Suntour XCR LO servicing....tips and advice please!

saracen fan

As per the title really, wanna service them and have downloaded the exploded diagrams, just want any pointers on what oil/gease to use and what to clean it down with? any common problems to look out for? ect......

ta 8)

supersonic

The damper is sealed, so I wouldn't open that. Clean all surfaces, then lube the bushings with teflon grease. But some around the main seals too, and on the spring. Then put back together.

hbrashaw

i would also turn them upside down and pump them, as water tends to collect in them (i used to have them) until no more water comes out, dry them off, then do what ss said.

saracen fan

thanks guys....was going to service them still fitted to the bike, just turn the bike upside down and undo the allen bolts and slide off the lowers....will that work?

as for pumping them to get water out, im not quite sure what you mean? pump whilst disassembled? :oops:

Northwind

I think he was assuming you're not going to fully strip the bike.

They're really easy to work on, I'd do it out of the bike but I can't see any reason you can't do it in the frame. Whole thing's held together with 2 bolts

saracen fan

Northwind wrote:

I think he was assuming you're not going to fully strip the bike.

They're really easy to work on, I'd do it out of the bike but I can't see any reason you can't do it in the frame. Whole thing's held together with 2 bolts

excellent! my kinda job lol

ordered some teflon grease so will give it a crack on saturday.....

saracen fan

just looked on youtube for an instruction video....couldnt see one, does anybody know of a step by step guide? just dont wanna bugger them up!

hbrashaw

turn bike upside down, pump forks, wait until any water comes out, clean stanchions, put teflon lube/grease on stanchions and seals, pump forks, wipe off excess

Northwind

Half a job there... Take 'em apart, remove the seals, clean them properly, reassemble and grease.

saracen fan

well its done.....and was very easy!

they didnt actually need servicing but whats a good excersise.

chenrp

hello,
please give advise on how to disassemble it and if you can upload pictures it would be great,.

i have a new 2009 white suntour XCR and when it bounds back to fully open, it makes a noise. i went to the bike shop and they say that noise is in all this model forks.

??

i heard that if i will put 15W oil in it, the fork will return much slower and no noise will be heard.?

thank you.

saracen fan

hi,
Heres what I did:

1) Turn bike upside down

2) Remove front wheel and remove brake caliper from fork

3) Loosen the 2x 5mm allen bolts on the bottom of the legs

4) After loosening the allen bolts tap them with a hammer, after tapping them remove the bolts fully and pull the legs off.

5) give everything a good wipe with a rag including the wiper seals in the legs, then smear plenty of TEFLON grease on all the moving parts and seals.

6) To remove the spring you will notice under the rebound adjuster is a plastic crown nut, undo this and you can then remove the spring, which you also clean and grease.

7) re-assemble

job done!

Not heard any noises with my XCR's but mine are black 2008 model....I doubt your noise is anything worth worrying about though

chenrp

thx
but if i open the two allen bolts in the bottom, i can remove the legs without touching the rebound adjuster?
i should open the rebound plastic only if i want to remove the spring? R U sure?


the noise is a tops out noise. it is nothing to make me worry but it is annoying.

what about the oil? does it have any?
i heard that if i open the allen bolts and fill with oil.. and close it back , the fork will work better.

saracen fan

we might possibly have different forks, mine are coil sprung with hydraulic lock out which is in a cartridge which you wont need to touch, and if memory serves me correct is sealed anyway....

when you take the legs off all there is to grease is the metal rods from the LO cartridge, the spring assembly and the wiper seals, to access the spring you have to remove/undo the rebound adjust knob.

as for oil, there was none in my forks, I think air forks use oils, or proper hydraulicly damped forks, like i say mine are coil and only need grease.

hope this is of some help, hopefully someone more knowledgeable like SS or nicklouise will read this and post some wisdom lol

Northwind

chenrp wrote:

thx
but if i open the two allen bolts in the bottom, i can remove the legs without touching the rebound adjuster?
i should open the rebound plastic only if i want to remove the spring? R U sure?

Are you sure it's not a preload adjuster you're talking about here?

Don't fill the fork with oil, it's just not an oil damped fork, for one thing it'll most likely leak out but also it won't have any useful effect.

I think these all have a horrible top-out clunk, mine always did, I just ignored it.

chenrp

so what can i do with the tops out noise?
the store supplier tells me that all this model forks make this noise... so what?!

what can i do? should i demand a replacement one?

thank you all.

saracen fan

you can try adjusting the rebound/pre load knob, failing that a stiffer spring is the only thing that will stop it bottoming out.

are you a heavy rider? im 14.5 stone and never bottom it out, that said I only do XC riding at the moment, anything more hardcore and yeh I imagine the XCR would struggle....

chenrp

my fork tops out! not bottoms out...

chedabob

chenrp wrote:

my fork tops out! not bottoms out...

By topping out, do you mean it returns too far and clunks as it reaches the end of travel? You could try adjusting the preload (not sure if it has it) to get the correct amount of sag. I have an Epicon fork, and it never returns to fully open even when I'm off the bike.

Northwind

chenrp wrote:

so what can i do with the tops out noise?
the store supplier tells me that all this model forks make this noise... so what?!

what can i do? should i demand a replacement one?

He's right, they all do it. If your preload's not right (ie, you have increased it in an attempt to make the fork "stiffer") then sort that out, but other than that just deal with it, he's right, the XCR like a lot of other budget forks has a topout clunk. It's only a problem if you make it a problem, but what you get in return is the best performing of the budget forks.

At the end of the day bikes make noise.

chenrp

non of my other and my friends suntour makes that noise....

anyways... is there a way of making the noise disappear?


and another thing: the store didn't tell me that the fork will do this noise... am i entitled of a replacement?

Northwind

chenrp wrote:

and another thing: the store didn't tell me that the fork will do this noise... am i entitled of a replacement?

No, because it's not a fault or a problem. it's just the fork doing its thing. Have you looked at the preload as suggested? If you have it set too high or you're otherwise running too high in the stroke then it's more likely to top out.

chenrp

no... the preload is not relevant...

the rebound is! but the fork don't have any...

Northwind

Preload is relevant because, as I explained, if the fork is riding high in its travel it's more likely to top out.

saracen fan

sorry meant to say top out.....

anyway yes, as northwind says it is normal, mine do top out now and then but generally it is ok, I have the rebound/pre load what ever you call it adjuster set so the forks have correct sag and rarely get problems with fork top out, so first step is to play around with that, only other option is a stiffer spring which you can get for these forks.

chenrp

but the fork is new! should the store fix it or what?

Northwind

No, because it doesn't need fixed.