Fox TALAS Forks – Wiper Seal maintenance
Bicycle Maintenance
Once again it all went well. We took off the brake caliper and hose guide, unscrewed the nuts at the base of the fork lowers, removed the crush washers and then put the nuts back on so that we could hit them with a hammer to release the lowers. This bit was a little worrying but we soon had them free and removed the lowers from the forks.
We then clean the seals, removed the wiper seals and cleaned them then soaked them in Fox Float Fluid before replacing them and putting the lowers back on. At this stage we put some suspension fluid into the forks via the holes at the base of the lowers and then put them back together again.
We weren’t quite sure about the oil volumes for my forks as the Fox video showed them putting 10ml of suspension fluid into the Talas side and nothing in the right hand side of the forks (other than the float fluid soaked into the wiper seal). The Mojo instructions which were trying to cover a range of forks said to put 5ml in each side but in Talas forks ONLY put 10ml in the Talas side. We couldn’t decide if this meant put 5ml in each side, but on Talas forks (adn no other forks) put 10ml in the Talas side rather than just 5ml. Or if it meant in Talas forks only put 10ml in the Talas side and nothing in the other side.
In the end I went for 10ml in the Talas side and nothing in the other side and so far everything feels fine. I just hope it was right. Does anyone know if this was right?
The guts of my Forks
Cleaned and Lubed
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After various (often conflicting) instructions from both Fox and Mojo I decided to put 5ml of suspension fluid in the non-TALAS side as well.
It doesn’t feel any different with it in there so I’m sure it isn’t doing any harm and an extra bit of lubrication is always a good thing!
Have you tried changing the oil completely in the Talas side? As recommended after 50 hours of riding?
Apparantly it’s a simple case of draining all the oil out and putting the correct amount back in.
Hi Paul,
Not yet I haven’t… Whenever I’ve done the wiper seal maintenance the oil in the TALAS side looks OK. Some drips out which is then replenished later but I haven’t seen a need to replace all of it.
I did do a wiper seal maintenance again the other day though, this time putting 5ml of fluid into the non-TALAS side and topped the TALAS side up with 10ml.
Al.
I spoke to MOJO this morning after having to have my stanchions replaced due to the annoying wear that seems to be the norm on Fox forks and they said it’s a good idea to replace the oil on the Talas side when you clean the seals to prevent the wear.
Whether this is true or not I don’t know. Looks easy to do however just thought I’d see if someone else had tried.
I did a wiper seal service on my forks and rear shock again at the weekend. I’ve been doing them fairly regularly to keep them in tip top condition but might send them off for a proper (full) service next time.
Al.
I’ve been changing the oil on mine every other time I clean the seals
As I think just cleaning the seals and then topping up with 5m and 10mm each side will eventually result in the wrong oil levels and you could end up with the forks “stuck down”.
It’s really easy to do to be honest, just need to get all the oil out of the Talas side using a small screw driver or something to free the oil from the lower leg. Then top it all back up to the correct level.
Paul
Cheers Paul – Will do that next time – How much oil do you need to put back in and is is the suspension fluid or the float fluid?
Al.
Check here for oil volumes as it depends on your fork…
http://service.foxracingshox.com/consumers/Content/Service/oil_volumes.htm
Float fluid for the wiper seals as per your normal clean and suspension oil to fill them up. Just put the bike the right way up and let the oil drain out. You’ll have to cycle the oil out of the Talas side (if yours are Talas that is) with a small allen key. That’s really easy to do though. Then just them back together and top them up with the right level of oil.
Sounds scary but it’s no different to cleaning the seals, you just put more oil back in.
Paul
Thanks Paul – You’re right, it does sound scary and with so many versions of the Fox Forks I always find it difficult to know which ones I’ve got from their list! I’ll give it a go soon though.
Al.
One other thing from your article, it’s 10ml in the Talas side and 5ml in the other side. The reason for that is not much oil falls out of the non-talas side as it all fall back into the stanchion but there’s nothing to keep it in the Talas side when you take the leg off so more drains out.
Paul
Yep, I’d worked that out and that’s what I’ve been doing during my routine wiper seal maintenance 10ml (or thereabouts) in the Talas side, 5ml in the non-Talas side.
Al.
If its a open bath damper, then you have to put 150-160 ml on the right side!!