[zane]

This is the 2005 manual for the FOX DH40 fork, from the fox website. Why can't marzocchi do this for their forks? It has travel change instructions, oil change instructions and more. It makes me want the fork even more.

http://www.foxracingshox.com/BackOffice/UploadedFiles/OwnersManual/2005_Fox_40_en.pdf

 

[mandown]

This is the 2005 manual for the FOX DH40 fork, from the fox website. Why can't marzocchi do this for their forks? It has travel change instructions, oil change instructions and more. It makes me want the fork even more.

http://www.foxracingshox.com/BackOffice/UploadedFiles/OwnersManual/2005_Fox_40_en.pdf

that is damn nice. i think marzo has the worst manual's. i guess the extra price you pay for a fox fork goes to the pocket of the people who write the manuals.

it is confidence inspiring when the product feels good. that feeling is amplified when the mfg gives other forms of indication that lots of care was put into the product - eg. good advertising and promotion, well written manuals, nice sticker application, good packaging. while these items don't make the product work any better, they show how the company feels about the end user.

minor hijack - what other companies give you this feeling? i will start with Oakley. not always a big fan of their product aesthetics, but they do what they are supposed to do and they hold up to abuse. the manuals look good. the image is solid.

 

[CBJ]

Hey for the price of that fork they better get it right.

 

[Zutroy]

Now that is a manual and a half.

 

[Kornphlake]

Bushings Technology and Inspection
Fox FORX use hydrodynamic lubrication. In this system, oil is force-fed into the tall slotted
bushings during the compression stroke. When the fork cycles up and down, the oil is trapped
between bushings, upper tubes and seals.
Thermal expansion rates can cause the bushings to close in on the upper tubes causing high
friction and binding during normal operation. Correct bushing clearance is critical to prevent
binding of fork during normal operation.
Geometric dimensioning and tolerancing is a design practice used to ensure parts will work/fit
during the manufacturing process. Bushings are sized before installation and rechecked for
size after installation. Correct bushing tolerance is a diametric clearance of .0015”-.0090”.
Showroom Testing
As you rock the fork back and forth while stopped with the front brake applied, the bushings
have only a small amount of lubricant separating the bushing/upper tube. At this time
you may notice a small amount of bushing play. Fork bushings must have clearance to
perform correctly. Too little clearance will cause high friction, binding or bushing seizure
when hot.
Real World Testing
During normal riding conditions, hydrodynamic lubrication occurs when there is a complete
separation of the upper tube from the bushing by a thin film of oil. Hydrodynamic
lubrication is characterized by very low friction and no wearing of the bushings or shaft
since there is no metal-to-bushing contact. During hydrodynamic lubrication, normal
bushing clearance will not be noticeable.

Everyone I know who's ever ridden a fox fork has noticed what feels like bushing slop that doesn't go away when the fork is ridden, despite Fox's claim that it goes away when the fork is cycled. These forks will be no exception I'm guessing. .009 is actually a pretty generous amount of slop considering the low end of their manufacturing tolerance is .0015, I'd say with a reasonable amount of tolerance stack up they should be able to get <.006 clearance when the stancions are at the lower limit the bushing is at the upper limit and the bore that the bushing presses into is at the upper limit as well.

Then again what do I know, I'm just the manufacturing engineer who has to deal with problems like this when the design engineer get's sloppy.

 

[buildyourown]

Talk about a fast derail....good job kornflake

That being said, on my shiver, the bore that the bushings fit into vary by .030 from one leg to the next. That wasn't a typo. If you can't hold anything better than .030 on a lathe, you should go back to sweeping floors.
The crazy thing is, you can't really feel it in the fork. I measured my bushings and then shimmed them out with scotch tape (hi-tech, I know) until they were perfect. There was no noticable difference in slop.

I think I may have just gotten a bad fork. It was one of the first shivers shipped.

 

[OGRipper]

I thought this manual thread was about doing wheelies without pedaling.

Hey Fox, sweet manual. Now that it's ready, can you start shipping DH40's and 36's now? Please?

 

[buildyourown]

Hey Fox, sweet manual. Now that it's ready, can you start shipping DH40's and 36's now? Please?

No ****. I'm waiting on a 40. Now they're saying march 11! Good thing I didn't sell my shiver yet.
Interesting how they didn't have any real pics to use for the manual so they used renderings...

 

[zedro]

That being said, on my shiver, the bore that the bushings fit into vary by .030 from one leg to the next. That wasn't a typo. If you can't hold anything better than .030 on a lathe, you should go back to sweeping floors.

i would really question your measurements

 

[OGRipper]

i would really question your measurements

Uh-oh, watch out everyone...it's time for Engineer Smackdown! Today it's the BYO and Zedro cage match! No holds barred, coming at each other with the calipers!!

 

[Tame Ape]

where's the 2005 Vanilla RLC manual?? Can't find it.

 

[DH biker]

There is no manual for a 2002 Shiver of Zoke's site.

 

[buildyourown]

i would really question your measurements

I knew you would.
I used a Sunnen bore gauge, freshly calibrated to Boeing spec. I had the inspection dept at work set it for me and I borrowed it for the night. If that gauge is wrong, there would be a lot of planes falling out of the skies.
I'm a machinist/toolmaker first and a hack enginerd second. I have much more faith in my ability to measure stuff than my ability to design stuff.
I didn't believe it at first either.

And OG, calipers are for people who can't read a mic. :nuts:

 

[OGRipper]

And OG, calipers are for people who can't read a mic. :nuts:

Hahaha, I have no idea what you're talking about but I'm pretty sure that in a cage match I'd rather have a pointy set of calipers than whatever a "mic" is, unless it's a better weapon. :eviltongu :eviltongu

 

[ChainWhip]

slightly back on-topic...

The DH40 is going to come w/ 3 springs so you can tune the fork to your weight.

 

[oly]

calipers are pointy and could poke out an eye, or eyes if spaced right.... a mic on the other hand ,if large enough, could put the serious squeeze on someones windpipe or nads rendering them useless in a battle.

 

[buildyourown]

Mic vs Caliper....round one

Can you tell I'm bored at work. This is my last day so this should end soon.

 

[oly]

raise your hand if yove ever used an engineering measuring tool as a roach clip?

sorry, been a long week.... minds on other things......

 

[buildyourown]

Raise your hand if you've ever used a 1-2" mic as a roach clip?

Some guys here at work made a McGiver out of a extra tall nut and bolt.
All right, I'm going home...

 

[oly]

Raise your hand if you've ever used a 1-2" mic as a roach clip?

I think that smokey guy on the Turner forum has...... hehe

 

[zane]

It's funny how many bike riders are engineers- I'm a 2nd yr engineering student.

 

[J5ive]

So back to the fox forks... anyone know a date? They told me 2 weeks here in australia about a week ago. I've sold my fork expecting its arival. Not a good start if it doesn't come on time.

 

[J5ive]

Also, reading the manual... I'm I right in seeing that the lower crown is a set height? THAT SUCKS BALLS! Maybe, anyone know an axel to crown?

Hang on, my mistake. It says not to lower the crowns below 176.4mm. Phew :love:

Also, another question. My bike is right on 165mm stack. Will the small or large crown give me more adjustment? Does anyone know if the large crown hits the top tube like boxxer crowns? I havent seen a photo, so what drop are they?

 

[zane]

I didn't know they offered different crowns from the factory. 165mm isn't that much, you probably won't need the large drop crown. I haven't seen a pic yet either....

 

[Tom DH]

Yeah I agree that the Marzocchi manuals are a waste of time for MTB forks. But have you ever seen the ones that come with the MX forks?
If you have then you wouldn’t have thought it was the same company, they go into a lot of detail with oil heights and even tell you how to rebuild the cartridges on the MX forks.
Marzocchi must think that it would be too dangerous to give Mountain bikers all this knowledge :eviltongu

 

[zedro]

Marzocchi must think that it would be too dangerous to give Mountain bikers all this knowledge :eviltongu

actually they do, at least thats what Brian Peterson said. The old manuals used to be alot better, but they actually removed them and replaced them with crappy generic manauals.

 

[MtnbikeMike]

I thought this manual thread was about doing wheelies without pedaling.

Hey Fox, sweet manual. Now that it's ready, can you start shipping DH40's and 36's now? Please?

JensonUSA has 36's in stock, but they've removed the 40 completely from their website. So I would guess it's gonna be a while for the 40.

 

[YETI187]

It's funny how many bike riders are engineers- I'm a 2nd yr engineering student.

i'm going into mechanical engineering this year for college.


about the fox manual, that thing's nice. indepth stuff like that could inpire a newbe to do work on their own fork, which should be ok since the manual seems indepth, but if you get some hack doing it.... well hell, if some hack wants to mess with their own $$$$ fork, the hell with them.

 

[J5ive]

We just got a 40 on a demo 8 at work. These things are huge, the pics I've seen dont do this thing justice. Its also allot nicer colour than I imagined and the finish is top notch. The adjusters on the lower of the fork also have an alloy screw on cover to protect them somewhat.

As for the feel of the fork, time will tell. They don't feel amazingly smooth out of the box, but theres a whole load of travel going on there. Can't wait to get my pair on the trail.

 

[SprungShoulders]

actually they do, at least thats what Brian Peterson said. The old manuals used to be alot better, but they actually removed them and replaced them with crappy generic manauals.

Yep, that's what he said. The old manuals were very nice, complete with troubleshooting flowchart, tear-down (and re-build, of course) instructions, oil heights, etc. I made sure I DL'ed and archived every one of those old-style manuals that I could; they're becoming more difficult to find online.

The new Marz manuals are a waste of paper IMHO. If you're not going to print anything useful, then why bother? If I want to read useless fluff, I'll crack open Mountain Bike Fiction...errr...Action.