Ok, so I'm tearing into my newly purchased 2000 Rev 3 forks (Paioli inverted) to replace the seals, and I find this part.  I actually didn't even see it until later, so I didn't see it when it fell out of where ever it came from.  Luckily I was taking a few pics of the process so I'm pretty sure it came from the right (non-brake) side, but not 100% sure.  

I'm thinking a piece that goes in the top cap?  I found some instructions for replacing the seals on the Paioli USD forks, but it doesn't mention anything about any small pieces falling out so I wasn't even paying that close attention, so I'm a bit perplexed...

Any ideas?

 

Edited May 27, 20206 yr by jbrandt

That is the valve which goes in the top of the damping rod on the damping leg of the forks. The small adjusting screw in the top cap limits the lift of this valve so throttling the oil flow and so the damping.

If fell out when you took the cap off the damping rod!

If missing, there will be minimal damping and it will be very bouncy. It goes in dome side down.

18 hours ago, overdale said:

That is the valve which goes in the top of the damping rod on the damping leg of the forks. The small adjusting screw in the top cap limits the lift of this valve so throttling the oil flow and so the damping.

If fell out when you took the cap off the damping rod!

If missing, there will be minimal damping and it will be very bouncy. It goes in dome side down.

Thanks so much!

Edited May 28, 20206 yr by jbrandt

Another fun tidbit:

I think I realized why the forks were leaking.  It appears who ever worked on these forks before, assembled them wrong.  Pic shows how the fork legs came apart.  They had it so the washer was on the underside of the oil seal (okay, the "top side" since these are inverted forks) rather than between the oil and dust seal.  

 

Luckily the forks themselves look undamaged.

 

 

Hey mate,

I also have a 2000 rev 3 that i pick up a few weeks ago in Australia. 

I was playing the front end today to try and set it up for my weight 82kg. I have manual from a later model rev 3 that i have been using as a guide to set it up.  From what i can tell the stock springs are good up to 80kg.

I measure the full travel which i got 135mm

 I have been told that you want 1/6 of your travel as sag when you a standing on the bike. 

With my pre load max out i have about 50mm sag when i really only want about 22mm. 

So i think im a bit to heavy for the stock spring as well as it is very sagged. 

I can't find any spec on our front ends. Or any other springs that fit the USD fork. All the after market ones i have found say they fit 2001 on. 

 By any chance you measure your springs, length, width and wire diameter. 

 

Thanks mate 

Keegan 

On 6/25/2020 at 1:55 AM, Wheelin said:

Hey mate,

I also have a 2000 rev 3 that i pick up a few weeks ago in Australia. 

I was playing the front end today to try and set it up for my weight 82kg. I have manual from a later model rev 3 that i have been using as a guide to set it up.  From what i can tell the stock springs are good up to 80kg.

I measure the full travel which i got 135mm

 I have been told that you want 1/6 of your travel as sag when you a standing on the bike. 

With my pre load max out i have about 50mm sag when i really only want about 22mm. 

So i think im a bit to heavy for the stock spring as well as it is very sagged. 

I can't find any spec on our front ends. Or any other springs that fit the USD fork. All the after market ones i have found say they fit 2001 on. 

 By any chance you measure your springs, length, width and wire diameter. 

 

Thanks mate 

Keegan 

22mm of sag seems awfully hard. That sounds more like sag for an MX bike.

I'm currently running about 65mm in the front (with my body weight).  Granted, I haven't had much time (any, really, I've been dealing with a shoulder injury as of late) to mess around with the settings since I bought it, but 65mm doesn't seem too far off.

 

I weigh almost the same as you, as well.

I found this video somewhat helpful.  They don't really have specifics, but a general guide to get you started.

 

Edited June 29, 20206 yr by jbrandt

1 hour ago, jbrandt said:

22mm of sag seems awfully hard. That sounds more like sag for an MX bike.

I'm currently running about 65mm in the front (with my body weight).  Granted, I haven't had much time (any, really, I've been dealing with a shoulder injury as of late) to mess around with the settings since I bought it, but 65mm doesn't seem too far off.

 

I weigh almost the same as you, as well.

I found this video somewhat helpful.  They don't really have specifics, but a general guide to get you started.

 

You are wrong in your previous post, the washer goes below the seal. There is supposed to be a clip between the seals which hold the seal into the leg. It is like that on any fork made.

10 minutes ago, lineaway said:

You are wrong in your previous post, the washer goes below the seal. There is supposed to be a clip between the seals which hold the seal into the leg. It is like that on any fork made.

So the picture I posted was correct?  Crap, okay, I could swear I had seen fork rebuilds with the washer between the 2 seals, so the retainer clip sits against the washer, not the rubber seal.  I see my mistake now, thanks for the correction!

 

Good thing I haven't actually ridden it...  Hopefully I can get them out and redo it without ruining them.  Damnit.

 The clip sits against the seal.

Edited June 30, 20206 yr by lineaway