[richgardiner]

Just gave me boxxers a service, not a full one, but a changing oil jobbie ilke the tf tuned video shows. My bushings now make a bit of a squeak/rubbing noise throughout the travel. Is this normal or have i cocked up somewhere along the line? was i supposed to grease the bushings aswell as the oil/dust seals? is it anything to be worried about? Its most noticeable when i compress the fork real slowly.
cheers

 

[nelsonjm]

What year is your boxxer? And is it a race/team/wc?

 

[richgardiner]

2008 team. ive just come back from the alps, they were feeling tired (but not making the noise) so i thought i would change oil and relube them, now its making funky noises!

 

[LOOnatic]

Did u remove the spring? I had an issue a while ago where the plastic double sided spacer that the spring sits on became slightly un seated and made all kinds of strange sounds including a bushing rub.
The 15w lubrication oil became very metallicky (sp?) and so be sure that is oriented properly.
You may want to loosen the crown pinch bolts and slide the fork off the bike so you cycle each side independently to further isolate the source.

Anyhoo, i'm just a hack and the real boxxer enginerds should be along shortly....they know who they are

 

[Bicyclist]

Sure the spring isn't deflecting and rubbing on the inner wall of the stanchion? Did you lightly grease it?

 

[richgardiner]

I didnt take the spring out of the stanchion, I just whipped the lowers out, cleaned out the seals, greased them (with rsp ultra slick, special suspension stuff) and put some fresh oil in. I think its coming from the upper sets of bushings, should i have greased them too?

 

[davep]

If there is audible rubbing noise from your bushing, something is seriously wrong, and you might have a destroyed stanchion soon.

That being said, the contact surface of the bushings is a smooth plastic coating. They can be tight and cause excess friction....but that kind of noise would suggest to me some sort of contamination.

I suppose if you cleaned the bushings and the stanchion with solvent and could somehow get the fork together with both parts completely w/o lubrication, you might get a squeeking noise like a soda straw in a lid.

The bushings are lubed via the oil that you put into the bottom of the fork. A thin film or proper grease cannot hurt, but it is certainly not needed. I always put the bushing lube in the bottom with only the top bushing engages, so that the oil wil get as high up in the fork as possible...then slide the fork together and bolt it up.

If it were me, I would just pull it apart again (takes 10 min) and check for any contaminants (metal or paint fragments from the spring, dirt or grit from the seals, etc). Pack the seal space with grease, wipe a little on the upper bushings, and replace the oil with the fork halves just engaged.

Also, the spring leg (and only the spring leg) can, and IMO should, have significantly more oil. There is much more to lube, and much more air space in that side. I generally use approx 40ml of oil in that side.

 

[Prettym1k3]

Had the same problem after SRAM rebuilt my fork with new bushings/fluid at Sea Otter.

I pulled the coil side leg, cleaned out of a piss load of dirt from the coil side bushing, and it seems to be a-okay now.