Fox break in? 2012?

MmmBones · May 21, 2011

demo 9 said:
I just got a new fox 40 RC2, kashima, 2012 (yes twelve)

Its good, except when i compress it, it makes a "grunting"/"vibrating" sound. I figure that this is break in, but am not sure, since none of my other 40s did it. It is louder/worse on the rebound stroke. This fork does have oil and such right? Normal?

Green spring, stock settings. PLZ help, i want to go to platty this weekend

Too much Kashima? No, wait, never enough Kashima. Hmm. Maybe they put a Gremlin inside, filled it with water and the sound you are hearing is them multiplying...

no skid marks · May 21, 2011

Not relivant sorry. But does it have different(now proper)seals?

kidwoo · May 21, 2011

MmmBones said:
Too much Kashima? No, wait, never enough Kashima. Hmm. Maybe they put a Gremlin inside, filled it with water and the sound you are hearing is them multiplying...

Welcome new friend

Oldm8 · May 21, 2011

Tear it down and rebuild it. Or you could just put the boxxers back on

Oldm8 · May 21, 2011

Someone had a problem with wrapping on the spring in their 40. From memory it was loose and caused a clunking noise in the fork. Might be worth looking at also. They fixed it by some heat shrink t
On the end to stop it sliding.

p-spec · May 21, 2011

pix 4 views

daisycutter · May 21, 2011

Fox will be at the Platty race
FOX has been working with SKF in Italy to develop new fork seals that are smoother and offer less friction. FOX wanted to improve the feel and performance of their products even more (much like what they did with Kashima coating last year). Lower friction for better performance and response. This new partnership has led to some great developments for FOX in their seal technology. These new SKF seals will be on all the 2012 forks from FOX all the way down to even their Evolution line. The seals are also able to be installed on any of FOX’s previous forks if you want some of the benefits of the 2012 line."

staike · May 21, 2011

How many clicks of preload do you run? You should run it so the adjuster just hits the top of the spring, which is 2-3 clicks in.

Do the spring have the heat shrink excactly in the middle?

RoboDonkey713 · May 21, 2011

For what it is worth, my Kashima 36 Float took about a month to break in and feel good. Or that is how long it took to forget how my old Revalation worked.

bullcrew · May 21, 2011

RoboDonkey713 said:
For what it is worth, my Kashima 36 Float took about a month to break in and feel good. Or that is how long it took to forget how my old Revalation worked.

theres a definite break in period on any fork unless the.polish bushings etc from the factory, which eventually happens making a noticeable difference.
kashima is smooth out the box but the contact points still need to bed in together to get supple. only riding will do that.

pics demo. i want to see the new k logo and seals. :thumb:

i just got a 36 180 (again lol) in 2 days ago but 2011 not 2012. not that it matters cant imagine they changed stuff internally.

tuumbaq · May 21, 2011

Im starting to be quite entertained with your post Demo9 :rofl:

Ive been on 40's for many years and Ive never heard of any "stock" settings...What are they?Can you point us in the right direction so we could all know what settings you are refereeing to ?

The new Fox 40 have a truck load more compression than generations prior to 2011, if everything is set in the middle, a brand new fork will feel VERY sticky... especially when you've been running the soft spring with zero compression on your other 40's.Have you even tried to yank on the thing without any compression and see how that feels ?...Does the noise go away with different settings ?

You should take it apart first ( as always with a new fork ), SlickHoney-rized it ( new word I just made up :thumb:

) , lube it/clean it up.Now tell us if it still makes a nasty rumbling noise... I know this may sound silly but could that noise simply be the sound of the oil passing thru the shim stack and all?

Also , from personal experience , the wrap shouldn't be exactly in the middle but more about halfway in between the top and the middle where the spring is more prone to bend and hit the tube.

Lastly , are you 100% positive the sound comes from the fork ? Im guessing (since you had a Boxxer on there yesterday) you had to install yourself ( scary :eek:

)the lower cup headset lower crown protector crazy specialized engineering thingy... Could that be the source of your problem maybe ?Even perhaps your front hub/axle interface ?

ThePriceSeliger · May 21, 2011

Break 'er in! Come on now...

OffCamber · May 21, 2011

demo 9 said:
Green spring, stock settings. PLZ help, i want to go to platty this weekend

http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?t=242202:lighten:

no skid marks · May 21, 2011

daisycutter said:
FOX has been working with SKF in Italy to develop new fork seals that are smoother and offer less friction. FOX wanted to improve the feel and performance of their products even more (much like what they did with Kashima coating last year). Lower friction for better performance and response. This new partnership has led to some great developments for FOX in their seal technology. These new SKF seals will be on all the 2012 forks from FOX all the way down to even their Evolution line. The seals are also able to be installed on any of FOXs previous forks if you want some of the benefits of the 2012 line."

Do they "SEAL" better? Are they an actual oil seal? Hom many lips? Is there a seperate dust seal(guess not if they're retro fittable)?

tuumbaq · May 21, 2011

demo 9 said:
Also, how (and how important) is it to disassemble and grease new forks, i havent ever taken a fox 40 apart, i dont really want to try it on a new 40. Is this easy?

I'd say have much as running air in your tires...

You wont wreck anything in there and you should really learn since you should be doing an oil change after 6-8 days at the park. Servicing the damper is another thing , far from being impossible but a bit more techy for sure.

A 4 years old could flush the lowers and put new oil in there...It is VERY simple and doesnt require any special tools.Go to Fox website, Its all there. I'd do the lowers and I take the spring out as well.Grease it and make sure the wrap is right.If you dont already have some, get some Slick honey, grease the bushings and foam rings ( I soak mine in 2 parts SH 1 part Float Fluid) You WILL notice a significant improvement right away once its all freshly lube-up.

Once its open , might as well try to cycle the damper a few times and see if you can ear the growling noise.The key here is to be smart if its your first time doing this.What ever you do, STAY calm and dont force anything if its seems to be jammed.

Unless if you plan on running the fork only once a month, there's no point buying a high performance fork if its to run it dry and dirty, you need to know how to do this bro.

Lelandjt · May 21, 2011

They're very easy to work on. I'd never touched one before and rebuilt the fork and damper in an hour. Like most forks, it helps to leave the wheel on and have someone push down hard on the handlebars while you loosen the foot nuts. This may also be necessary to get enough torque on them when re-assembling.

Honestly "grinding" doesn't sound like a break in thing. It sounds like metal shavings are inside or something is wrong.

tuumbaq · May 21, 2011

Lelandjt said:
They're very easy to work on. I'd never touched one before and rebuilt the fork and damper in an hour. Like most forks, it helps to leave the wheel on and have someone push down hard on the handlebars while you loosen the foot nuts.

OR

if you're alone when doing this and want to have a pan under your fork to pick up the spill , loosen the nuts at the bottom but dont take them off the bolts completely.Then tap on the loose nut sitting at the tip of the bolt to release the lowers...it'll pop right out.

I use grinded sockets as they usually have rounded edges and they tends to slip n' strip bolts heads.but any 10-15-32 mm wrenches will do the job if you work slow.

Lelandjt · May 21, 2011

I meant to keep the rods from spinning so you can get them loose and then get them torqued but yes, before yanking the lowers off tap the rods out of them and let most of the oil drain out the holes.

TheTruth · May 21, 2011

I will be gettiing a rlc 2012 soon. I will respond with my thoughts.

p-spec · May 22, 2011

edit to drunk right now

be back latter

Dwdrums00 · May 22, 2011

I just got my 2012 Fox 40 and it is butter. It has less stiction out of the box compared to my 2011 Fox 40.

p-spec · May 22, 2011

my 2011 has zero friction,I finally got it dialed today thanks to a locals help.

Thing is money.

40's are money.

buckoW · May 22, 2011

Hey Demo,

Your fork came with a blue spring and you switched it out to a green spring, right? If that is true then I bet you didn't put grease on the spring and it is just the heat shrink wrap that is not lubed enough and it is rubbing on the inside of the stantion tube. Unscrew your preload adjuster and pull out the spring. Put gobs of grease all over the spring and put it back in. Should be quieter like that.

I have been on the new seals since last September and they are a huge improvement in durability and reduced stiction. Mine are blue but should be the same as the 2012. I am 185 lbs and run a blue spring with full HSC and LSC, by the way.

Hellpoker · May 22, 2011

buckoW said:
Hey Demo,

Your fork came with a blue spring and you switched it out to a green spring, right? If that is true then I bet you didn't put grease on the spring and it is just the heat shrink wrap that is not lubed enough and it is rubbing on the inside of the stantion tube. Unscrew your preload adjuster and pull out the spring. Put gobs of grease all over the spring and put it back in. Should be quieter like that.

I have been on the new seals since last September and they are a huge improvement in durability and reduced stiction. Mine are blue but should be the same as the 2012. I am 185 lbs and run a blue spring with full HSC and LSC, by the way.

Any chance you know how i could get my hands on those new seals ?

buckoW · May 22, 2011

Hellpoker said:
Any chance you know how i could get my hands on those new seals ?

I don't know. I got them from Fox. Ask them? They should be available soon.

NY_Star · May 22, 2011

I have heard that using a little DOT 4 or 5 brake fluid in the compression dampener solves this issue.

MmmBones · May 23, 2011

NY_Star said:
I have heard that using a little DOT 4 or 5 brake fluid in the compression dampener solves this issue.

Bwahahaha! Thats the only way to stop the Gremlins from Multiplying! Do it.

p-spec · May 23, 2011

Btw any first gen kashima owners have their bumper simply slide wildly ????
I had em perfect and tight I did maybe 2 or 3 runs til I noticed them completly down all out and wat not,ever since its like they are too big or something.

Like rubber reaction to amazing telfon coating?

2WLS4EVER · May 23, 2011

demo 9 said:
not completely relevant, but until i got a demo 8, i never owned a 40 that didnt have bumpers that couldnt stay at the top, mine slid down per run. I wouldnt sweat it

Regarding the spring noise vibration. It is normal. Some do and some don't. The fork is not broken and it will not damage the fork. It is caused by spring isolator rubbing on the I'd of the uppertube. Fox will take care of it of do it your self. Keep riding It may go away.

p-spec · May 23, 2011

demo 9 said:
not completely relevant, but until i got a demo 8, i never owned a 40 that didnt have bumpers that couldnt stay at the top, mine slid down per run. I wouldnt sweat it

I'd like to keep my top tube nice,seing how a flipping rock hit me with some h8rice karma.

tuumbaq · May 23, 2011

p-spec said:
I'd like to keep my top tube nice,seing how a flipping rock hit me with some h8rice karma.

there's probably a dozen different things you could do to keep them where you want, Kashima has nothing to do with this, it can happen with any forks.

I personally like running a zip-tie thru the bumper to keep it nice and tight, some like to use hair spray ( makes it sticky ) and Im sure others will chime in with other tricks...

Demo9, nice looking rig you got there, hope you can finally get that new fork dialed!IT does look a like you are running much more than 8' of travel, that bike must be SLACKKKKK

Arent you a bit worried you might damage your down tube without having the special lower headset cup?

buckoW · May 23, 2011

p-spec said:
Btw any first gen kashima owners have their bumper simply slide wildly ????
I had em perfect and tight I did maybe 2 or 3 runs til I noticed them completly down all out and wat not,ever since its like they are too big or something.

Like rubber reaction to amazing telfon coating?

I use the old 888 bumpers on my 40 and they never move.

wood booger · May 23, 2011

Dear demo 9, thank you (your mom) for single handedly supporting the dh industry. We appreciate it!

Fox break in? 2012?

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