[IH8Rice]

i was curious if I can ditch the foam rings in my 36 Talas and replace them with a light grease like Marz did on my 888.

would Slick Honey or Red Devil grease be best? im thinking the Slick Honey since its a bit thinner then the Red Devil.
or is soaking the foam ring in Float Fluid good enough?

 

[Udi]

Leave the foam ring. I'm not sure why marzocchi would have put one in (above the oil seal would be pointless), but in the fox forks, the foam soaks up oil which squirts up to it through the slotted bushings to keep the lower lip of the seal and the upper bushing lubricated.

The best stuff to lubricate the fork is fox's new "green" oil, which has been specifically formulated for bushing lube purposes. Soaking the foam rings in the same stuff works well.

Float fluid works well too, but personally I'd use the green oil and leave it uncontaminated with other products - this is what fox do.

 

[bullcrew]

Good to know my 36 started leaking oil from the seals the other day.

 

[tuumbaq]

Those foam rings do a very good job in the whole lubrication process and also help out a bit keeping your lub oil clean wiping off contaminants that may have gone past the oil seal

Are you hoping to make the fork a bit more slippery?

if so do ,yourself a favor ( if you havent already done this) and get the new low friction seals form Fox...the difference is astonishing.

Personally I use a syringe and shoot a few cc of float fluid between the 2 bushings.I soak the foams in Fox 10wt green fork oil first and then I use a mixture of float fluid mixed in with slick honey before putting them back in the fork...works great for me.Using only the float fluid for the foams actually makes them more sticky IMO.

 

[bullcrew]

Since you guys are familiar with the new fox and being its leaking already (only 3 months 2010 fox van 36 rc2 180mm) I could use some input.
Is there new seals available from fox or are enduro better?
Does the 2010 have the new wipers or foam
What color suspension fluid should be used
Is there any things I should look for or replace when doing this?

 

[tuumbaq]

Since you guys are familiar with the new fox and being its leaking already (only 3 months 2010 fox van 36 rc2 180mm) I could use some input.
Is there new seals available from fox or are enduro better?
Does the 2010 have the new wipers or foam
What color suspension fluid should be used
Is there any things I should look for or replace when doing this?

New for 2012 FOX now use SKF seals.I have no experience with the enduro seals but I have heard mixed reviews about them and quite frankly the new low friction seals are so good, I doubt the Enduro can beat them

The difference between the old vs the new seals is night and day.They make the fork better on small bumps ( obviously ) and overall noticeably smoother ...especially on long chattery trails. Trust me YOU WILL notice a big difference and your forearms will thank you

They do have the foams and look fairly similar to the old ones.I buy FOX HIGH PERFORMANCE SUSPENSION FLUID 10WT.green...Higlhy recommend it if you can find it.Ive ran a bunch of other lubricating oils in the past and this stuff is by far the best.Its a bit more pricey ( I think it retail around 40$ ?) but it seems to last quite a bit longer, doesn't deteriorate as quick and makes the fork more slippy.

The seals are a bit tricky to put in , Fox recommend to lube the outside part that sits in the fork with fork oil before putting them in other wise they tend to "pop out "

Go to the FOX online service center and its all very well explained there.3 months is about average I'd say, I do mine twice sometimes 3 times a month.Personally after 3 months I would rebuild the cartridge as well but unless if you've noticed something different with the damper, you should be ok leaving it alone for now.

 

[bullcrew]

New for 2012 FOX now use SKF seals.I have no experience with the enduro seals but I have heard mixed reviews about them and quite frankly the new low friction seals are so good, I doubt the Enduro can beat them

The difference between the old vs the new seals is night and day.They make the fork better on small bumps ( obviously ) and overall noticeably smoother ...especially on long chattery trails. Trust me YOU WILL notice a big difference and your forearms will thank you

They do have the foams and look fairly similar to the old ones.I buy FOX HIGH PERFORMANCE SUSPENSION FLUID 10WT.green...Higlhy recommend it if you can find it.Ive ran a bunch of other lubricating oils in the past and this stuff is by far the best.Its a bit more pricey ( I think it retail around 40$ ?) but it seems to last quite a bit longer, doesn't deteriorate as quick and makes the fork more slippy.

The seals are a bit tricky to put in , Fox recommend to lube the outside part that sits in the fork with fork oil before putting them in other wise they tend to "pop out "

Go to the FOX online service center and its all very well explained there.3 months is about average I'd say, I do mine twice sometimes 3 times a month.Personally after 3 months I would rebuild the cartridge as well but unless if you've noticed something different with the damper, you should be ok leaving it alone for now.

Thank you!

I'd rep you but its not compatible with the xoom tablet (Droid) so rep+


Is there a tutorial to rebuild the cart?

 

[IH8Rice]

Leave the foam ring. I'm not sure why marzocchi would have put one in (above the oil seal would be pointless), but in the fox forks, the foam soaks up oil which squirts up to it through the slotted bushings to keep the lower lip of the seal and the upper bushing lubricated.

The best stuff to lubricate the fork is fox's new "green" oil, which has been specifically formulated for bushing lube purposes. Soaking the foam rings in the same stuff works well.

Float fluid works well too, but personally I'd use the green oil and leave it uncontaminated with other products - this is what fox do.

thanks. my foam rings were a bit dry (not totally dry,) but i havent serviced the fork since ive had it (its a 2006 model.)
im going to order new oil, seals/wipers and the crush washers and what not tomorrow from Fox. im assuming they have the "green" oil in the 7wt that they recommend for the fork?

Are you hoping to make the fork a bit more slippery?

if so do ,yourself a favor ( if you havent already done this) and get the new low friction seals form Fox...the difference is astonishing.

Personally I use a syringe and shoot a few cc of float fluid between the 2 bushings.I soak the foams in Fox 10wt green fork oil first and then I use a mixture of float fluid mixed in with slick honey before putting them back in the fork...works great for me.Using only the float fluid for the foams actually makes them more sticky IMO.

yeah, the stock seals have always had a lot of drag on them. ill see if they have the new seals for the '06 36 that i have and get them on them way. im sure anything would be a improvement over the stock seals.
ill try the slick honey/float fluid mix when i get everything in.
thanks

 

[Udi]

thanks. my foam rings were a bit dry (not totally dry,) but i havent serviced the fork since ive had it (its a 2006 model.)
im going to order new oil, seals/wipers and the crush washers and what not tomorrow from Fox. im assuming they have the "green" oil in the 7wt that they recommend for the fork?

Green oil is actually 10wt (custom formulation for fox, maybe by torco), but it's what they use for lubrication oil in all their forks now anyway. They use 10wt (red, silkolene RSF) in the dampers now too - but since the damper is sealed, you probably won't be touching it anyway.

 

[IH8Rice]

Green oil is actually 10wt (custom formulation for fox, maybe by torco), but it's what they use for lubrication oil in all their forks now anyway. They use 10wt (red, silkolene RSF) in the dampers now too - but since the damper is sealed, you probably won't be touching it anyway.

awesome. good to know.
yeah, i dont plan on servicing the damper at all since it seems to be working great (knock on wood.)

 

[dfinn]

I tried to get the new SKF seals last week from Go-Ride and I was told they aren't available yet.

 

[tuumbaq]

I tried to get the new SKF seals last week from Go-Ride and I was told they aren't available yet.

GO-Ride may not have them in stock but they are available...I know I can get them from at least 2 shops around where I live.

Have you tried calling FOX ?

 

[dfinn]

I didn't. I actually specifically asked them if they could order them for me and that's when they told me they weren't available yet. That kind of pisses me off, these new (old style) seals I just put in have so much stiction.

 

[tuumbaq]

I didn't. I actually specifically asked them if they could order them for me and that's when they told me they weren't available yet. That kind of pisses me off, these new (old style) seals I just put in have so much stiction.

well either you didnt quite understood what they told you or they are lying to you ... either way, call FOX

They've been available for a few weeks already... up here in Canada

 

[IH8Rice]

got the new SKF wipers w/ foam rings on the way with the Green 10wt oil and some the crush washers to do the oil change....anxious to see the difference b/w the old seals and these new ones. our Fox rep seemed to think it should make a huge difference, so im stoked.

thanks all!

 

[IH8Rice]

damn, these new SKF seals are significantly better than the stock seals. it almost made it seem like something was wrong with the fork before i switched to the new seals.
the fork was a bit low on oil in both legs and the oil was damn dirty (5+ years old) so i sloshed some Green oil in there to clean it out and filler her up.
good to go now!

i do have a ton of oil left since the fork doesnt need much oil in both legs for lubrication. i guess ill do regular oil changes from now on.

 

[Kntr]

Can you turn the bike upside down for a bit to get the foam seals lubed up again?

 

[IH8Rice]

Can you turn the bike upside down for a bit to get the foam seals lubed up again?

yes.
though in my case, the oil was nasty so i would rather use fresh oil when i do flip it upside down.

 

[TortugaTonta]

This is what mine looks like after 20 to 25,000 miles with no maintenance, probably should have kept the foam rings lubed, but I just tend to ride the bike till it won't go anymore. . .

 

[IH8Rice]

impressive.
mine look like they did when they were new