Replacing fork oil
Discussion
I had a suspension set up done to give me a good starting point to adjust further if needs be as I'd never done it before. The guy said that the front forks could do with a heavier grade of oil perhaps as they bounce up too quick.
He quoted £250 to do the work including replacing the seals if I took the forks off.
Question is, how difficult a job is it considering i have to take the forks off to start with in any case ?
Do i need any special tools etc ?
He quoted £250 to do the work including replacing the seals if I took the forks off.
Question is, how difficult a job is it considering i have to take the forks off to start with in any case ?
Do i need any special tools etc ?
£250 for changing fork oil and seals is taking the biscuit.
I'll do it for £150
Honestly it isn't difficult, invest a few quid on a seal driver and all is well.
Most difficult bit is removing the damper rod if it decides to rotate inside the fork leg rather than undo (it's the bolt in the bottom of the fork leg that you won't see until the fork is off). If you have the ability to get air gun or impact driver on it, and you a reasonable adept mechanically there is no reason you can't do the job yourself for £60 on a Saturday.
I'll do it for £150
Honestly it isn't difficult, invest a few quid on a seal driver and all is well.
Most difficult bit is removing the damper rod if it decides to rotate inside the fork leg rather than undo (it's the bolt in the bottom of the fork leg that you won't see until the fork is off). If you have the ability to get air gun or impact driver on it, and you a reasonable adept mechanically there is no reason you can't do the job yourself for £60 on a Saturday.
MotorsportTom said:
£250 for changing fork oil and seals is taking the biscuit.
I'll do it for £150
Honestly it isn't difficult, invest a few quid on a seal driver and all is well.
Most difficult bit is removing the damper rod if it decides to rotate inside the fork leg rather than undo (it's the bolt in the bottom of the fork leg that you won't see until the fork is off). If you have the ability to get air gun or impact driver on it, and you a reasonable adept mechanically there is no reason you can't do the job yourself for £60 on a Saturday.
Cheers.I'll do it for £150
Honestly it isn't difficult, invest a few quid on a seal driver and all is well.
Most difficult bit is removing the damper rod if it decides to rotate inside the fork leg rather than undo (it's the bolt in the bottom of the fork leg that you won't see until the fork is off). If you have the ability to get air gun or impact driver on it, and you a reasonable adept mechanically there is no reason you can't do the job yourself for £60 on a Saturday.
No great mechanically! But if I can have a go for £60 including purchase of tools and oil then I might as well try it.
The guy did say about changing the springs if needs be to suit my weight 100kgs so that maybe why the quote is so steep?
WarnieV6GT said:
MotorsportTom said:
£250 for changing fork oil and seals is taking the biscuit.
I'll do it for £150
Honestly it isn't difficult, invest a few quid on a seal driver and all is well.
Most difficult bit is removing the damper rod if it decides to rotate inside the fork leg rather than undo (it's the bolt in the bottom of the fork leg that you won't see until the fork is off). If you have the ability to get air gun or impact driver on it, and you a reasonable adept mechanically there is no reason you can't do the job yourself for £60 on a Saturday.
Cheers.I'll do it for £150
Honestly it isn't difficult, invest a few quid on a seal driver and all is well.
Most difficult bit is removing the damper rod if it decides to rotate inside the fork leg rather than undo (it's the bolt in the bottom of the fork leg that you won't see until the fork is off). If you have the ability to get air gun or impact driver on it, and you a reasonable adept mechanically there is no reason you can't do the job yourself for £60 on a Saturday.
No great mechanically! But if I can have a go for £60 including purchase of tools and oil then I might as well try it.
The guy did say about changing the springs if needs be to suit my weight 100kgs so that maybe why the quote is so steep?
Springs would at most be £100 so considering he will get discount on oil and seals it's still a good money earner for him bearing in mind it will take him at most a couple of hours.
ETA - watch youtube guides, there may even be one for your bike! If you can follow instructions you will be fine
WarnieV6GT said:
Cheers.
No great mechanically! But if I can have a go for £60 including purchase of tools and oil then I might as well try it.
The guy did say about changing the springs if needs be to suit my weight 100kgs so that maybe why the quote is so steep?
If it included replacement springs as well.. then suppose price isn't too far away. No great mechanically! But if I can have a go for £60 including purchase of tools and oil then I might as well try it.
The guy did say about changing the springs if needs be to suit my weight 100kgs so that maybe why the quote is so steep?
The job isn't particularly difficult, RWU or USD.. just have the correct seal driver as mentioned or you will struggle and potentially damage the new seal on refitting by any other method. Try and be as accurate as possible to have the correct amount of oil in each tube.
One thing to bear in mind is that you will need a rattle gun or impact gun to loosen the bottom bolt that holds the damper rod (or a damper rod holding tool), you can sometimes do it without but I can guarantee you will need to use it on at least one of them, you can use a drill driver such as a makita or similar if you have one but you will need an adapter and a long 6,8 or 10mm hex key.
The actual job is simple enough though, get everything spotlessly clean when you pull them apart.
Edit, driver as already mentioned above, to be honest if the guy is changing the springs as well I'd just be inclined to pay the man
The actual job is simple enough though, get everything spotlessly clean when you pull them apart.
Edit, driver as already mentioned above, to be honest if the guy is changing the springs as well I'd just be inclined to pay the man
Last service for my bike mandated a fork oil change, so I was a bit surprised at the labour hours.
On everything I've worked on in the past there's a wee screw at the bottom of the forks - you undo it, pump the suspension up and down a few times and the old oil squirts out. Put back in screws, take off nuts at top of forks and refill. job's a good 'un.
But on mine at least (and I'm informed other new stuff too) that wee drain screw doesn't exist any more, so it's wheel off, fork legs off and tip upside down to drain. I'm not quite sure how that's progress?
Anyway - if you have the wee drain screws it's a 10-minute job; if not it'll be a couple of hours depending on what has to be taken apart to get the fork legs off the bike and back together again..
On everything I've worked on in the past there's a wee screw at the bottom of the forks - you undo it, pump the suspension up and down a few times and the old oil squirts out. Put back in screws, take off nuts at top of forks and refill. job's a good 'un.
But on mine at least (and I'm informed other new stuff too) that wee drain screw doesn't exist any more, so it's wheel off, fork legs off and tip upside down to drain. I'm not quite sure how that's progress?
Anyway - if you have the wee drain screws it's a 10-minute job; if not it'll be a couple of hours depending on what has to be taken apart to get the fork legs off the bike and back together again..
Lee540 said:
The job isn't particularly difficult, RWU or USD.. just have the correct seal driver as mentioned or you will struggle and potentially damage the new seal on refitting by any other method. Try and be as accurate as possible to have the correct amount of oil in each tube.
With USD forks you usually need some way of compressing the spring to get the forks apart which you don't on RWU. A DIY compressor is easy enough to make.I've rebuilt many forks using a length of small diameter aluminium bar to tap the seal home before I finally invested in a seal driver, and using a length of PVC tube also seems quite common. It does need more care though, and a seal driver is definitely easier.
Don't rely on measuring out a specific volume of oil for forks, find out the correct air gap and fill them to that level.
Mr2Mike said:
With USD forks you usually need some way of compressing the spring to get the forks apart which you don't on RWU. A DIY compressor is easy enough to make.
I've rebuilt many forks using a length of small diameter aluminium bar to tap the seal home before I finally invested in a seal driver, and using a length of PVC tube also seems quite common. It does need more care though, and a seal driver is definitely easier.
Don't rely on measuring out a specific volume of oil for forks, find out the correct air gap and fill them to that level.
Yep and certain Showa / Ohlins forks require more special tools / creativity. I've rebuilt many forks using a length of small diameter aluminium bar to tap the seal home before I finally invested in a seal driver, and using a length of PVC tube also seems quite common. It does need more care though, and a seal driver is definitely easier.
Don't rely on measuring out a specific volume of oil for forks, find out the correct air gap and fill them to that level.
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