Fork R & R Made Easier - A Jig

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I drilled a 1 5/8" hole in a 2 x 4, sanded it a bit bigger, sawed a kerf down the center and cross bolted it. This was then clamped in my vise and fork leg slid into the hole and secured with the bolt. Sort of. It slipped under pressure.

Larry has an elegant solution. He picked up a triple clamp in a purchase of random old parts and made the jig shown below. It makes filling the forks a trivial task.

Note his home made slotted aluminum plate to hold the spacer (preload) down and the damping rod up. If you know of a way to pull this rod up while holding an oily spacer down, please add to this thread.

P.S. Sorry about the sideways photos. I still have not gotten the hang of posting pics on the website.
 

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If you know of a way to pull this rod up while holding an oily spacer down, please add to this thread.
Grow a third hand . . . or ask the missus to hold the rod up (with a wire attached around the nut) while you compress the spring.

Re the pics - were they right side up to begin with? If not, rotate them first before posting.
 
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ask the missus to hold the rod up (with a wire attached around the nut) while you compress the spring.
same method works for me, but I use a strong magnetic pickup tool instead of the wire.
 
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I drilled a 1 5/8" hole in a 2 x 4, sanded it a bit bigger, sawed a kerf down the center and cross bolted it. This was then clamped in my vise and fork leg slid into the hole and secured with the bolt. Sort of. It slipped under pressure.

Larry has an elegant solution. He picked up a triple clamp in a purchase of random old parts and made the jig shown below. It makes filling the forks a trivial task.

Note his home made slotted aluminum plate to hold the spacer (preload) down and the damping rod up. If you know of a way to pull this rod up while holding an oily spacer down, please add to this thread.

P.S. Sorry about the sideways photos. I still have not gotten the hang of posting pics on the website.
Thanks for posting the pictures, I hope they help someone else during this service.
I believe the Triple tree top piece came off a vintage RM 125?
As far as your request to pull the rod up, if you notice the picture with the slotted aluminum plate that you referred to, what your looking at is a piece of aluminum dowel that I drilled the end out, and tapped it to match the threads on the damper rod.
I've built a few others for a few folks, some I drilled a hole through the side and used a smaller dowel like a t-handle, on another one (proto type) I placed 4 rubber o-rings on the shaft, spaced apart, then put shrink tubing over them which made a nice slip proof grip.
I used to do this on pole spears for free diving.
What you can't see in the pictures, is the handlebar mounts, that I've screwed in the bottom, upside down, and use that in the jaws of the vice.
The bucket, well that's my ghetto prior set up. The bungie cord makes one turn around the fork tube and holds it perfectly straight up and down, I liked this because when I was pumping air out of the forks, it would catch anything that I spilled.
Igofar
 
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Grow a third hand . . . or ask the missus to hold the rod up (with a wire attached around the nut) while you compress the spring.

Re the pics - were they right side up to begin with? If not, rotate them first before posting.
Yup, Barb helped me that way on both and she slipped my slotted plate in under the nut while I pushed the preload spacer down.
Yes, the pics were right side up on my desktop. I'll try rotating them and posting them again (and then delete the repeated post). Knowledge for next time.

As far as your request to pull the rod up, if you notice the picture with the slotted aluminum plate that you referred to, what your looking at is a piece of aluminum dowel that I drilled the end out, and tapped it to match the threads on the damper rod.
I was going to take a rod coupling, drill it out and tap it so that I could make an extension like you said. However, by the time I discovered the need for this, the fork leg was in my wood clamp and I had fork oil in the tube. Next time.

Larry, do you know the size and pitch of the threads on that tube?
 

dduelin

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snipped..... If you know of a way to pull this rod up while holding an oily spacer down, please add to this thread.......
I don't really follow. I do this job every 15,000 miles or so by myself with no special tools and it's easy DIY. I do it pretty much like the SM shows. With the fork leg collapsed the rod is exposed and with the cartridge full of oil the rod will stay up by itself. I turn the lock nut down the threads and pull the chrome fork tube up to full extension, slip the washer, spring & the (clean and dry) spacer in place. Easy does it do not to splash oil up on the spacer. If the rod drops down during this process I use a pair of needle nose pliers to gently pull it back up. It pretty much stays in place long enough to get to the next step. My spacers are about 5/8" longer than stock but it is easy to push the spring/spacer stack down the little bit required to slip the 14 mm open wrench under the nut to hold the threaded end clear of the spacer. The wrench is UNDER the nut. The wrench both levers the spacer down and holds the rod up with one hand - the left as I'm right handed. I thread on the fork cap with my right hand and screw it down till it bottoms on the rod then continue turning the cap clockwise with the 17 mm hex in a rachet. The 14 mm wrench slips up in place to hold the nut when the flats of the nut line up with the wrench opening. With the 17 mm hex I snug the fork cap tight against the lock nut. The wrench is holding the spacer down until I slip the wrench out and the space pops up against the underside of the fork cap. Now I have to thread the fork cap into the fork tube and overcome a little spring pressure to do so. I have the fork leg cushioned against the floor so it's easy to bend over and use my body weight to press down on the fork cap with the palm of my right hand while I use the left hand to start the cap threads into the fork leg. I turn the fork leg to start the threads and not the cap. If you hold the fork leg still and try to press down and thread the cap into the leg threads with one hand that's when you'll need three hands or a helper. The key for me is to turn the leg and hold the cap still. This method works for me and for when we do someone's forks at their house or tech day with no special tools there but the 17 mm hex and 14 mm wrench required.
 
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I don't really follow.
I don't know what we are doing differently. We are both about the same weight (150 ban), running stock springs with spacers (plastic plumbing tailpieces) about 1/2" longer than the stock ones. I made a slotted piece of aluminum similar to what Larry made (see his pictures) and had a heck of a time compressing the spring by pushing the preload spacer downward (fork at full extension). In fact, it was about all I could do to get the spacer down far enough (held up w. a wire tied to cross bridging between floor joists) for my wife to slip this slotted alum. jig in place. From that point on, it was easy. I was joking in my earlier post about the oiled spacers (ref to liquid helium, which can flow up and over the lip of a container).

Which brings up a question. How does one id a spring? How do you know if someone has changed the springs? I saw the maint. records for this bike from new - nothing besides standard oil changes and valve check. My sag with these springs was right in the ballpark for someone of my weight and stock OEM springs (about 170# w/ ATG and 49 mm average sag). So why was compressing the springs so doggone hard? While I'm not 6'4" and 208# of lean muscle, I've never had a problem with my strength being inadequate for mechanical tasks.

Beats me.
 

dduelin

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You could measure the springs to ascertain if OEM or aftermarket. OEMs are minimum 244.6 mm (9.63") long and tapered at one end. Most aftermarkets are not tapered. Mine are pretty much the same length as new measured each oil change and the bushing replacement. 248-249mm IIRC.

I think the difference is I use the wrench as a lever (remember that Archimedes dude?) to push the spring down. The rod and cap pushed to one side and the wrench angled down and inserted will fit between the cap and the spacer without really pushing down on the spring at all then get under the nut and push the wrench handle down, easy as kiss your hand the spring is depressed.
 
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Thank you all, I seem to have a somewhat painful learning curve when it comes to new projects so I like to make myself aware of what I am getting into before I start anything. At 65 I am not a fast and agile as I once was but I enjoy doing a job well.

After installing new springs should I maintain stock fluid level?
 
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After installing new springs should I maintain stock fluid level?
Are you replacing with OEM springs? Aftermarket springs will have instructions on the proper fluid level for their particular spring. Whatever springs you are installing, achieving proper level is done by measurement of the fluid level from the top of the fork tube in the collapsed fork with no spring in it.
 
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I installed the heavier sonic springs in a couple members bikes, only to remove them within a couple weeks and replace them with the 1.1 instead.
The heavier ones would rattle your fillings out, and didn't track smoothly.
Of the dozen or so 1.1 springs that I've installed, I used 7 weight bel ray oil, at 125mm depth, and a PVC spacer of 140mm.
Rides very nice, no complaints from anyone :rolleyes:
 
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