Replacement for Factory Connection FF5 fork fluid?

Kenny Lingus
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Kenny Lingus
This stuff is getting harder to find and is a bit pricey. I'm not up on all the tech and nerdy stuff on fork oil and was wondering if there are cheaper, more available options? I've always been told that that even though the FF5 is a 5 weight, it's somehow different. What about if I don't change the inner chamber oil, will it be ok to mix? Everything is closed today so I thought I'd ask here.

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Rider 5280
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Rider 5280 7/4/2022 2:22pm
7/4/2022 2:22pm Edited Date/Time 7/4/2022 6:10pm
As far as I know, all modern fork oils are compatible. I personally wouldn't be concerned about mixing.

I've had great luck with Maxima and Bel-Ray (it's all I've tried, I am sure many others are excellent, too). They seem much better than OEM ad far as longevity.
FGR01
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FGR01 7/4/2022 7:46pm
7/4/2022 7:46pm
Kenny Lingus wrote:
This stuff is getting harder to find and is a bit pricey. I'm not up on all the tech and nerdy stuff on fork oil and...
This stuff is getting harder to find and is a bit pricey. I'm not up on all the tech and nerdy stuff on fork oil and was wondering if there are cheaper, more available options? I've always been told that that even though the FF5 is a 5 weight, it's somehow different. What about if I don't change the inner chamber oil, will it be ok to mix? Everything is closed today so I thought I'd ask here.

To answer part of your question, yes, the oil in the outer chamber is pretty irrelevant and it can be a different brand or weight than what you have in the inner chamber. It is not doing any damping. It is only lubing the spring, seals, and bushings and taking up volume. So basically any suspension oil is OK. We could get nit picky and say it is sort of doing damping as it passes through the holes in the spring perch, but I doubt anyone could notice the difference between 5wt to 15 or 20wt here.
sandhills
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sandhills 7/4/2022 9:51pm
7/4/2022 9:51pm
FGR01 wrote:
To answer part of your question, yes, the oil in the outer chamber is pretty irrelevant and it can be a different brand or weight than...
To answer part of your question, yes, the oil in the outer chamber is pretty irrelevant and it can be a different brand or weight than what you have in the inner chamber. It is not doing any damping. It is only lubing the spring, seals, and bushings and taking up volume. So basically any suspension oil is OK. We could get nit picky and say it is sort of doing damping as it passes through the holes in the spring perch, but I doubt anyone could notice the difference between 5wt to 15 or 20wt here.
The outer chamber oil pumps into the inner chamber at full bottom.

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Kenny Lingus
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Kenny Lingus 7/5/2022 6:44am
7/5/2022 6:44am
Thanks all. Figured I was over thinking things. FF5 is around $30-35 a qt, that's too much. Maybe it was because of 4th libations, but just kept on thinking about how so many things now are the same but not compatible, ie coolants. Never heard of anything like that with oils but hey I don't claim to know everything 😂.
FGR01
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FGR01 7/5/2022 6:53am
7/5/2022 6:53am
FGR01 wrote:
To answer part of your question, yes, the oil in the outer chamber is pretty irrelevant and it can be a different brand or weight than...
To answer part of your question, yes, the oil in the outer chamber is pretty irrelevant and it can be a different brand or weight than what you have in the inner chamber. It is not doing any damping. It is only lubing the spring, seals, and bushings and taking up volume. So basically any suspension oil is OK. We could get nit picky and say it is sort of doing damping as it passes through the holes in the spring perch, but I doubt anyone could notice the difference between 5wt to 15 or 20wt here.
sandhills wrote:
The outer chamber oil pumps into the inner chamber at full bottom.
So it forces past the seal into the inner chamber? That seems pretty un-engineered. Is this "by design" or just incidental?

That would also mean that the inner chamber would then be "over-filled" for some period of time until the excess was forced out the top past the base valve assembly and into the chamber space at the top where the compression spring resides.. at least until it worked it's way out the weep holes and back into the outer chamber. It sounds like we're talking a very small amount here, but this would mean that the volumes of oil in both the inner and outer chambers are not static or consistent on every stroke of the fork. The fork would not respond the same on every impact. Does this migration of oil occur on every bottoming of the fork? Or only on extreme hits in rare cases?

If this is true, this is the first time I've ever heard that the inner "Sealed chamber" is not really a sealed chamber. Can anyone else confirm this or explain this more fully? Is there somewhere I can read about this and understand it better?
profeshenal125 7/5/2022 7:58am
7/5/2022 7:58am
Suspension oil don’t last that long. That’s why I switch suspension on the bikes to save the fc revalve stuff.
Falcon
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Falcon 7/5/2022 1:58pm
7/5/2022 1:58pm
Showa SS-05 or any reputable brand's 5W fork oil.
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