[Rihards]

Hello
I own crf250R 2008 with defective cartridge in fork. I have fork available from 2005. Would it fit?

[JimDirt]

Welcome to the site !!

As far as I know everything "should" be the same with maybe the exception of the valving itself ....they did change in 10 , like going to 48mm forks , but prior years (04-09) "should" interchange with no issues as far as length , etc. , mainly the valving would be the difference , and you can always remove the valving from yours (the Fork Cap Assembly) as a unit and swap it out .......

If your Rebound rod is leaking , you can simply replace the seal ( not simply , but I can walk you thru the procedure if you have decent mechanical skills its not that hard and a 17mm Allen socket that is 1/2" drive and a breaker bar and a propane torch and a drill , I walk people thru the procedure all the time) , same goes if the inner cartridge seal/Free Piston seal is leaking , you can replace that as well , so if that is a option for you (depending on what is exactly wrong with yours) , just ask and I will be glad to guide you thru the procedure ....

[Rihards]

Thank you for your offer of help!
Thing is, that I have stripped the thread on aluminium rod that extends from cartridge.
I found that cartridge can be bought only as unit and it costs way more than second hand fork with triple clamp all together.
if it fits from 2005 to my 2008 I find it easier to change all. Since I am planing to ride this crf for some time I think it would also be nice to have spare fork parts laying around. And when I can experiment I planned on repairing of those damaged threads, maybe by welding and then re threading.

[JimDirt]

Yea , that is the Rebound Rod (your Rebound Valving is on the inside of the cartridge at the end of that rod) , as far as I know the Rebound rod is the same length from 05-08 so everything should fit with no issues , the only other thing I could suggest is to call places like Race Tech , Factory Connection , Pro Circuit , etc. and ask if they have a used or new rebound rod for sale by itself

As far as "valving differences" the Fork Cap Assembly

This part (the top part)


You should be able to swap out to keep the same valving for your 08 , as it would have different shim stacks compared to the 05 ...

But yea , I think you will be fine swapping out the entire fork/pair or the cartridge into yours without issues...

[JimDirt]

On a side note , IF , you are going to use the entire fork , then you should use the pair , as the Fork Lug (where the axel goes thru) have different offsets thru the years , so it would cause serious handling issues if you mixed them , and most likely would bind up while installing the axel because one would be farther back than the other (only by a few mm , but it makes a huge difference) .... but using the entire cartridge or just swapping the Rebound Rod is fine (as long as you swapped the valving from each so your valving is the same from side to side) .....