Levo Gen 3 Fox Fork 38 Lower Leg Service

[Bustershaw]

I did the lower leg service on my 38 Grip forks yesterday and other than having a hard time removing the dust wipers, it went pretty good. Except injecting the 20W oil in the air side. The syringe I chose from Amazon didn't like the hose attached to it and spit it out twice while trying to inject it, so I'm not positive I got the right amount in there. That is the thickest and stickiest 20W I've ever seen! If anything I might be at 18cc instead of the 20cc's it requires.
Anybody else have a similar problem? And those dust wipers are a pain to remove. I ripped them both and was left with the metal reinforced part stuck in there. I dunked them in hot water for a couple minutes and they popped right out though.

 

[DuncanDoughnuts]

I have seen some people use the thinner damper fluid in the lowers and also in both foam wipers as the thick 20w seems to clog up real quick. If this will damage the long term performance I dont know .... Im sure fox know what they doing when they designed the product. So I would stick with what the manual says. JMHO.

 

[bmwpowere36m3]

Haven't had those problems... use a metal tire iron to pop wipers. As far oil, I use large/disposable syringes (like these) to inject the fluid into each leg. Invert fork, a little past horizontal and squirt it in.

 

[Bustershaw]

Haven't had those problems... use a metal tire iron to pop wipers. As far oil, I use large/disposable syringes (like these) to inject the fluid into each leg. Invert fork, a little past horizontal and squirt it in.

I used this one: Syringe
I was using This to pop them out, but I apparently didn't grab it deep enough because i didn't' want to damage the fork:

 

[bmwpowere36m3]

Forget the hose, stick the tip of the syringe into the lower leg opening and shoot it in... I throw mine out after each use. Not worth messing around cleaning them, 2 for each service. I've seen folks use the open-end of a wrench to pop the seals out too. You don't want to go too deep, but you need to go deep enough.

 

[Bustershaw]

Forget the hose, stick the tip of the syringe into the lower leg opening and shoot it in... I throw mine out after each use. Not worth messing around cleaning them, 2 for each service. I've seen folks use the open-end of a wrench to pop the seals out too. You don't want to go too deep, but you need to go deep enough.

In hindsight, I agree that the hose isn't needed. Except, how do you fill it? Pour the fluid into a bowl so you can get down to it?

 

[bmwpowere36m3]

In hindsight, I agree that the hose isn't needed. Except, how do you fill it? Pour the fluid into a bowl so you can get down to it?

Tip the bottle so the fluid is near the spout and/or into a small container (same to soak rings). Can also remove plunger and pour into syringe.

 

[DuncanDoughnuts]

I use a standard syringe . I pour the oil out into a bowl and let the foam rings soak in it while I clean everything.
Then draw the oil into the syringe a d inject it into the lowers at an angle while the forks are horizontal.

 

[Oakhills]

I’ve noticed the damper side leg stancion wears quicker with the thinner oil in that leg. The 20wt air side leg is still mint. This is after 8500 miles and 2.5 million feet of vert though.

 

[DuncanDoughnuts]

I’ve noticed the damper side leg stancion wears quicker with the thinner oil in that leg. The 20wt air side leg is still mint. This is after 8500 miles and 2.5 million feet of vert though.

That’s really intresting. So maybe the 20wt oil offers more wear protection

 

[Poythress87]

Nice work on the Fox 38 service. That 20wt oil is notoriously thick, same struggle here. Next time, try a syringe with a threaded locking tip instead of the push-on hose. Also, RockShox's syringe kit works better for thick oils. For the dust wipers, a seal pick tool helps, but the hot water trick is a solid save.

If you're off by 2cc, it's not the end of the world, just keep an eye on the air spring feel. Rebuild it sooner if it acts weird.

On a completely different note, if your garage looks like a bomb went off after a suspension service, here are some simple cleanup solutions for old forks, oil rags, and that pile of take-off parts.

Good luck with the next service!