Noisy fox shock

dan shard

Just a quick question, Ive finally got round to swapping my rear shock from the manitu RL to a fox float racing shock. The first thing I noticed (other than it being half the weight) is that it is very noisy. The manitu was totally silent and although I havent set the pressure up, there is a noticeable suction noise from the fox.

My concern is that the shock is used (bought it off ebay) but externally in excellent condition so wondered if there could be a problem.

Is this normal or should I be worried?

nicklouse

set it up first so as to not cause any internal damage.

but yes they can make noise.

Koiler

both my fox and manitou shocks have both been a bit noisy at times. sort of a squishing/ squelching noise. i think its just oil squeezing its way through the damper

dan shard

It's veeeery noisy though lol. I've set it up now n it feels okay if a little slow to rebound. I've got the day off work for a blas round llandegla so we'll see how it holds out

dan shard

Koiler wrote:

both my fox and manitou shocks have both been a bit noisy at times. sort of a squishing/ squelching noise. i think its just oil squeezing its way through the damper

Yeah that's the noise. Squelchy sucking. As long as it doesn't mean it's goosed ..

Koiler

does it make the noise as it rebounds? if its louder on the rebound, and the rebound is slow, then i'd say its just oil inside the shock.

my old Van R used to do it, and my manitou swinger does it, but not all the time, its quiet on a gentle ride, but as i get further into the travel, the noise from the rebound definitely gets louder. come to think of it, my forks do it as well if i set the rebound nice and slow.

provided the shock is compressing and extending as it should, and not losing any air, then i dont think its anything to worry about

i

dan shard

Koiler wrote:

does it make the noise as it rebounds? if its louder on the rebound, and the rebound is slow, then i'd say its just oil inside the shock.

my old Van R used to do it, and my manitou swinger does it, but not all the time, its quiet on a gentle ride, but as i get further into the travel, the noise from the rebound definitely gets louder. come to think of it, my forks do it as well if i set the rebound nice and slow.

provided the shock is compressing and extending as it should, and not losing any air, then i dont think its anything to worry about

i

Yep definately louder on the rebound and slightly slower than I'd expect. When you say oil in the shock is that the outer can? If so I could get sort it myself fairly easy by doing the normal seal service

mog666

My recons are 3 days old and make the same suction noise on rebound, think its normal! :?

Deepunder

My 04' Fox float squelches quite loudly on compression and has since I owned it (2nd hand), seems to work ok excpet lock out has recently broken which I really must fix.

I'd be interested to hear if the noise is normal in a new shock, I do my own air sleeve overhauls but since it's always been 2nd hand to me I can't tell you for sure.

Koiler

imagine it this way, its not entirely accurate, but it makes it easy to understand (for me, at least...)

the rebound damper is basically a piston, with holes in, inside a cylinder, with oil in.

as the shock rebounds, the piston is pulled through the oil.

adjustable rebound makes the holes bigger/ smaller,

the bigger the holes in the piston, the faster the rebound, .

the bigger the holes, the faster the piston can move through the oil (the less resistance is given). the faster the piston can move, the quicker the shock extends (faster rebound)

when you slow the rebound (or any compression damping) the holes get smaller which means the piston meets greater resistance when moving through the oil. the squelching sound is the sound of the oil being squeezed through the small holes, sometimes the oil can get a bit 'foamy' if theres air in there, this can make the noise louder/ more noticable.

thats not to say however that all noises coming from a shock are meant to be there. if its a noise thats always been there, and doesn't get any worse, then its probably nothing to worry about. if it just starts doing it, or seems to be getting worse, then it may be worth taking it into a shop and asking they're opinion. if its normal, they'l;l know. if its not, they'll be able to send it off to be looked at.