Posts
70
Joined
5/29/2016
Location
Sicklerville, NJ, USA
So many times in the past ive had my suspension rebuilt and revalved however after seeing a few videos and studying my service manual I figured I shouldn't have a problem giving it a shot. As you can probably tell by now it did not go as planned. So I thought I did everything correct in the forks however after reassembly I noticed both have a slight knock when the fork is compressed. One fork has a more pronounced knock that the other. The inner cartridges have 200 ml and the have 350ml as stated in the manual. In the forks the only things changed were the bushings, seals, circlips and oils. Another issue I ran into is one of the rebound clickers spins without any resistance(it still clicks however it does not bottom out). The other rebound clicker does not turn in or out when the base bolt is installed however if the base bolt is off it turns freely. It seems whatever is on the other side of the d-rod is jammed. Sorry if it is hard to understand what I'm trying to say like I said I'm pretty new to this suspension stuff so I'm not too positive on the lingo. As for the shock I installed the bladder and the shaft and seal case and the circlips so I added the fluid through the compression dampner hole and when I try to bleed it the fluid level just moves up and down which seems normal however it seems like the seal casing is moving up and down. At first I thought it was an air pocket that allowed it to move without resistance but I can hear the seal case move up and down. Does any of this seem even reasonable? Again I'm not familiar with any of this but I'm sure someone has to have an idea. Thanks!
Just take it all apart and try again.
Paw Paw
I understand what's going on with your shock but it seems like you are doing too many things the wrong way. Too many points that need addressed and I can't type it all out. You need to watch more videos and learn. Paul Thede from Race Tech has some really good step-by-step information on his website or buy his book. If you put the shock together wrong, you can be in some serious danger when you go to charge the bladder.
You're better off revisiting some of the technics you are using....
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watch the last half of this video, its not perfect but its damn close, I work for pro action western canada, good on you for tackling this yourself, not many people try this, and even fewer get it right
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_InEnom2ec
Install the retaining clip, pump it up about 40 psi with air, Fill other side with oil most of the way up, then install your shaft. Pump the shaft up and down, slow short strokes, get that oil foaming. Do that for the next 20 minutes till the oil is done foaming.
Once you are confident most of the air is out of the oil, top off the shaft side with more oil, press the seal head into the shock as far as it can go. It will only go so far - at that point, purge the air from your bladder and it should sink down far enough to install the retaining clip. Then air your bladder up with a little air and make sure the sealhead and bladder both seat against their clips nice and easy. Then go for 150 - 175 psi of air. If its all good, you can take it to a shop and have em fill it with nitrogen.
There are more little tidbits, but that's basically it.
-once you've done the initial bleed use a rubber mallet to deliver a short sharp blow to the clevis-this will crack open the high speed stack. Remember to pull the rod out VERY SLOWLY to avoid cavitation on the other side of the piston.
-not sure how much it helps but if you find a lot of bubbles keep coming up, let the bubbles pop ( or use a needle etc to pop them ). Sometime I find this rids the oil of air faster ( which is bad...really bad in any shock ).
-make sure you pressurise the bladed enough to displace a decent amount of oil in the bladder side ( the bladder can be compressed too much when installing the seal head and it can 'shrivel up' too much which may hinder its function ).
-BE PATIENT
and when putting the piston in the oil, give it a few smacks on the end with a mallet it will force the air out of the piston
You should start the bleeding process over and try to get it better. If no luck, you may have some worn parts on the internals.
It should be hard to put the cap back in the inner cartridge due to the oil height.
Pit Row
Leave the rod fully extended. Like I said before, if you are putting the right amount of oil in the inner, the last 1/2" or so of putting the cap in will be hard. You will really have to push the cap down and compress it to get the threads started. I usually use a clamp to help hold that way you have both hands free to compress and spin the cap into the threads.
When you bleed, the first rod stroke should only be about 3". Check to make sure it's fully pushing the rod back to home position. Then, stroke the rod ~10 times but make sure you are stroking it very slow and only halfway. To evacuate the excess oil on the final stroke, stroke the rod very fast and all the way until it's fully compressed. This needs to be done all in one, fast, fluid motion. I usually do this by setting a rag down on the bench and then grabbing the upper body by both hands. This will allow you to rest the dampener rod on the rag and compress it quickly and to full travel.
After the last stroke, turn the cartridge so the excess oil can run out of the thru holes and clean up. Check the rod again to make sure it's returning fully.
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