[hmcleay]

Hi Guys,

I've got a 2nd hand set of Fox 40s and have just serviced them.
I noticed while I had the damper out, that the last 2" of stroke are very tight. this is the part of the stroke where the bottom out control is.
Even without any oil in the damper, it seems to 'bind up' as I push the plunger through that last 2" of travel.
I took the small black ring off the end of the bottom-out plunger, and then the stroke was smooth all the way to the end.
obviously, there is some sort of tight mechanical interference going on in there.
Is this normal?
I tried to unscrew the large diameter silver section from the thinner damper shaft, to get a close look at the 'female' part of the bottom-out control. but I was unable to unscrew them (without a suitable clamp).
How should this bottom-out control feel when cycling the damper by hand?

Cheers,
Hugh.

 

[jonKranked]

It will feel different by hand than when it is in the (assembled) fork, as it doesn't have the coil spring to balance it. Not sure how it's supposed to feel by hand. This is my first season on a 40 and I have not had an issue with my damper unit. **knocks on wood**. I service my fork regularly (oil and dust wiper lubrication) and have had 0 issues with it - I have been riding and/or racing it more or less every weekend since mid-April.

Have you ridden the fork much? Are you having issues with it bottoming out?

 

[hmcleay]

Cheers, jonKranked.
I've only done a couple of rides on it.
They're second hand, that's why I decided to service them so soon.
As far as bottoming out goes, I'm not!
I wasn't getting into the last 2" of travel at all.
When I serviced them, I adjusted the position of the bottom-out plunger to the half-way mark. now I'm using 7" of the available 8".
It's not really an issue in the way they are performing, it's just that i'm still used to my old boxxer WCs, where i would set them soft enough to bottom out every now and then.
I weigh 75kg and am using the medium (titanium) spring with minimal preload.

 

[jonKranked]

So you have the blue spring, yes?

How many clicks of HSC are you running? I'm about 200lbs on a firm (yellow) spring, no preload, and maybe 4 or 5 clicks of HSC.

 

[hmcleay]

Actually, I've got the green spring (45 lb/in).
I just had a look in the manual, and it recommends the blue spring (40 lb.in) for my weight, 75kg (= 165 lb).
Maybe i'll try and track down the lighter (blue) spring before I worry too much about my bottom-out concerns.
i haven't even checked my % sag yet with the current spring!
at the moment, I'm running the LSC and HSC right in the middle of their range. just until I get used to the feel of the new bike, then I'll start twiddling with them.

But first, I'll check my sag and decide whether I need the lighter spring.
then i'll start experimenting with the LSC and HSC.
If i'm still not bottoming after all of that, I might get them looked at...

Cheers!

 

[jonKranked]

Yup, its your spring. Fox is actually pretty much spot on with their recommendations for the spring. When I first got my 40 (I'm not the original owner) It had a yellow spring, and I was only getting 6", maybe 6.5" of travel. Once I got a green spring everything was super. FTR I weigh around 205lbs with gear.

Get yourself the blue spring and you will be much, much happier.