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consider a Motion Pro "Seal Mate".

I was close to going back into my USDs with new seals because since they both started leaking, albeit only slightly, I reasoned that damage had already been done. I haven't had but a few hundred miles on the things so the idea was to replace the seals - again - and follow up with some Seal Savers.

Then I found this $5 gem called the "Seal Mate" which is nothing more that an oddly-shaped piece of thin but stiff plastic.

Decided to give it a shot (what the hey, 'gonna replace the seals anyway, right?). You pull down the dust wipers, clean the seal area very well, shove the hooked end of the Seal Mate between the inner fork tube and the seal. You then slide the device all the way around, pulling it down and out as you continue to slide after one revolution. I pulled out some very fine grit (I did this on the dust seal as well, same thing). Clean things up, pump the forks to check.

I repeated one more time on one fork, two more times on the other, to eliminate the leakage.

I followed the "cleaning" with some Seal Savers. After about 4 hours riding today I peeled the seal savers back and looked - NO LEAKING!! My seals weren't ruined, just dirty. Of course, the Seal Savers may pretty much obsolete the Seal Mate.

Anybody try this?

Naturally, this wouldn't do any good for damaged seals, but it worked great for my dirty ones.

As an aside, I DID find two little white grains in the seals. I'm not totally sure it was PVC, but I did drive the seals with PVC pipe pieces. 'Just something to consider if you use the homemade PVC driver, clean the edges up VERY well.

Good info. I have read that the same can be made from old photo negatives and such.

I used the old seal, cut and slipped over the tube to drive the new ones in with a soft mallet. If I was to do this more, I would invest in the $60 tool, so I could misplace it just before I needed to use it again.

35mm film works the same way

regular maintenance....a .003 feeler gauge (or film if I can find some) once or twice a year (or after mud rides) and pack the area above the dust seal with grease.

Always wipe the slider dry after washing to eliminate seal-destroying mineral deposits.

I've never had to replace a USD seal.

I use Seal Savers & I wipe the Tubes & sliders w/ WD40

Green Hornet wrote:I use Seal Savers & I wipe the Tubes & sliders w/ WD40

Don't personally know if it's true or not, but I've been told (several sources) that WD40 can cause premature fork seal failure.

kawagumby wrote:regular maintenance....a .003 feeler gauge (or film if I can find some) once or twice a year (or after mud rides) and pack the area above the dust seal with grease.

Always wipe the slider dry after washing to eliminate seal-destroying mineral deposits.

I've never had to replace a USD seal.

Does it matter what kind of grease? If it is suspected that WD40 could cause some sort of deterioration or other to seals, I wonder if some greases would too . . .

Also - which part are you referring to when you write "wipe the slider dry"? (I'm probably gonna' whack myself on the head and say "duh" when you answer but I wanted to make sure).

Great stuff guys, these kinds of details are great!

Colorado Mike wrote: . . . I used the old seal, cut and slipped over the tube to drive the new ones in with a soft mallet. If I was to do this more, I would invest in the $60 tool, so I could misplace it just before I needed to use it again.

When I replace the seals the next time (unless I'm as successful as Kawagumby) I will give using the old seals a try. Good tip, makes sense. More area to tap - that was a headache with the PVC "halves"

Well, craaaap.
I just had to say I never had a leaky seal and by doing so I jinxed myself. My KX250 just developed a leak today.
Unfrikkin real. Me and my big mouth. The gods are laughing at me again.

I did the film negetive thing, and that worked. I am not sure about seal savers I have used them before, sure seems like a lot of dirt gets trapped under them. I did not put them on last time and don't feel like pulling the forks to put them on so I might just do a little case study.

kawagumby wrote:

Green Hornet wrote:I use Seal Savers & I wipe the Tubes & sliders w/ WD40

Don't personally know if it's true or not, but I've been told (several sources) that WD40 can cause premature fork seal failure.

I wipe the tubes down with it, I don't spray a leave it on. Cleans the water & deposits off of the tube.

My suspension tuner recommends to cut a thin strip of foam from an old dish sponge and oil it with fork oil or WD-40, then stick it between the dust and oil seals. Re-oil every second ride. I have used Seal Savers and you might as well wrap some 240 grit around your fork sliders. IMHO of course. <flamesuit ON>

I believe it all comes down (once again) to MAINTENANCE.
Whether or not you have seal saver I believe it's just a matter of inspecting between the dust and oil seal frequently.
It seems that if you're using sealsaver, you need to clean them to remove the dirt that gets stuck in there cuz otherwise it's worse than not having sealsaver at all.
I don't know about sticking oil on a piece of sponge, I'd be afraid it would keep the sand where you really don't want it, unless you clean it after every ride (and sometimes I'm really too lazy and wiped out to do that)...so maintenance is the key word, again

How's your hand doing Trev?

scheckaet wrote:I believe it all comes down (once again) to MAINTENANCE.
Whether or not you have seal saver I believe it's just a matter of inspecting between the dust and oil seal frequently.
It seems that if you're using sealsaver, you need to clean them to remove the dirt that gets stuck in there cuz otherwise it's worse than not having sealsaver at all.
I don't know about sticking oil on a piece of sponge, I'd be afraid it would keep the sand where you really don't want it, unless you clean it after every ride (and sometimes I'm really too lazy and wiped out to do that)...so maintenance is the key word, again

How's your hand doing Trev?

Thats a bit of a paradox, no ?!? hehe Seal savers do what you are describing the foam/oil in between the oil and dust seal does. Cappish ?!? LOL As I understand it, the oil and foam method basically catches and suspends the particles in the cavity between the seals with very little pressure on the sliders. The seal savers which are stretched tight around the fork sliders squash and hold the grit onto the sliders surface. Not a very technical description but its the best I can do one handed at 2am.

The wrist isn't too bad thanks, its the 3 cracks in 2 ribs thats bothering me.

Cheers,
Trev...