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Rebuilt my WP 4CS forks with a set of the Tusk seals, probably 15 ish hours ago. Went out to a practice day Saturday and noticed that my caliper was completely covered in fork oil at the end of the day, and after washing walked out to the garage to find both forks leaking on the floor. I figured I should at least get 30 hours out of these, or am I just ignorant and should be doing seals and oil more often?
Well….yeah. As of right now they are junk to me
Almost all non oem fork seals are junk from my experience.
15 hours is pathetic from a set of seals. But there are a bunch of factors involved. Do you have your fork legs aligned correctly? Do you ride in lots of mud, sand, or dust?
I have been using SKF seals exclusively for the last few years. They are not the cheapest by any means, but I (and my friends) have had excellent luck with them. Forks also operate much smoother after they are installed. Just spend a few more bucks and forget about it. I had well over 100 hours on my last set, changed the oil a few times and they never leaked. I eventually replaced them because I got nervous they were in there for so long.
Yes
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Always followed proper alignment procedure when installing front wheel, and forks were installed flush to the milled mark on the upper part of the clamp. I mainly race XC, and the last three rounds here in Indiana has been nothing but a dust bowl, we haven't had a good rain in months. Saturday was my first day on moto in a long time, definitely cased a bunch, but no real severe bottoming going on.
Save the hassle and go OEM. Not worth it
+1 on the SKF seals!
Call this guy... get these seals. He kinda knows a thing or two about fork and shock seals along with the mfg'ers of them.
Mike Marquez
Click Suspension
236 Goss Ave.
Santa Cruz, CA 95065
Phone: (831) 588-6720
+2 on SKF seals!!!
btw the seal may have blown quick due to small damage to the fork tubes. Always run your finders over them and check for damage/ nicks before putting them back together. Often you can use a small file to knock them down (I use these really small files for that... google 10Pcs Needle File Set). Then and follow that by polishing the area with 600 or higher grit wet/dry sand paper.
+3 you can get 100 hours from the HD set.
I generally would avoid any Tusk product.
Looks like ill order some SKFs! Im gonna try to hold out on these tusk seals in the meantime. Only two rounds left in the season.
Their tires seem OK. This is the first time I have ran their seals though.
Call Mike... it's a better and less expensive product. Go read his bio. He knows what he's doing. If you rode a fox fork on your mtn bike you've ridden products he was a key member of the development team.
You might want to replace your brake pads, they are never the same after being coated in fork oil.
Tusk seals and parts are for when you're rebuilding your bike to sell it to some jabroni on Craigslist.
Dang, I just ordered some Tusk seals and they arrive tomorrow. So far, I’ve always been impressed with Tusk products and figured I’d give them a shot.
Pit Row
Wouldn't surprise me if the OEMs get their seals from SKF, so yeah, go SKF
Just looked on RM OEM section. Its the same price for all OEM bushings and seals, and the seals are made by SKF. But all of it's cheaper than the 75 bucks for the green SKF dust and oil seal kit.
Neezer is a Man who Knows about Suspension.
I dealt with him in my years of doing Fox suspension here in OZ.
Thank you so much for putting that up, I'd lost track of him since he left Fox. I'd like to catch up with him again.
As for seals - OEM or SKF is all I have used for years. I'll try Neezers (his?) stuff some time soon, I'd say.
Tusk is the Amazon basics of moto.
I believe KTM/WP does. Not sure about the others.
Fork tube nicks applies to any kind of fork seals damage. Worn or Loose bushings is another thing that allows the tube to move far enough sideways to pull the seal so it doesn’t seal and leak.
A prepped tube with OEM seals is equally as good as any SKF and 50% the price
One little other trick I have used on K&L seals in the past is pulling the spring out of the seal and shortening it a little bit so the seal is pulled a little tighter against the fork tube.
We ONLY use SKF, OEM, RaceTech,on most builds or K Tech seals if trying to save a few bucks.... Everything else we tried has been junk....
I have to disagree with that. One thing all newer KTM, Husky, Gas Gas OEM seals are SKF. My 49mm Showas on my Honda leaked with less than 5 hours on the bike until I replaced them with SKF. 20 hours and still leak free. Plus, you get different seals from the OEMs at times. Most are made by NOK or Nippon, but they are using some China seals now as well as other parts made there. The 50% price difference isn't correct for all bikes because you are getting a seal and wiper with SKF seals. I'm not trying to be a jerk, but that has been my experience.
Another plus on the SKF seals and wipers.
This - not obvious but it’s necessary for a proper repair. Factory connection told me same.
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