Measuring fork oil height - with or without spring guide?

[greg the pole]

thanks Mark.

It's -30 C out here, so I'm not going riding anytime soon.
That said, it does feel a lot better than it ever did. I always found the front end too stiff.
That said, it doesn't take very log to take it apart. Might just check it to avoid the sleepless nights

 

[mcrider007]

so, since I had a brain fart last time I re-did my forks, and measured the 150mm with the spring spacer in...
how will this affect my susupension?

I have a linear spring from NIck, and the right weight oil in.

I'm having sleepless nights over having less oil in my forks

Should I tear back into them, or leave it till the next change?

You now have more air in the forks than you should and will probably loose the progressive effect on the spring rate that compressed air gives you at the end of the compression stroke. If you are not bottoming over big bumps or under heavy braking and are otherwise satisfied with the fork's performance you don't have to do anything.

 

[viewdvb]

Well, only slightly more complicated than what you said viewdvb. Too much fork oil and the fork can't compress all the way regardless of air pressure. In other words, you could start out with a vacuum in the fork tubes, but it will "oilbind" (ha ha, get it? instead of coil bind), before fully compressed.

Same thing - "infinity" means no more compression. In effect the air is compressed to nothing and the forks become oil bound.

 

[Ironhand]

so, since I had a brain fart last time I re-did my forks, and measured the 150mm with the spring spacer in...
how will this affect my susupension?

I have a linear spring from NIck, and the right weight oil in.

I'm having sleepless nights over having less oil in my forks

Should I tear back into them, or leave it till the next change?

Like you, that would have kept me awake. I pulled mine back apart an set the level without the guide. Took me an hour and 15 minutes total.

 

[greg the pole]

im debating it...
still feeling lazy. maybe tomorrow.

 

[avc8130]

If you had the guide in, you have less oil than desired. As long as there is enough oil to keep the seals wet and keep the cartridge full during operation you are above the minimum requirement.

Take it for a ride before you do anything. You might just like it...

ac

 

[greg the pole]

Thanks AC,

looking at my leftover 5W bottle of oil, there is maybe 125ml left over. So each fork is short by about 75ml.

Riding? it was -30 yesterday. Its up to a balmy -16 C today. ::010:: Winter is upon us.

 

[viewdvb]

Here's another spanner in the works: I fitted my spring/oil kit from PROGRESSIVE today. No problems with the basic operation using the factory manual plus other helpful info from other threads. Big problem was that nowhere could I find a reference for whether the height was measured with the damper rod fully up or down. It makes a differecne of about 10mm (the rod displaces oil when it is down). I found that the recommended height was achieved (approx) with the specified 485ml oil with the damper up so settled for that. Nice if it was specified in the manual if it is so important as without that information the height setting becomes meaningless. Another caution from my recent experience: the manual specifies the locknut for the damper rod should be set at 12mm below the top of the rod. One thread describes this as "about as far down as it goes". NOT GOOD ENOUGH! I measured the 12mm from the start of the thread (not quite as far down as it goes) but that was too low and resulted in the rebound adjuster not quite making it out to 10 turns when about 15 is normal. Moving the nut up to 12mm from the top of the bevel on the damper rod (about another 2mm) brought back the available turns. The moral is a) be careful with this measurement and beware that the nut doesn't wind up or down when tightening b) check that the full adjustment is available before you release the spring compressor, rethread the top nut and refit the leg. I didn't!!! Last: another thread shows the upper fork leg clamped (between wood buffers) in a vise while the top nut is undone. At reasonable vise pressure, the leg turned before I could get the correct torque on it while refitting. It follows that you would need even more grip on the vise to release/tighten the top nut but that leg is a fairly thin wall casting so you risk distorting it if you clamp it too firmly between two flat surfaces. I was glad I released the top nut a turn or so still clamped in situ before I removed the leg. I recommend that you do the same.

 

[snakebitten]

Nicely explained. With a couple of pics, you would trump the manual.

 

[Maxified]

Nicely explained. With a couple of pics, you would trump the manual.

::026:: ::008::

 

[avc8130]

Generally the oil level is set with the damper collapsed.

Good observation with the cap lock nut. That is exactly right, its height governs how much adjustment there is.

ac

 

[greg the pole]

Generally the oil level is set with the damper collapsed.

Good observation with the cap lock nut. That is exactly right, its height governs how much adjustment there is.

ac

that's what i was thinking. My oil measuring tool simply sits on top of the compressed fork damper collapsed with the right height set.

 

[julfinfax]

After his marriage broke up, my manager became very philosophical."I guess it was in our stars," he sighed."What do you mean?" I asked."Her astrological sign is the one for earth. Mine is the one for water. Together we made mud."