[Zark]

My '03 Super T is great but I have never used the full travel. Most trails I don't get into the last inch.

So I've had it for about 6 months and want to change the oil and use a lower oil height.

I've searched and can't find an oil height for my fork here or on Zocchi's site.
Also I think you are supposed to cycle the oil in the cartridge to get the right level?

What will I need (other than oil) to do this?

I weigh 160 and ride some gnarly trails but don't huck, I'm looking for a plush, racy ride

 

[llkoolkeg]

*Oil Level: This is the distance between the oil height and the top of the stanchion in the end stroke position

MY Fork 55-80 kg 80-90 kg

2003 Super T MQR20+ c.170 80mm* 75mm*

It looks like 80mm of 7.5W for your size and application. If you go Golden Spectro, get 10W max.

 

[Kornphlake]

I looked on marzocchi's website and they had a manual for all '02 forks in about 7 different languages. Somewhere in the manual there's a chart showing the oil height for all the '02 forks. Maybe they omitted that info from the '03 manual, but it wouldn't hurt to look.

Besides oil you'll need a lot of shop towels, a good crescent wrench and lots of self control or an appropriately sized socket and torque wrench. The top caps only need like 20 IN-LBS. After dissasembling the top end of the fork and removing the springs dump out the oil, re-fill the stantions some and pump the rod that runs through the leg. I found that short steady pumps were most effective for getting oil into the cartridge. Keep pumping and adding oil until you can't hear a slurping noise or feel where the resistance starts and stops as you push the rod from fully extended to bottomed out. This should take a few minutes per leg. Oil height is measured without springs from the top of the stantion tube.

Other things to watch out for:

Preload assemblies are left hand threaded. To get at the pre load assembly you have to remove the preload knobs, and remove the e-clip under it.

With the top caps and upper preload assembly removed be careful not to extend the fork, if you do you can pull the sliders off the stantions and damage the seals. If you plan on replacing the seals then I guess it's no big deal.

 

[Kornphlake]

Oh yeah, oil height is measured with the fork fully compressed.

 

[D_D]

I prefere just to measure the height of the old oil before removing it. Removes any confusion about where to measure from and any problems with the fork not having the correct ammount of oil in to start with.

 

[Renegade]

I prefere just to measure the height of the old oil before removing it. Removes any confusion about where to measure from and any problems with the fork not having the correct ammount of oil in to start with.

Unfortunately that will get you in trouble if it's a marzocchi fork; they are notorious for coming straight out of the factory with less than the correct amount of oil in each leg, and most times it;s a different level [both incorrect] from left to right side.

 

[Kornphlake]

Not to mention that when you pull the springs out you'll loose a couple MM oil height.

 

[GspotRider]

My '03 Super T is great but I have never used the full travel.
I weigh 160 and ride some gnarly trails but don't huck, I'm looking for a plush, racy ride

The best 'racey' upgrade I did to my 2003 super t was to replace the stock 7.5wt oil with 5wt oil. The lighter oil makes the fork respond to hits better at high speeds. It looses abit of the slow speed hucking rebound control, but for racey riding it makes a world of difference.