Leaking Fox

[Chris11]

Hello, I have recently purchased a secondhand Commencal Supernormal. I Took it out yesterday for my first ride on it... Really pleased how fast I can go on it, however oil is leaking out the top of the righthand shock chamber. The forks are called 'Fox F100 32'. I'm thinking about repairing them myself, there's a pretty good guide on the Fox website. Has anyone attempted this before? How hard can it be?!

The forks had 125psi in them when I got them, and for someone my weight they should only be 75psi. Not sure why the chap who owned it before me had them pumped up so hard as he was lighter than me.

Thanks for any advice your able to give.

Chris

[stu8975]

Yep, fairly easy to do if your mechanically minded, will need new sealkit and new fluid (about £25), don't use the weight guide, set your forks up to give the desired amount of sag. Bear in mind, if you get it wrong it will cost you £100 to get them done at a service centre..Mojo or TF Tuned. So make sure you know what your doing before you open them up.

[Chris11]

Thanks for your advice. I'll have a look on the Fox website and see if I can find the necessary seals and fluid. Cheers

[stu8975]

Just one more thing, when you say leaking out of the shock chamber..are we talking about where the seal is or actually out of the top of the fork leg?

[Chris11]

It's leaking from where the seal is. Thanks for your help, once complete I'll post a couple of pictures and try setting the forks up via the sag measurement method. Cheers

[Chris11]

Edited by Chris11 on Monday 31st May 16:31

[kenbitcher]

Chris,

I got my seals from Mojo; £14.99 posted for the 32mm models and a piece of urine to fit. I did mine in the kitchen sink to catch any stray oil when taking the lowers off.

[Chris11]

Nice one, I'm never heard of Mojo but it looks like a good company. Are we thinking that a 'Dust Wiper Seal Kit' is gonna stop them from leaking then? If so I'll order them up and get some oil aswell. Thanks a lot for your help.

[dvance]

Shocks usually have two seals on each leg -- a dust wiper seal and an oil seal. The dust seal does not allow dust to get to the inside of the shock, and the oil seal which sits underneath it. The oil seal, naturally, does not allow the oil from inside the shock to escape. You'll need to change both seals for the oil to stop leaking. What type of brakes are you running on the front? If it's a disk brake, the twisting of the fork due to braking could have caused your forks to slightly warp, hence allowing oil to escape -- in that case you might try replacing the bushings inside to see if that helps. However it might not be economical at that point in time. So, in all, you might have to live with a bit of oil leaking. Alternatively, you might put less oil in the fork and pump up more air to achieve roughly the same feel (though it would probably shorten its life).