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Shaft clamps

Happymtb.fr

Turbo Monkey
Feb 9, 2016
1,907
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I am looking for shaft clamps to be able to service my shocks and forks at home. Buying the clamps from Fox and RS would be quite expensive and I hope that there is the possibility to buy some cleverly done clamps that would fit most of Fox and RS shocks.

The BBI clamps are out of stock and lack the 9mm for Fox shocks...

I have a park tool av-5 but I am not sure I can trust it since it is anodized and doesn't go around as much as some other clamps do.

What do you use?
 
I am looking for shaft clamps to be able to service my shocks and forks at home. Buying the clamps from Fox and RS would be quite expensive and I hope that there is the possibility to buy some cleverly done clamps that would fit most of Fox and RS shocks.

The BBI clamps are out of stock and lack the 9mm for Fox shocks...

I have a park tool av-5 but I am not sure I can trust it since it is anodized and doesn't go around as much as some other clamps do.

What do you use?
Perhaps you are looking for a cock ring?
 

Happymtb.fr

Turbo Monkey
Feb 9, 2016
1,907
1,252
SWE
Drill some holes in a block of wood and split it in half?
I have done that before and find it to work fine on larger diameter (above 20mm or so) but much less on smaller diameter. I might give it a try with a harder wood... I am aiming at 9mm for the moment but would also like to have an 1/2" clamp which is a bit more difficult to produce when living in metric-country.

Here is the Birzman: http://www.birzman.com/products_2.php?uID=2&cID=5&Key=131
looks ok, price is really good but I cannot find it in stock where I usually shop...

An option would be to ask shockcraft to make one https://www.instagram.com/p/BHlBHOHjtNh/ no idea on the price yet.
 

Happymtb.fr

Turbo Monkey
Feb 9, 2016
1,907
1,252
SWE
have you actually tried the park av5 you have?
No...:D
I am not certain that it will not scratch or compress the shaft since it is not surrounding it like more purpose build clamps. It would be a pity if it happened. Has somebody here experience with it?
 

Nick

My name is Nick
Sep 21, 2001
23,927
14,442
where the trails are
What are the common shaft diameters that would make up a good home-shop tool? I know a machinist who might knock out some vice blocks from scrap for a few bucks.
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,562
24,182
media blackout
8mm: Fox, Manitou and Marzocchi forks (damper and piston shafts)
9mm: RockShox Ario/Bar/Monarch air-shock damper shafts
10mm: Fox and Marzocchi forks (damper and piston shafts)

12.7mm: RockShox Vivid rear shock damper shaft
15.0mm: Marzocchi SFA/ATA air-piston shafts
15.9mm: Fox TALAS IFP Shaft
16.7mm: Fox FIT 32 RL & RLC damper-cartridge body
17.5mm: Fox damper cylinders and TALAS Lower Air Shaft
17.5mm: Fox 36/40 FIT RC2 damper cylinders
18.7mm: Fox Gen 3 O/B RL damper cylinder

19.5mm: Fox dampers, base valve body (R, RL, RLC, RLT)
21.0mm: Shimano 15mm thru-axle front hub
22.2mm: Manitou Cartridge Intrinsic & TPC Cartridge damper cylinder
23.8mm: Shimano Saint and XTR front hub thru-axle
23.8mm: Fox 36 O/B R damper base-valve body
25.4mm: Fox X damper (base valve body) & some rear shock damper cylinders
25.4mm: Fox 32 FIT Terralogic damper cylinder

25.4mm: Marzocchi Doppio air-spring cylinder
28.6mm: Fox 36/40 FIT R and 36/40 FIT RC2 damper base-valve body

That's everyhting Fox, which cuts it down to 11 from 15.

8, 9, 19, 15.9, 16.7, 17.5, 18.7, 19.5, 23.8, 25.4, 28.6
 

Happymtb.fr

Turbo Monkey
Feb 9, 2016
1,907
1,252
SWE
8mm: Fox, Manitou and Marzocchi forks (damper and piston shafts)
9mm: RockShox Ario/Bar/Monarch air-shock damper shafts
10mm: Fox and Marzocchi forks (damper and piston shafts)

12.7mm: RockShox Vivid rear shock damper shaft
15.0mm: Marzocchi SFA/ATA air-piston shafts
15.9mm: Fox TALAS IFP Shaft
16.7mm: Fox FIT 32 RL & RLC damper-cartridge body
17.5mm: Fox damper cylinders and TALAS Lower Air Shaft
17.5mm: Fox 36/40 FIT RC2 damper cylinders
18.7mm: Fox Gen 3 O/B RL damper cylinder
19.5mm: Fox dampers, base valve body (R, RL, RLC, RLT)

21.0mm: Shimano 15mm thru-axle front hub
22.2mm: Manitou Cartridge Intrinsic & TPC Cartridge damper cylinder
23.8mm: Shimano Saint and XTR front hub thru-axle
23.8mm: Fox 36 O/B R damper base-valve body
25.4mm: Fox X damper (base valve body) & some rear shock damper cylinders
25.4mm: Fox 32 FIT Terralogic damper cylinder

25.4mm: Marzocchi Doppio air-spring cylinder
28.6mm: Fox 36/40 FIT R and 36/40 FIT RC2 damper base-valve body

That's everyhting Fox, which cuts it down to 11 from 15.

8, 9, 19, 15.9, 16.7, 17.5, 18.7, 19.5, 23.8, 25.4, 28.6
You can add 12.7mm (1/2") to the list if you need to fully service a thin shaft DHX RC4
 

Happymtb.fr

Turbo Monkey
Feb 9, 2016
1,907
1,252
SWE
I asked Dougal at Shockcraft and he can make a clamp block for 150NZD with the following sizes 8, 9, 3/8", 10, 11, 12, 1/2". He will make a batch somewhere under his NZ winter so contact him if you are interested and before it's too late.
sales@shockcraft.co.nz
 

4130biker

PM me about Tantrum Cycles!
May 24, 2007
3,882
447
I have done that before and find it to work fine on larger diameter (above 20mm or so) but much less on smaller diameter. I might give it a try with a harder wood... I am aiming at 9mm for the moment but would also like to have an 1/2" clamp which is a bit more difficult to produce when living in metric-country.

Here is the Birzman: http://www.birzman.com/products_2.php?uID=2&cID=5&Key=131
looks ok, price is really good but I cannot find it in stock where I usually shop...

An option would be to ask shockcraft to make one https://www.instagram.com/p/BHlBHOHjtNh/ no idea on the price yet.
I made my tubing blocks for frame building out of maple. It works quite well on the larger diameters, but you’d just have to try and see on the smaller. It grips really well and the deformation of the wood is almost non-existent. Mine are about 3” wide where they contact the tubes, so that helps avoid slippage and they’re very gentle on the shafts.
 

Happymtb.fr

Turbo Monkey
Feb 9, 2016
1,907
1,252
SWE
I asked Dougal at Shockcraft and he can make a clamp block for 150NZD with the following sizes 8, 9, 3/8", 10, 11, 12, 1/2". He will make a batch somewhere under his NZ winter so contact him if you are interested and before it's too late.
sales@shockcraft.co.nz
The clamp will be 8, 9, 3/8", 10, 12, 1/2" and 43mm (for servicing a X2)
Price is 150nzd before shipping.
Get in touch with Dougal if you want one
 

6thElement

Schrodinger's Immigrant
Jul 29, 2008
15,827
13,063
No...:D
I am not certain that it will not scratch or compress the shaft since it is not surrounding it like more purpose build clamps. It would be a pity if it happened. Has somebody here experience with it?
I use an AV5 supplemented with a piece of old tube to wrap around whatever I'm clamping if I feel it's necessary.

Used just the other day changing out a 5 year old cartridge in a KS Lev that finally started to sag a few mm.
 

Happymtb.fr

Turbo Monkey
Feb 9, 2016
1,907
1,252
SWE
I got close and got a picture of a prototype but the tolerances were way off according to Dougal since he used a not so appropriate producing method. He had another method in mind which would require new tooling but had no time for it since the NZ season was starting...

WSS is making clamps which I am trying to source through Fast Suspensions but it is not going very well. Fast doesn't seem to be interested in selling them to me despite being the retailer WSS recommended me, mostly since I speak French.

Maybe you can source WSS product in your country?
 

Happymtb.fr

Turbo Monkey
Feb 9, 2016
1,907
1,252
SWE
Yes and no, the Bbi are more comprehensive but does not cover 9mm or 12mm. Then they are not available in my country...
The price I got for the WSS clamps is 100 euro a set and fit my needs. The site I linked to was in canukistan nugets, just in case
 

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
18,852
9,557
AK
8mm: Fox, Manitou and Marzocchi forks (damper and piston shafts)
9mm: RockShox Ario/Bar/Monarch air-shock damper shafts
10mm: Fox and Marzocchi forks (damper and piston shafts)

12.7mm: RockShox Vivid rear shock damper shaft
15.0mm: Marzocchi SFA/ATA air-piston shafts
15.9mm: Fox TALAS IFP Shaft
16.7mm: Fox FIT 32 RL & RLC damper-cartridge body
17.5mm: Fox damper cylinders and TALAS Lower Air Shaft
17.5mm: Fox 36/40 FIT RC2 damper cylinders
18.7mm: Fox Gen 3 O/B RL damper cylinder
19.5mm: Fox dampers, base valve body (R, RL, RLC, RLT)

21.0mm: Shimano 15mm thru-axle front hub
22.2mm: Manitou Cartridge Intrinsic & TPC Cartridge damper cylinder
23.8mm: Shimano Saint and XTR front hub thru-axle
23.8mm: Fox 36 O/B R damper base-valve body
25.4mm: Fox X damper (base valve body) & some rear shock damper cylinders
25.4mm: Fox 32 FIT Terralogic damper cylinder

25.4mm: Marzocchi Doppio air-spring cylinder
28.6mm: Fox 36/40 FIT R and 36/40 FIT RC2 damper base-valve body

That's everyhting Fox, which cuts it down to 11 from 15.

8, 9, 19, 15.9, 16.7, 17.5, 18.7, 19.5, 23.8, 25.4, 28.6
That's a lot of shims...
 

DBerndt

Chimp
Mar 31, 2019
2
1
I've struggled with shaft clamps for a long time as well and slowly one-off'd my way through suspension tweaking and maintenance life with small clamps made in my hobby lathe and split on a bandsaw that resulted in a toolbox drawer full of mismatched chunks of aluminum. They weren't particularly awesome but they got the job done... Until recently when I finished a CNC conversion on the old milling machine in my garage. So I'm now able to make some reasonable nice clamp sets.

Apologize for the shilling here. I had a previous post in this thread that likely got killed due to links in it. I've been around the MTB community for about a decade now, just not on ridemonkey, you can find me on pinkbike and mtbr with the same username. I enjoy machining as a hobby as well as biking, so putting some new shaft clamps into the market seemed like a good option to make some chips in the garage and put a little cash into the beer/new bike fund.

I've gotten good feedback so far and am just trying to spread the word a bit without being too spammy about it. I've only posted here because an active conversation is happening about the topic already.

If you guys are interested I'm sure you can figure out what to search for on ebay. You can also find me in the pinkbike buy/sell, or PM me here. I'm open to requests for custom stuff as well, different sizes, new designs, whatever.

This is just a bit of side fun and not a real job/company so if you have an interesting idea/problem to solve pitch me a PM and maybe we can make it happen.
 

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Happymtb.fr

Turbo Monkey
Feb 9, 2016
1,907
1,252
SWE
Has somebody the diameter for the:
- RS charger 1 & 2 damper cartridge body
- Fox Grip2 damper cartridge body
- Fox Fit4 damper cartridge body

The idea is to update the list provided by @jonKranked
 

DBerndt

Chimp
Mar 31, 2019
2
1
It'd be nice to have the sizes for each of the following.

803-01-150 Kit: Tooling: Clamps, Grip Damper, Body and Shaft
803-01-324 Kit: Tooling: 2019 Clamps, Grip Damper, Body and Shaft
803-00-147: Shaft Clamps, FORX, Set #2
803-00-830 Service Set: Tooling: 2014 RC2, Shaft Clamps
803-00-084 Kit: Shaft Clamps, FORX, Set #1 (32mm Forx)

That seems to be all that's "current" as far as fox shock service goes. But of course when it comes to tinkering with suspension just what's listed on the fox fork page is far from a "complete" set unless all that ever shows up on your bench is fox forks, in which case I'd suggest you are probably already working for fox...
 
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roflbox

roflborx
Jan 23, 2017
3,163
834
Raleigh, NC
Drill some holes in a block of wood and split it in half?
tried it, it only sorta kinda works.
When I swapped the coil negative spring out on my fork, I took 2 pieces of MDF, clamped them together, drilled a hole that was close enough / little undersized, put the negative coil spring assembly in there, tightened 'er good 'n tight, and that worked enough for the swap out. and was using a f style clamp, no vise.