Apr 6, 2007
108
0
i printed out the 66 page "manual" from marz website and it is barely fit for toilet paper.
amen, wtf is wrong with fork manus? they can't seem to wrap their heads around the idea of technical documentation. for the love of god, fox manages, so why can't marzocchi and rockshox?
 

Udi

RM Chief Ornithologist
Mar 14, 2005
4,915
1,200
Err rockshox have the best service manuals in the industry - there's a 10mb monster showing detailed service instructions for all their products (including boxxer, totem, vivid, etc), so it's a little unfair to throw them in the pile that you just did.

Sonic -
The piston has simply broken away from the damper rod, there's nothing that reading the service manual is going to tell you because those cartridges are designed to be non-serviceable (ie. by anyone). You need a new cartridge, there's nothing more to it - how you get it is the only question you need to be asking.

I've seen the issue before BTW, if you do a search for threads started by the user "Bati" you might see his, he machined up his own threaded seal head for the cartridge, making it serviceable. Not sure if his actually broke or not but I'm guessing it did. Fixing it like he did though would be a task for a pretty capable turner / machinist.
 

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,346
1,587
Warsaw :/
amen, wtf is wrong with fork manus? they can't seem to wrap their heads around the idea of technical documentation. for the love of god, fox manages, so why can't marzocchi and rockshox?
Actualy marz does have better tech manuals. They just don't give it to regular ppl.

http://www.birota.ru/manuals/index.php << All real tech manuals up to 06. Used the 06 manual for my 07 rc2x va and seems to work just fine ;)


BTW. Any1 done any tunes on the 888rc2x like Udi on his boxxer?