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Fork Seals


lastplacebrad
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Fork seal failure is almost always nothing more than dirt getting under the wiper. Suggest you take the seals out and clean them well After carefully inspecting them decide whether there is actual damage visable or not and reassemble.

I read a great suggestion from a very bright suspension expert on preventing failures. As opposed to using "SealSavers", try lifting the dust wiper and inserting a small strip of open cell foam (like air filter foam) in the void. First wet the foam with a light oil before inserting. This acts like a tiny filter element that will help keep the dirt from getting in under the seal and also provide some lubrication to the seals themselves. It's a cost free mod, that cannot really do any harm...worth a try in my books ;)

Seal failure are particularly common with bikes ridden in the mud, then put away without washing. The mud dries to the tube, then is forced under the seal when the suspension is compressed or the bike moved. A good habit to get in is to wipe your fork legs down after every ride with a lightly oiled cloth to prevent this from happening.

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I hope this is not your problem but it may be. I had problems with an 01 txt which wore out seals every 3 months. I got little joy out of the importer despite discovering that the problem was caused by poor manufacturing quality. On mine the bush holder of the fork leg had been machined oversize. This meant that the bush was not fitting tightly round the stanchion, causing it to have lateral play. Over time this play allowed the stanchion to slop about in the fork leg gradually opening out the seal until it leaked. I saw lots of bikes with the same problem but no one seemed to know of a fix other than replacing the seals a lot. Eventually I got a solution from Alan at White brothers. It's a fair bit of work but it solved the problem for me. Drop your fork out of the clamps, put the lower leg in a vice and grab the end of the stanchion. If you can feel it move side to side much then that is probably your problem.

I had to strip the forks. De grease the copper bush thoroughly. Then build up two beads of solder around the outside of the bush. I then had to gradually sand the solder down until I got an even coverage of just the right thickness to to cause the bush to close more tightly on the fork stanchion removing the play. To do this you need to sand down the solder a bit, then try the bush in the fork leg, with the stanchion and test for lateral play. If there is still play you need to build up more solder. If the fork is too tight you need to sand off more of the solder. Persevere with trial and error and you will get it sorted but as I said it is not an easy fix.

Hope this makes sense. If your lucky your problem will be something more straightforward.

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guys,try the 35 mm film trick,take a pice of film and slide it up and down the fork under the dust boot.works just about every time and is much cheaper than replacing seals.i have an 01 txt 280and have never even had a seal weep one bit.thats pretty good for riding in the arizona dust bowl all year.the best thing you can buy is the neophrean fork boots,at 29 bucks a pair it is well worth it.i have had them on my bike since day 1 and have had no problems with the fork seals at all.

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thanks lads ive (read someone more capable) replaced the seals, anyway i dont really know why they have gone, i move it on a trailer but dont tie it down too much i dont put it away dirty and as for the film trick my last enduro bike was a husaberg with white powers so i know more than most about these tricks( not trying to sound clever just white powers aint all they are cracked up to be ) so ill be keeping a close eye on these and be giving the mighty seal savers a call !!!!! ;)

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Brad, don't worry too much about tying it down too tight. Contrary to popular opinion, you'll not blow a fork seal from compressing the fork.

You might also want to look very carefully at the fork tube for small nicks or scratchs, as these can also lead to seal problems.

Excellent point on the bushings Hoodie. Although yours was clearly a manufacturing issue, it's common for older bikes to simply wear out the bushing and start blowing seals. It's something that should be checked each time the seals are done, just to be sure.

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You do know you could just loosen the bleed screws to releive the air right? ;)

I simply grind a very small amount of material off one spot on the plastic adjuster caps to allow access to the bleed screws. That way I still have the caps for "one the fly" adjustments.

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While we are talking about fork seals, to change the fork seals on our

2000 model TXT 200 was easy as all that was required was to unscrew the seal housings. We've just renewed our 2003 Pro fork seals and found it much more awkward. Anyone got any tips on the best way to do it?

Eiger B)

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