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put the stiffer springs in with the shim stack mod. 7.5 weight oil set at 4in from top of tubes.i guessed a little at my preload spacer so i ended up with only 1/2 of front fork free sag.weather was nice so i got to test it today.works much better.it soaks up stuff that it deflected on last week.there are some roots that it still deflects on butt im assuming some of it is because i have too much preload.next step im going to cut my preload spacer down and reevaluate.any thoughts?

over the weekend got the stiffer springs installed with the shim mod.used 7.5 weight fork oil at 4in from the top of tubes.i went a little on the stiff side preload so my freesag was only 1/2in.got to go test it out,and its a big improvement as mentioned from above posts.i still have a little deflection which i assume is from the preload being too stiff?and the rebound is a little slow which im guessing is from the oil?im thinking i need to remove some of the preload and try a thinner oil and reevaluate?
any thoughts?

5 weight is stock.

How much preload are you running?

i put 20mm preload on them.do you the 5wt will speed up rebound?also how nuch will it affect bottoming resistance?

Try less preload and lighter oil, neither is expensive and you can tune it to your liking.

If you run out of clicker adjustment, then it is surely time for a revalve.

changed preload to just under 10mm left oil alone 1 change at a time.less preload made a difference less deflection on the same tree roots.

Write it down.

One change at a time and documenting will work wonders.

thanks i will

What's the difference between removing shims and using lower weight fork oi?

I've taken out 2 shims and am using 7.5wt as recommended by Fredette. I want impacts to be softer still... Thinking whether to just change to 5wt or remove another shim or 2.

Hope y'all don't mind me jumping in but I've got a question about this mod.
I started on it tonight, but didn't get very far. I got my 14mm hex in there, got it fairly loose, and started turning.....and turning, and turning and turning. The damn thing won't come out -- just keeps twisting. What am I missing?

The other 100 posts ( ) stating that you either need to buy and use the correct tool, make your own tool, compress the forks before loosening the compression adjuster assembly, etc.

Jason wrote:The other 100 posts ( ) stating that you either need to buy and use the correct tool, make your own tool, compress the forks before loosening the compression adjuster assembly, etc.

Duh
I'll be making one tonight.

My forks are currently draining as I'm replacing the seals, oil and springs in conjunction with this mod.

Do I need to have the forks reassembled and compressed before I re-install the valve, or can I reinstall prior to reassembling (seals, oil, springs & cap) with the forks still open?

CFH6604 wrote:

Jason wrote:The other 100 posts ( ) stating that you either need to buy and use the correct tool, make your own tool, compress the forks before loosening the compression adjuster assembly, etc.

Duh
I'll be making one tonight.

My forks are currently draining as I'm replacing the seals, oil and springs in conjunction with this mod.

Do I need to have the forks reassembled and compressed before I re-install the valve, or can I reinstall prior to reassembling (seals, oil, springs & cap) with the forks still open?

If you have the tool, you would install the assembly after tubes together, but before the springs went in.

If you try to just compress it to get it to hold, you will need the springs to apply pressure.

Postigo wrote:

KDXohio wrote:

Postigo wrote:New springs for your weight and shim stack mod make a huge improvement to kdx front suspension. Those instructions are very straight forward the on thing I notice is the part of installing back the valve with an impact tool. I do not recommend the use of an impact tool to install the valve because the valve body is aluminum and you can strip the treads of the valve pretty easy, is better to hand tight the valve with the hex wrench.

The issue is being able to fully tighten it by hand without a cartridge holding tool yes that is always better but the majority of people don't have it so you just have to know your tool and know to stop when the valve stops turning. I did change it to say to start it by hand I didn't realize I had left that out

Either way you need a special tool or a ratchet tie down to compress the cartridge before removing the valve and it can be used to compress the cartridge during the valve installation.

A couple blips of the impact will shoot it right in without the need to compress or use a holding tool.

I had to put my body weight behind me to buzz mine out and straddle between my legs, whilst standing, on a thick piece of cardboard.

Wear "thick" gloves in case it gets away from you and the bolts that hold the axles in place don't go flying

around in circles determined to take chunks of your hands and fingers. I use thick rubber padded gloves, which also helps with grip.

It's an easy process once you get the technique down.

Michael

I am trying to do this mod, but don't understand how to properly compress the "cartridge". So I am clear.... which piece is the cartridge? I tried the 3/4" pvc pipe, slid that into the interior of fork to what looks like a giant hex key, clamped that in vice while I blipped it with an impact driver. Seems to loosen a bit, and then spin. How would a rachet tie down be employed (from where to where to do what?)

The point is to compress the fork so the spring tension holds the cartridge still to be able to loosen the compression adjuster assembly (base valve). I guess it can be used to properly torque the bolt back in place.

Maybe I need to start a tool rental service.

Success. Was able to get the valve body out using a rachet strap to hold a 3/4" PVC pipe against cartridge to keep it from spinning, while backing it out with an impact driver.

Failure. No one should ever discuss torque in terms of "inch-lbs" when almost everything else is in "foot-lbs". Oooofa! Would it have been so hard to say 2ft-lbs, or even 3 ft-lbs?? Needless to say, the valve body threads snap at about 15 ft-lbs. I apparently suck at this whole wrenching thing so far!! Really want to do it... but its just not intuitive yet and I make terrible mistakes.

25 inch-pounds

Sorry.

Somewhere there is a post of me screaming about it being aluminum and be careful. About one person a year comes on here and cranks the snot out of it, snapping a thin, hollow aluminum tube.

Got my valve body mistake sorted out (with a replacement from Fredette) but have some confusion putting forks back together. What is this about clips at the bottom of the spring? I didn't see clips come out with the spring, and didn't see any pour out with the oil. Nothing loose inside.

Need to make sure I understand this correctly before I try to reassemble the forks. Can someone clarify please? Any images of what these clips should look like? (I didn't see them on the parts diagrams).