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Need Some Fork Tools..
Posted: 06:17 pm May 18 2009
by OLHILLBILLY
Am going to put the correct weight srpings in my forks and change the fork oil. Manual shows a "fork spring holder", which looks like it's the size of the top of the spring with a notch cut in it to fit around the shaft. Does anybody know any dimensions, size of the spring and width of the notch for the rod?
And it also shows a "fork piston rod puller" and gives a measurement of "M10 x 1.0. Is that the thread size of the nut I need to weld onto the end of the puller?
I can always wait untill I start taking everything apart and get measurements then, but if anyone has any numbers on hand I'd sure appreciate 'em. Give me a little more of a head start on the fix by making the tools ahead of time.
Thanks.. Tom
Posted: 10:41 am May 20 2009
by bezoar
If you are just changing the oil and springs, no special tools are needed. I just did it to mine. The spring can be held down under the nut with a crescent wrench opened up just enough to let the rod go through, but not enough to pass over the nut. A second wrench can then be placed on the nut directly on top of the crescent wrench. Both can be held with one hand. I did not need any tools to grab the piston rod.
Hope this helped. I had no problem the first time.....and I'm no mechanic!
If you are getting different sized (length) springs, then you will need a new spacer. I cut schedule 40 1" PVC pipe to give 5mm of preload.
If you are getting stiffer springs, you might consider dropping the fluid level below what is recommended for the lighter springs. I used 115mm.
Posted: 03:24 pm May 20 2009
by OLHILLBILLY


bezoar wrote:If you are just changing the oil and springs, no special tools are needed. I just did it to mine. The spring can be held down under the nut with a crescent wrench opened up just enough to let the rod go through, but not enough to pass over the nut. A second wrench can then be placed on the nut directly on top of the crescent wrench. Both can be held with one hand. I did not need any tools to grab the piston rod.
Hope this helped. I had no problem the first time.....and I'm no mechanic!
If you are getting different sized (length) springs, then you will need a new spacer. I cut schedule 40 1" PVC pipe to give 5mm of preload.
If you are getting stiffer springs, you might consider dropping the fluid level below what is recommended for the lighter springs. I used 115mm.
Cool, thanks! That's what I needed to know.

Posted: 04:27 pm May 21 2009
by canyncarvr
Late to this...but I use a special tool:
Yeah...another wrench works..so will a number of other make-dos, but a piece of sheetmetal with a slot cut in it will work better, imo.
The slot width isn't noted..it's the size of the rod diameter, natch.
Posted: 07:17 pm May 21 2009
by OLHILLBILLY
Yeah, I'm going to go ahead and make 'em. One of the perks of working in a stainless fab shop, you can whip up all kinds of stuff using metal out of the scrap barrel.
Got my springs today so I'll open the forks up and have a look soon. Got several things to do on it yet. Weather is getting better so I'll finally have some time to get some of my projects caught up.
