Member Contributer tomk1960 Posted September 12, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted September 12, 2013 I'm in the process of disassembling a friend's VF1000F forks so that I can refinish the legs and replace the seals and bushes. The right leg came apart without incident, although I noticed rusted crud above the snap ring. When I removed the dust seal from the left side, it was much rustier. Upon closer inspection, I discovered that the two holes in the snap ring used for compression and removal are gone - they rotted away. There's nothing left to grab onto so my question is obvious - is there some trick to getting these out in situations like these? I hate to give him the bad news, but I'm wondering if he's going to have no choice but to buy another set of forks. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEBSPEED Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 Nothing quick and easy about that. It can be salvaged but it will take time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer tomk1960 Posted September 12, 2013 Author Member Contributer Share Posted September 12, 2013 Nothing quick and easy about that. It can be salvaged but it will take time. OK...I'm listening - what's the trick? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Switchblade Posted September 12, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted September 12, 2013 Found this on another site. I ended up tearing into the rubber seal underneath enough to lodge the ring in place and pushed it hard from one end. That forced the other end out enough to get a grip on in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer tomk1960 Posted September 12, 2013 Author Member Contributer Share Posted September 12, 2013 Found this on another site. I ended up tearing into the rubber seal underneath enough to lodge the ring in place and pushed it hard from one end. That forced the other end out enough to get a grip on in. I'm not sure I totally understand what you mean. Can you clarify a bit? One strange thing that happened with the other fork was when I went to pop out the seal using the "slide hammer" technique, the tube popped right through the seal even though the lower bush was wider than the ID of the seal. The seal was rotted and weak, so I guess that's how it came through. It's possible that I might be able to do the same thing with this one and then i can grab onto the rotted snap ring to get it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer gll429 Posted September 12, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted September 12, 2013 all you need. a sharp pick . and small flat blade screw driver. 1st. try pushing on one end of the snapring with the screwdriver to move it around the grove.. then take a pick and pry one end up. use the screw driver to stop it from going back in the grove and pry it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NakedViffer Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 Yeah mine is just a wire loc clip ring, it never had the holes in it to begin with. I used a pick to get them out. Do other have different types of rings? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Switchblade Posted September 12, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted September 12, 2013 Found this on another site. I ended up tearing into the rubber seal underneath enough to lodge the ring in place and pushed it hard from one end. That forced the other end out enough to get a grip on in. I'm not sure I totally understand what you mean. Can you clarify a bit? One strange thing that happened with the other fork was when I went to pop out the seal using the "slide hammer" technique, the tube popped right through the seal even though the lower bush was wider than the ID of the seal. The seal was rotted and weak, so I guess that's how it came through. It's possible that I might be able to do the same thing with this one and then i can grab onto the rotted snap ring to get it out. I would not do that you could crack or destroy the snap ring groove. If both ends of the snap ring holes are gone then according the guy's post I read he took out enough of the seal underneath to jam the remaining part of snap ring and then jam it with bent screw driver and the then pushed the ring enough to move it out of the groove and then stick another small pick or screw driver in it. The only other thing I can think is to take a Dremel with a small burr and cut a small area of the groove and the snap ring so as to half it for removal. Of course you would have to wrap the slider so as to not to damage it. You would have a small slot in the groove but that's better then whole tube. Burrs; Head Shape: Round Tip Point; Tooth Style: Double Cut; Cutting Diameter (Inch): 1/8; Length of Cut (Inch): 35/64; Shank Diameter (Inch): 1/8; Head Material: Tungsten Carbide Type of Cut: Double Cut Cutter Diameter (Inch): 1/8 Cutter Length (Inch): 35/64 Shape: Round Tip Point Shank Diameter (Inch): 1/8 Material: Carbide Tipped Manufacturer Part Number: 9910 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer tomk1960 Posted September 12, 2013 Author Member Contributer Share Posted September 12, 2013 Found this on another site. I ended up tearing into the rubber seal underneath enough to lodge the ring in place and pushed it hard from one end. That forced the other end out enough to get a grip on in. I'm not sure I totally understand what you mean. Can you clarify a bit? One strange thing that happened with the other fork was when I went to pop out the seal using the "slide hammer" technique, the tube popped right through the seal even though the lower bush was wider than the ID of the seal. The seal was rotted and weak, so I guess that's how it came through. It's possible that I might be able to do the same thing with this one and then i can grab onto the rotted snap ring to get it out. I would not do that you could crack or destroy the snap ring groove. If both ends of the snap ring holes are gone then according the guy's post I read he took out enough of the seal underneath to jam the remaining part of snap ring and then jam it with bent screw driver and the then pushed the ring enough to move it out of the groove and then stick another small pick or screw driver in it. The only other thing I can think is to take a Dremel with a small burr and cut a small area of the groove and the snap ring so as to half it for removal. Of course you would have to wrap the slider so as to not to damage it. You would have a small slot in the groove but that's better then whole tube. Burrs; Head Shape: Round Tip Point; Tooth Style: Double Cut; Cutting Diameter (Inch): 1/8; Length of Cut (Inch): 35/64; Shank Diameter (Inch): 1/8; Head Material: Tungsten Carbide Type of Cut: Double Cut Cutter Diameter (Inch): 1/8 Cutter Length (Inch): 35/64 Shape: Round Tip Point Shank Diameter (Inch): 1/8 Material: Carbide Tipped Manufacturer Part Number: 9910 That sounds like a decent idea. Even with a little groove cut perpendicular to the slot that the snap ring is in, it will have no effect on the sealing surface that's down below. I'll mess with it tonight and see how it goes. Thanks for all the suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Switchblade Posted September 12, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted September 12, 2013 Found this on another site. I ended up tearing into the rubber seal underneath enough to lodge the ring in place and pushed it hard from one end. That forced the other end out enough to get a grip on in. I'm not sure I totally understand what you mean. Can you clarify a bit? One strange thing that happened with the other fork was when I went to pop out the seal using the "slide hammer" technique, the tube popped right through the seal even though the lower bush was wider than the ID of the seal. The seal was rotted and weak, so I guess that's how it came through. It's possible that I might be able to do the same thing with this one and then i can grab onto the rotted snap ring to get it out. I would not do that you could crack or destroy the snap ring groove. If both ends of the snap ring holes are gone then according the guy's post I read he took out enough of the seal underneath to jam the remaining part of snap ring and then jam it with bent screw driver and the then pushed the ring enough to move it out of the groove and then stick another small pick or screw driver in it. The only other thing I can think is to take a Dremel with a small burr and cut a small area of the groove and the snap ring so as to half it for removal. Of course you would have to wrap the slider so as to not to damage it. You would have a small slot in the groove but that's better then whole tube. Burrs; Head Shape: Round Tip Point; Tooth Style: Double Cut; Cutting Diameter (Inch): 1/8; Length of Cut (Inch): 35/64; Shank Diameter (Inch): 1/8; Head Material: Tungsten Carbide Type of Cut: Double Cut Cutter Diameter (Inch): 1/8 Cutter Length (Inch): 35/64 Shape: Round Tip Point Shank Diameter (Inch): 1/8 Material: Carbide Tipped Manufacturer Part Number: 9910 That sounds like a decent idea. Even with a little groove cut perpendicular to the slot that the snap ring is in, it will have no effect on the sealing surface that's down below. I'll mess with it tonight and see how it goes. Thanks for all the suggestions. Glad I could help and I hope it works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer tomk1960 Posted September 12, 2013 Author Member Contributer Share Posted September 12, 2013 The tricky part will be to do it without marring the tube. There isn't much space in there to work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Switchblade Posted September 12, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted September 12, 2013 2 or 3 inches up from the snap ring black tape(or duct tape) the tube and then push it down to where your going to work. That or sleeve the tube with some type of metal tubing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer gll429 Posted September 13, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted September 13, 2013 try my method 1st.. seriously its not that hard to get the rusted span ring out. i would be shocked that you need a dremel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Switchblade Posted September 13, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted September 13, 2013 Found this on another site. I ended up tearing into the rubber seal underneath enough to lodge the ring in place and pushed it hard from one end. That forced the other end out enough to get a grip on in. I'm not sure I totally understand what you mean. Can you clarify a bit? One strange thing that happened with the other fork was when I went to pop out the seal using the "slide hammer" technique, the tube popped right through the seal even though the lower bush was wider than the ID of the seal. The seal was rotted and weak, so I guess that's how it came through. It's possible that I might be able to do the same thing with this one and then i can grab onto the rotted snap ring to get it out. I would not do that you could crack or destroy the snap ring groove. If both ends of the snap ring holes are gone then according the guy's post I read he took out enough of the seal underneath to jam the remaining part of snap ring and then jam it with bent screw driver and the then pushed the ring enough to move it out of the groove and then stick another small pick or screw driver in it. The only other thing I can think is to take a Dremel with a small burr and cut a small area of the groove and the snap ring so as to half it for removal. Of course you would have to wrap the slider so as to not to damage it. You would have a small slot in the groove but that's better then whole tube. Burrs; Head Shape: Round Tip Point; Tooth Style: Double Cut; Cutting Diameter (Inch): 1/8; Length of Cut (Inch): 35/64; Shank Diameter (Inch): 1/8; Head Material: Tungsten Carbide Type of Cut: Double Cut Cutter Diameter (Inch): 1/8 Cutter Length (Inch): 35/64 Shape: Round Tip Point Shank Diameter (Inch): 1/8 Material: Carbide Tipped Manufacturer Part Number: 9910 That sounds like a decent idea. Even with a little groove cut perpendicular to the slot that the snap ring is in, it will have no effect on the sealing surface that's down below. I'll mess with it tonight and see how it goes. Thanks for all the suggestions. Glad I could help and I hope it works. But yeh try to remove it we out cutting the housing of course .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer tomk1960 Posted September 13, 2013 Author Member Contributer Share Posted September 13, 2013 The Dremel bit did the trick. As you can see from the picture below, I wasn't able to cut it completely in half, but it was weakened to the point where it was easy to flex and pop out of the slot. Damage to the area above the snap ring groove was minimal and will have no adverse effect. The sealing surface is grungy - what should I use to clean this up? Croakus cloth or fine steel wool? Thanks for the suggestions. I got lucky this time and was able to salvage a good fork. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Switchblade Posted September 13, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted September 13, 2013 You the man Great job ..... You would have never pick that out ..... Yeh the Croakus cloth and then i have read where some the members here use aluminum foil to polish the metal after light sanding. Now I have never use aluminum foil before so be careful at first and not to cut the sealing surface. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer tomk1960 Posted September 13, 2013 Author Member Contributer Share Posted September 13, 2013 Tin foil works great for polishing chrome and removing light pitting. It doesn't scratch like steel wool either. Good suggestion, that should clean itt up nicely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Dutchy Posted September 13, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted September 13, 2013 I can already hear my wife... "where is my roll of tin foil??!!!!??" Note to self: go buy a roll myself... Top Tip for when I clean my front fork stanchions! Thnaks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Switchblade Posted September 13, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted September 13, 2013 I can already hear my wife... "where is my roll of tin foil??!!!!??" Note to self: go buy a roll myself... Top Tip for when I clean my front fork stanchions! Thnaks! Your weclome ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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