So this damper tool looks like some threaded rod, a piece of fuel line and some nuts backed against each other. How do you use it?I do fork oil without removing the forks all the time. The stock measure is to be 180mm from the top of the tube with the springs removed. That's the kicker.... if you are going to measure the correct air gap you have to remove the springs. At that point you aren't far away from just removing the shock if it needs a rebuild.
Mine did not need a rebuild and I was just changing out the springs. The first time was for Progressive units and they called for a 160mm air gap and the recent change was to straight wound Racetech springs and they require a 130mm air gap from the top of tube.
I'm not that fancy in my fill gauge and I use a straight long screwdriver. Two methods you can employ if you're leaving the shocks in the tree.... Either measure the gap in front and the rear of the two, add them together, then divide by 2 to get your fill if it where vertical and even all the way around... or use a flashlight and measure the far right and left, which should be about mid-point.
I should mention... I don't care if I'm 5mm off and the difference between the right and left "official" fill marks is something like 2mm. I just don't think it makes that much of a difference. I would go with the recommendation of whichever spring you have mounted, get real close to the fill (within 5mm preferably to the high side).
I would agree that if you don't have a huge leak, the amount you will lose should be fairly minor. However, rebuilding isn't difficult and wouldn't take a day.
However, I would disagree that you need to pull them to get a good flush. An option would be to buy an extra bottle of fork oil per side and fill, compress, drain 2x's before filling to the correct level. I would be hard pressed to think that a double flush would leave any amount of old oil that would be concerning. It's what I did because my seals are still good and I didn't get hardly any old oil the last drain. (I could tell because I used Belray 10w last time, which is a much darker color than the Honda 5w).
However... to each his own...
If you would like to borrow a damper tool... pm me and pay for shipping and I'll send you one. Or, shoot me $10 and shipping and I'll make you one.
Wow, rude.
You are exactly correct. It is a 12 inch 3/8 threaded rod. I used fuel line (I actually think it was transmission line) that I had laying around to screw onto the end so my hands wouldn't get chewed up from the threads. I took the pic so guys could see what it is if they wanted to make one on their own. But, I also took a 9 inch chunk and slit it lengthwise to cover the remainder of the exposed threads in case they would come in contact with the fork tube during the process.
You are exactly correct. It is a 12 inch 3/8 threaded rod. I used fuel line (I actually think it was transmission line) that I had laying around to screw onto the end so my hands wouldn't get chewed up from the threads. I took the pic so guys could see what it is if they wanted to make one on their own. But, I also took a 9 inch chunk and slit it lengthwise to cover the remainder of the exposed threads in case they would come in contact with the fork tube during the process.
So, you get a couple 3/8 inch nuts and one 10mm x 1.0 nut and that completes the tool. I took the 10mm x 1.0 nut and welded it to one of the 3/8 nuts. I thread the lone 3/8 nut to act as a lock nut. Then thread the 3/8 side of the newly created 3/8-10mm combo nut into the 3/8 rod and lock it down with the lock nut.
What you are left with is an empty 10mm x 1.0 nut on the end of a 12 inch shaft.
How does it work? I took a quick pic of my manual because a picture is worth a thousand words.
The lower pic (46) is the damper rod being pulled up by a wire and sticking out of the fork tube. If you notice, there are threads above the lock nut that screw into the cap. Once the cap is removed, while you are fighting to compress the spring, line up the washers and insert the spring seat (really recommended to have even unskilled help), It really helps to have the ability to hold the damper rod up. The threads on the end of the damper rod are 10mm x 1.0, which is the exposed nut you have.
Once the spring seat is off the damper rod will drop down slowly into the fork tube. You simply thread the exposed nut onto the end and you have a "handle" to manipulate the damper rod.
Secondary benefit if you are flushing the fork without removal is you can pump clean fluid in and out of the chamber by raising and lowering the damper rod. It makes oil changes easy on that side.
As you're setting the oil level you will need to fill the lower chamber by pumping the damper rod until you can feel the even pressure of the air being gone. This makes it easy.
