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Suspension Foam Ring Cleaning?
I am servicing my forks for the first time. The SRAM website docs are pretty clear, & the YouTube SRAM videos are great. I'm ready to reattach the lower legs, but should I bother cleaning the foam rings inside the dust seal?
They really aren't that dirty, & I'd rather not replace the bushings completely considering my bike has only done 100hrs of light use. Nothing loose.
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Since you are at it, do clean and saturate the foam rings with new oil as they can trap dirt, which will eventually wear out the stanchions. You don’t have to replace the wipers (just carefully pop them out) and definitely you don’t have to replace the bushings.
Cheers,
Leo.
Just as I assumed, thanks for the confirmation! I've made some very bad assumptions in the past.
I also 'assume' that you have to be extra careful & slow when reinserting the stanchions as it may grab & unseat the wipers if they aren't placed exactly correctly.
There is no way you'll unseat the wipers doing that if they are correctly installed, just make sure the wiper's lip don't fold inwards when reinserting the stanchions on the lowers. It can be a little bit painful, but it is not too hard.
That really wasn't that hard at all. I don't know why some people suggested against me doing it. I'm not sure I'd do the bushings by myself, but the rest was very straight forward. And I don't even have a bike stand.
For next time, I'm going to get my 24mm socket head ground down a little more so it's less likely to slip on the two top bolt heads. Anyone know where I'd be able to get a socket ground down 1.5mm? (& then smooth off any sharp edges too...)
I ground mine down by mounting it in lathe chuck and hav it spinning then hitting it with an angle grinder!
The local engine dismantler ground down my 24mm socket - thanks! Service with a smile, & then they wouldn't even charge me. They were just interested to see the forks. (which I had with me at the time)
I cannot believe how much better the suspension feels! My bike really isn't that old, but just relubing it all with an oil change has made a huge difference. I must say, the amount of oil that drained out of the forks was such a small amount. Either my forks have been leaking slowly since my purchase, or, the SRAM factory produced it quite dry... And I have not noticed a leak.