[JimDirt]

Understandable , and bleeding the shock is no where near as complicated as the fork inner chamber , so when you do that , it should be a breeze compared to the forks

[mossman77]

Understandable , and bleeding the shock is no where near as complicated as the fork inner chamber , so when you do that , it should be a breeze compared to the forks

Good to hear.

[mossman77]

Arrrrrgggghhhh!!! I just checked the forks again this evening and one of them is now only extending to about 10-1/2". This is the same fork where there are tiny silver particles in the oil and clumps on the threads when I pull the piston out. Something isn't right. There isn't nearly as much suction when pulling the piston assembly out when compared to the other one. No way it wasn't bled properly. I'm going to go ahead and replace the seal and bushings. Now that I have the assembly apart, I understand things better and am thinking it has to be the seal. I heard a lot of squirting and gurgling sounds coming from the cartridge bleed holes when compressing that fork so it make sense that the seal is leaking and making those sounds. The other cartridge (the seemingly good one) doesn't make those noises. I saw your other post regarding replacing the seal so I will attempt to follow along.

[JimDirt]

Hmmmm , we are back to the Free Piston seal being bad , i will say if your going to do it , then do both sides , this way , you know its right

As far as flushing it , if your taking it apart , go ahead and pull the rod completely out and make sure nothing is wrong with the rebound stack , also this is where you will need the Vice Grips i showed , as you will have to take apart the assembly like was shown in the first pics i posted

Once you get that far i will give you a quick walk thru on replacing the seal , you will need a propane torch to heat up the Free Piston , that is it for specialty tools aside from the Vice Grips , and the 32mm 6 point socket

Once the piston is removed from the assembly , its a simple process to replace the seal

Or you can spend $180 and replace both Fork Cap Assembly's and be done with it , since your valving is stock

Either way , i feel for ya , this is sucking big time !

Normally you would have been in and out and ready to ride a long time ago

[mossman77]

I already disassembled the one assembly and have the piston in-hand. I used my small pair of vice grips to grasp the rod just above the shim stack. Are you suggesting I take the small nut off and remove all the shims too? I will definitely be doing both sides because the other side is likely going bad as well.

[JimDirt]

If you have the piston off the shaft , by unscrewing the cap and removing the needle , so the spring and the piston come off then no you wont need to dis-assemble the stack

All you need to do to remove the seal , is remove the bushings , remove the O-Rings , on the underside there will be a flat washer , under the washer is the seal

Take your trusty vice grips , and place them around the piston , i prefer using a rubber vacuum hose or something similar to keep from gouging the piston with the vice grip teeth

Heat evenly (all the way around) so the rubber on the seal just starts to smell or smoke slightly , then remove the heat and use a flat screwdriver to pull the seal out

Let the piston cool naturally , do not cool it with water , after the piston is cool , then take the new seal , and press it in using a socket that is the same size as the outer part of the seal , make absolutely sure of the orientation of the seal (i believe it will be upside down)when removing , install the new seal in the same orientation , put on new bushings , and O-Ring and reassemble the assembly , and go back to bleeding , and hopefully thats it

[mossman77]

Got it. Having difficulty locating the seal. Race Tech has something called the "Reservoir rod shaft seal". Is this the seal I need?

[JimDirt]

Just call them and ask for the Free Piston Seal for your bike , and they will know what your talking about (maybe not the girl at the desk , but just ask for a Tech if she does not know), i remember looking for it on their site and had difficulty , so i just called and they had the seals on the delivery truck before the day was over and i had them in 2 days , it was like $40 for 4 of them (i did both bikes)

Race Tech:
1-951-279-6655

[mossman77]

I'll.definitely give them a call in the morning. I found these online, which are supposedly for Showa. They don't look like what I have though. The ones on this site actualy look like bearings, not rubber/metal seals.

[JimDirt]

Uhhh ????

Forget something ??

[mossman77]

Uhhh ????

Forget something ??

Ummm, thank you???

[JimDirt]

I'll.definitely give them a call in the morning. I found these online, which are supposedly for Showa. They don't look like what I have though. The ones on this site actualy look like bearings, not rubber/metal seals.

Uhhh , Nooooo !! , but you are welcome , lol , , in the post above my "Uhhh" you said you found these online ......found what ??? , link , picture , description ?????

[mossman77]

I'll.definitely give them a call in the morning. I found these online, which are supposedly for Showa. They don't look like what I have though. The ones on this site actualy look like bearings, not rubber/metal seals.

Uhhh , Nooooo !! , but you are welcome , lol , , in the post above my "Uhhh" you said you found these online ......found what ??? , link , picture , description ?????

Oh okay. Haha. Yeah, sorry. I found the seals from a suspension company called Ride JBI and the photo they have on the product page is for a KYB fork. It's just a representative photo. I contacted the company and they said they definitely have the Showa seal. Ordered two of them last night and they'll be here Saturday. Also ordered new bushings, and hoping they will be here Saturday as well. My forks should be like-new when I'm finished with them

Question...the vice grips scratched the some of the finish off the valve surface when I was loosening the cap (that sucker was on their tight). Do I need to coat the bare metal with something or will it be okay?

[JimDirt]

Ok , well that clears that up !!

And good to hear , hopefully this will be it for a while and everything will go together easily since you have had everything apart a dozen times , don't forget now is the time to make sure the compression clickers are matched , you can check the clicks once you put the assembly back together but it does not have to be in the cartridge , so you can tighten everything down , again , i have never used Loctite , and never had anything come loose , the only place i use Loctite is on the nut for the valving on the forks and shock

After this , a fork outer tube oil change at the end of a riding season or 2 , is all you should have to do for a few years

As far as the vice grips , did you use a rubber hose like i mentioned to keep from gouging ??

And yes sometimes you have to really force it to break the Loctite free

either way , it should just be a polished metal surface , so take some sandpaper or a Dremel , and smooth it out as best as you can , and as long as the holes are not distorted or ovaled out , and there are no burrs , you are fine , if the holes got distorted , then clean up the edge of the hole with a drill bit or countersink to clear any blockage or flow restriction

[mossman77]

As far as the vice grips , did you use a rubber hose like i mentioned to keep from gouging ??

I tried using a piece of plastic hose, but couldn't get a good grip. There aren't any gouges or burrs and I kept the pliers away from the holes so they are fine.

either way , it should just be a polished metal surface , so take some sandpaper or a Dremel , and smooth it out as best as you can , and as long as the holes are not distorted or ovaled out , and there are no burrs , you are fine , if the holes got distorted , then clean up the edge of the hole with a drill bit or countersink to clear any blockage or flow restriction

This part of the shaft appears to be anodized a dark gray color.