padams10003
Likes Dirt
Is there any reason fork seals couldn't be threaded (with a grub screw to hold them in place) or have a nut locking them in place? Would make it much easier to remove and put them back in.
Fork Seal Idea
- Thread starter padams10003
- Start date
moorey
call me Mia
I can’t see how this works...metal jiggers pointing into a soft rubber that contacts the stanchions?
What’s the issue your having? Only ever seen seals pop out if totally dry and shagged.
link1896
Mr Greenfield
Fork seals are not actually bike suspension specific.
Sure Rockshox get them made by someone who puts “rockshox” in the moulding, but fork wiper seals are actually generic hydraulic wiper seals.
You know that big ass digger on the side of the road? It’s got 4.7” stanchions (called rams in the hydraulic world) with a pretty similar wiper seal arrangement to your rockshox 32mm forks.
Sure Rockshox get them made by someone who puts “rockshox” in the moulding, but fork wiper seals are actually generic hydraulic wiper seals.
You know that big ass digger on the side of the road? It’s got 4.7” stanchions (called rams in the hydraulic world) with a pretty similar wiper seal arrangement to your rockshox 32mm forks.
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Can I get the 4.7" ones to fit?
link1896
Mr Greenfield
Flow-Rider
Burner
The old Marzocchi's didn't run a felt wiper under the dust seal and had another seal in place held with a steel expansion ring.
The Duckmeister
Has a juicy midrange
Yeah, a couple of years ago I did all the oil seals around various shafts of my car engine, and was mildly surprised to discover they were basically the same as fork dust wipers.
Live2DieTrying
Likes Bikes and Dirt
I think this is a bit of a misconception. Most of the dust and oil seals are made by the same manufacturers of hydraulic linear Seals and bearings, but often with slightly different heights, or seat diameters, making them incompatible with anything in the suppliers catologue. Especially with fork Bushings.
The Rubber compounds are softer for MTB stuff, for less friction, and so it doesn't damage our Anodized alu legs, as opposed to Chrome or Nickel plated steel in the hydraulic world.
OP, i think there is 1 MTB fork, and a few moto forks (USD) that have a kind of sleeve with a shoulder go on after the dust seal, to stop any seals blowing out and dumping oil everywhere. Seal retention isn't a big deal these days, as open bath damping has gone right out of fashion in MTB.
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padams10003
Likes Dirt
Thinking about it, you would probably need the seal attached to either a metal or harder plastic threaded part, which I'm not sure how that could be done.
Not having any real issues, just find they can be a pain to get in and out at times.
link1896
Mr Greenfield
In hindsight yes, what I really should have said was they have since diverged from where they started, but they did indeed start as generic hydraulic seals back in the day, hence the crappy retention arrangement.
lets not confuse wiper seals with bushings, this is a VERY specific part made by the fork manufacturers. It's in their best interest no one can replace bushings to guarantee a limited product life.