Fork seals / bushes

[Davw]

Having got sick and tired of trying to put the forks back together after a seal change I decided to make the two special tools (rod puller and spring compressor) - 3 hours with the welder, bench drill, saw and a bit of hand filing and this job is a complete and total breeze - no need to rent in a Sumo wrestler to sit on the f****** thing while trying to do up the bottom bolt. Did the change as per the manual and even measured the oil level!!!- simples

Sorry - just had to tell someone as the wife seemd completely underwhlemed at my technical ingenuity

[Davw]

Sorry Baz - wrong section - should be in "probelms solved!!"

[masterofinsanity]

any pics of the tools you made??

[Davw]

Baz - couple of pics

The rod puller I made from a spare fork rod which I cut in half and then welded the nut which was at the top of the rod onto the cut end. The thread of that obviously ates then with the fork rod.

The compressor I made from some 20mm angle iron (B&Q- £5). Took me a couple of goes to get this right but the principle is the same as a "nutcracker" in that there is a bolt at one end around which the arms can pivot and then a "puller" bolt at the other end which pulls the arms tight around the top of the nylon bush. This allows the spring to be compressed and the puller rod to be reomoved before installing the fork valve assembly.

There is one other piece of the tool which is a "slide" which goes under the fork rod nut when the spring is compressed and holds everything in place while the fork top nut is installed. To be honest the jaws of an adjustable shifter would do for this.

When the top nut is one then compress the spring again, remove the slide from under the fork rod nut and then allow the spring to rise up and settle against the top nut. - release the compressor and job done!!

Hope this all makes sense

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