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Fork Oil Seal


mkrouse

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Feel the seal lips on the inside, and aim the sharper side downwards. The seal needs to scrape oil downwards. If the seal is inverted it will appear to seal initially but will weep fluid in use. DAMHIK. In general there should be some label info like a part number or similar and that is usually on the dry side of the seal i.e. uppermost.

 

I've seen seals with springs on both sides, but one side has a deeper gap between the inner and outer parts and the other a shallow gap; the deep side should be downwards. The diagram below from AllBalls illustrates this nicely.

 

 

seal.jpg

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Wow. Great diagram. My rebuild kits were from All Balls Racing. Always better to ask the experts. Thanks again. I'm waiting for  a 41mm driver from Motion Pro. Started out thinking I could fashion something out of PVC. Done the cobble route too many times.

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PVC pipe is all I have ever used. I have a piece of Marley uPVC 50mm Electrical Conduit about 600mm long; 50.0mm OD and 44.0mm ID. This has been great for the 41mm forks on the 99 and also worked fine on 43mm forks. I have put some longitudinal cuts in and can even use the same piece for the 45mm forks on my ST1300.

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38 minutes ago, Terry said:

PVC pipe is all I have ever used. I have a piece of Marley uPVC 50mm Electrical Conduit about 600mm long; 50.0mm OD and 44.0mm ID. This has been great for the 41mm forks on the 99 and also worked fine on 43mm forks. I have put some longitudinal cuts in and can even use the same piece for the 45mm forks on my ST1300.

+1

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Lightly apply fork oil to the tube and inside the seal, during assembly, so they’re not dry. You’ll have hella’ stiction, otherwise. 

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Help.

I've done a very bad thing. I had a bit of a walk-about while putting my fork back together. Forgot to install the new upper bearing before I used the seal driver to seat the seal. Is there anyway to to remove the new seal and start again?

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5 minutes ago, mkrouse said:

Help.

I've done a very bad thing. I had a bit of a walk-about while putting my fork back together. Forgot to install the new upper bearing before I used the seal driver to seat the seal. Is there anyway to to remove the new seal and start again?


Pop out the clip and start yanking the male tube against the seal, like a slide hammer. It’ll pull the seal right out. 

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26 minutes ago, ducnut said:


Pop out the clip and start yanking the male tube against the seal, like a slide hammer. It’ll pull the seal right out. 

 

But that's when the lower bushing hits the upper bushing and can drive the large washer, and hence the seal, out.  Sounds like he forgot the upper bushing.  There could be some fallout, but I don't think you have a choice at this point.

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20 minutes ago, Captain 80s said:

 

But that's when the lower bushing hits the upper bushing and can drive the large washer, and hence the seal, out.  Sounds like he forgot the upper bushing.  There could be some fallout, but I don't think you have a choice at this point.

Assuming the lower bushing engages the washer, it should pull apart easily enough but there might be damage to the lower bushing. Fingers crossed...

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Well, I had to 'probably' sacrifice the new oil seal. TubeTube had a guy with a tip. He measured a large dowel that when dropped into the fork lower, stood just proud of the upper lip of the stuck seal. Using a very small pry bar that used the top of the dowel for leverage, I was able to move the seal upward. Some minor damage to the 'outer' seal surface. Rather damage the seal than the fork stanchion. I'll buy another seal for the second fork.

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Just a side comment, but I'd be cautious with those all balls fork seals. I've heard enough from people who have tried them that OEM or SKF are the only real options, considering the time involved to replace them.

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I've heard the same about all of their products. The suspension guys I know all use OEM seals only. 

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