I replaced my fork seals today, the whole thing went great. One tip I really think is helpful is using the OLD seal to drive in the new one. I've seen references to old bearing races, PVC, gosh knows what else, etc, but no reference to what seems to be the easiest of all.
Once the new seal was slid in place, I simply took the old seal, slid it back on so it was on top of the new seal, then took a length of wooden dowel left over from some projiect, and used the dowel as the drift to tap the seal in place with careful sharp hits to the dowel. Just worked it around and it went right in.
As well, I used an old Black and Decker workmate as my workstation. It was great for laying the fork down flat and clamping it in and putting good force into removing and re-installing the bolt holding the damping rod in place. Then, it allowed me to stand the fork upright to free both hands to install the seal and made it very easy to pour in the oil, etc.
Hope that helps and there is absolutely no reason anyone who changes fork oil cannot tackle a seal if it is neeeded.
Once the new seal was slid in place, I simply took the old seal, slid it back on so it was on top of the new seal, then took a length of wooden dowel left over from some projiect, and used the dowel as the drift to tap the seal in place with careful sharp hits to the dowel. Just worked it around and it went right in.
As well, I used an old Black and Decker workmate as my workstation. It was great for laying the fork down flat and clamping it in and putting good force into removing and re-installing the bolt holding the damping rod in place. Then, it allowed me to stand the fork upright to free both hands to install the seal and made it very easy to pour in the oil, etc.
Hope that helps and there is absolutely no reason anyone who changes fork oil cannot tackle a seal if it is neeeded.
