07 Front Fork Maintenance

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tschutter

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Tonight I'm jumping into rebuilding my front fork. I'm to the point where I need to remove the inner (upper) sleeve from the outer (lower). I've removed the retainer clip (see in picture). I'm slamming the inner sleeve upwards to remove it like I've seen on YouTube and now it is stuck such that it won't return in so I can pull it again.
Suggestions?
 

Attachments

  • PXL_20250122_002516754.jpg
    PXL_20250122_002516754.jpg
    3.1 MB
Did you heat it before starting? Best to NOT slam too hard or the middle bushing can get stuck under the upper. I think I would warm it up with a heat gun where the upper bushing resides and see if you can get it to go back down. I got one of my forks stuck the first time I did one. Seems to me that a 2 x 4 was part of the solution...

Also, have you read the most excellent article by FJRed - currently residing at FJR-Tips.org

https://www.fjr-tips.org/maint/ForkSeal-BushingReplacement.pdf

Note - the link on the site has a typo which I have brought to Mark's attention. (Busing instead of Bushing) The above link will get you there.

Good luck.
 
warm the area of the middle bushing (just under where the fork seal was) with a torch, use MAPP gas cylinder for best results. Only need to heat for about 10-15 seconds moving all the way around the lower fork tube middle bushing area. It will become too hot to touch in that short time. If the tube comes out, and the middle bushing is still in there, I describe how I get the bushing out here in post #14

https://www.fjrforum.com/threads/reluctant-fork-tube.175465/#post-1408160
 
Did you heat it before starting? Best to NOT slam too hard or the middle bushing can get stuck under the upper. I think I would warm it up with a heat gun where the upper bushing resides and see if you can get it to go back down. I got one of my forks stuck the first time I did one. Seems to me that a 2 x 4 was part of the solution...

Also, have you read the most excellent article by FJRed - currently residing at FJR-Tips.org

https://www.fjr-tips.org/maint/ForkSeal-BushingReplacement.pdf

Note - the link on the site has a typo which I have brought to Mark's attention. (Busing instead of Bushing) The above link will get you there.

Good luck.

Thanks for the link RossKean. It doesn't mention heat (from my perusal) but I'll try that next. I was able to 'persuade' the inner tube back inside.
 
Thanks for the link RossKean. It doesn't mention heat (from my perusal) but I'll try that next. I was able to 'persuade' the inner tube back inside.
Heat wasn't mentioned in that particular article, but others have found it to help. The article is just a very good treatment of the whole process.
Sometimes brute force isn't the best approach.
 
warm the area of the middle bushing (just under where the fork seal was) with a torch, use MAPP gas cylinder for best results. Only need to heat for about 10-15 seconds moving all the way around the lower fork tube middle bushing area. It will become too hot to touch in that short time. If the tube comes out, and the middle bushing is still in there, I describe how I get the bushing out here in post #14

https://www.fjrforum.com/threads/reluctant-fork-tube.175465/#post-1408160
Thanks for the input. I'll give this a try in a few hours when I get off the clock.
 
I used a little heat (over my lunch) and pulled it but not super hard. It stuck again, then when trying to free it again, It drove to the fully in position. So now I'm going to try to make the Mick M extender to tap it back outwards.
Man, this is painful...
 
The Mick M extender worked. And with some more pulling, the inner tube came out bare.PXL_20250123_122638751.jpg
So I used my smallest screw driver to break loose the seal so I could get that out.
PXL_20250123_122632538.jpg
Now all the bushings are still in the lower. The top most is really stuck hard. I'm contemplating how to get it out...
Stuck Bushing.jpg
 
but it nicked up the lower, thinking I'll need to sand that out so the new seal doesn't get caught on it.
Yeah, I think I would polish that out. Shouldn't be a problem.
Good job getting the fork apart and the bushings out.

Is the other fork apart without any issues? I assume you are replacing all three the bushings on each side anyway.
 
I haven't started the second fork yet. Makes me a little apprehensive - but what story would we be able to tell if it weren't a royal pain?

I have all the bushing, retainer clip, seal. So everything will be replaced. I just need to get it all cleaned up before putting it back together.
 
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