Rockshox Tora Lockout Fix
Matt 24k
Posts: 186
Warning long winded post!
I hope that the following may be of use to you if you are one of the many experiencing lockout problems with Rockshox Tora forks. It seems fairly common that the lockout stops working and the recommended solution is to replace the Motion Control Damper assembly at around £40. Having a sometimes unhealthy interest in finding out how things work lead me to this no cost solution.
This guide is based solely on my personal experience. I am not a suspension technician and by following it you agree to accept full liability if it all goes wrong!
First up download the service documents from the SRAM website, work out exactly what type of Tora's you have and read the relevant sections several times before even picking up a tool.
I was working on Tora 318 Coil U Turn with non remote lockout. There are lots of variations so make sure that you understand what you are doing before you start. The Motion Control Damper (Mo Co) is in the right fork leg as you are sitting on the bike. Follow the service guide to remove the lockout dial on the top of the fork. Then use a 24mm socket the undo the top nut. Again carefully follow the service guide to remove the Mo Co and then leave it partially out of the fork so that the oil can drain into the fork. If you are doing an oil change don't worry about this.
Once you have removed the Mo Co turn it upside down and you will see a metal disc with one third of its radius edge cut away. The rotation of the disc is what blocks the oil flow to lock out the fork.
Place the lock out control dial back on to the top of the Mo Co and turn it. The metal disc on the bottom should rotate to cover and uncover the long holes underneath it in the bottom cap of the Mo Co. When the lockout is not working you will notice that turning the control dial through 120 degrees of rotation leaves you with exactly the same amount of long hole area uncovered. To lock out you need the metal disc to block the holes in the closed position.
Next up take a flat blade screw driver and gently push on the securing tabs of the bottom cap on the side of the Mo Co. You will notice that one tab is wider than the other so that it only fits in one position. The bottom cap of the Mo Co will then come away from the main tube and you will see a keyed shaft inside the main tube. The keyed shaft engages with a black plastic blade which goes through the end of the removed cap to turn the metal disc.
When the lockout stops working the black plastic blade has turned without turning the metal disc. The two are joined together and not designed to come apart. You need to hold the black plastic blade and rotate the metal disc without using tools.
BEFORE attempting to rotate the metal disc familiarise yourself with the position of the keyed shaft in the locked and unlocked position and remember that the end of the Mo Co only fits back in one position. When you are 100% positive of the required position (locked on the top dial should have the metal disc covering the long holes) hold the black plastic blade with your fingers and rotate the metal disc with your fingers into the right position, you will feel it ratchet around. WARNING this is not designed to be rotated in this way and you only want to move it once so make sure that you are positive of the position you want it in before twisting. If you are unlucky/ham fisted you will possibly break it and have to buy a new Mo Co. FAIL
Once you get the disc into the right position gently push the end cap back into the Mo Co tube remembering that it only fits in one position. Check that the lock and unlock positions on the top dial move the lower metal disc to the correct positions and ensure that it is in the open position before following the Rockshox service guide for reassembly. Pay particular attention to the section regarding the correct seating of the Mo Co seal by moving it up and down to check that the seal is not folded.
I am not sure what causes the metal disc to move out of alignment with the keyed shaft and therefore unsure how long this fix will last. I can only guess that rotating the lockout dial with the fork in a certain position causes the problem and I would suggest that if you ever feel extra resistance when locking out, that you stop turning!
I hope that the following may be of use to you if you are one of the many experiencing lockout problems with Rockshox Tora forks. It seems fairly common that the lockout stops working and the recommended solution is to replace the Motion Control Damper assembly at around £40. Having a sometimes unhealthy interest in finding out how things work lead me to this no cost solution.
This guide is based solely on my personal experience. I am not a suspension technician and by following it you agree to accept full liability if it all goes wrong!
First up download the service documents from the SRAM website, work out exactly what type of Tora's you have and read the relevant sections several times before even picking up a tool.
I was working on Tora 318 Coil U Turn with non remote lockout. There are lots of variations so make sure that you understand what you are doing before you start. The Motion Control Damper (Mo Co) is in the right fork leg as you are sitting on the bike. Follow the service guide to remove the lockout dial on the top of the fork. Then use a 24mm socket the undo the top nut. Again carefully follow the service guide to remove the Mo Co and then leave it partially out of the fork so that the oil can drain into the fork. If you are doing an oil change don't worry about this.
Once you have removed the Mo Co turn it upside down and you will see a metal disc with one third of its radius edge cut away. The rotation of the disc is what blocks the oil flow to lock out the fork.
Place the lock out control dial back on to the top of the Mo Co and turn it. The metal disc on the bottom should rotate to cover and uncover the long holes underneath it in the bottom cap of the Mo Co. When the lockout is not working you will notice that turning the control dial through 120 degrees of rotation leaves you with exactly the same amount of long hole area uncovered. To lock out you need the metal disc to block the holes in the closed position.
Next up take a flat blade screw driver and gently push on the securing tabs of the bottom cap on the side of the Mo Co. You will notice that one tab is wider than the other so that it only fits in one position. The bottom cap of the Mo Co will then come away from the main tube and you will see a keyed shaft inside the main tube. The keyed shaft engages with a black plastic blade which goes through the end of the removed cap to turn the metal disc.
When the lockout stops working the black plastic blade has turned without turning the metal disc. The two are joined together and not designed to come apart. You need to hold the black plastic blade and rotate the metal disc without using tools.
BEFORE attempting to rotate the metal disc familiarise yourself with the position of the keyed shaft in the locked and unlocked position and remember that the end of the Mo Co only fits back in one position. When you are 100% positive of the required position (locked on the top dial should have the metal disc covering the long holes) hold the black plastic blade with your fingers and rotate the metal disc with your fingers into the right position, you will feel it ratchet around. WARNING this is not designed to be rotated in this way and you only want to move it once so make sure that you are positive of the position you want it in before twisting. If you are unlucky/ham fisted you will possibly break it and have to buy a new Mo Co. FAIL
Once you get the disc into the right position gently push the end cap back into the Mo Co tube remembering that it only fits in one position. Check that the lock and unlock positions on the top dial move the lower metal disc to the correct positions and ensure that it is in the open position before following the Rockshox service guide for reassembly. Pay particular attention to the section regarding the correct seating of the Mo Co seal by moving it up and down to check that the seal is not folded.
I am not sure what causes the metal disc to move out of alignment with the keyed shaft and therefore unsure how long this fix will last. I can only guess that rotating the lockout dial with the fork in a certain position causes the problem and I would suggest that if you ever feel extra resistance when locking out, that you stop turning!
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Comments
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Thanks for your efforts in sharing this. It's now in my favourites for possible future use.
After uphill there's downhill0 -
Don't suppose you know if this is the same as for a Reba? My lockout has recently stopped working and this makes sense but I don't want to take it all to pieces in case they are different. Cheers0
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The reba works similarly - but loss of lockout can be caused by a leaky damper too. See our FAQ for more details.0
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Thanks Matt 24k for posting this tech solution! I recently bought a used 2008 Scott Scale 50 with the Tora 302 shock and noticed the lockout (a switch on top of the right crown) wasn't working. Having little experience with shocks (this with my first shock bike) but the curiousity to try to fix it myself I downloaded the tech manuals and pulled the thing apart, loosely following your instructions. I got the lockout working again but to be honest I'm not quite sure what I did (sorry, I know that isn't helpful). I partially dismantled the the Motion Control Damper assembly, add some more oil and voila, it worked.
Actually, I think it was the extra oil that did it. When I first replaced the oil (145 cc/ml) I didn't measure it exactly... a large syringe would have been ideal but all I had was a measuring cup in ml at 50ml increments, so I suspect that was the problem... I didn't add enough the first time. Just before I replaced the Damper assembly I added a bit more oil, maybe 30 ml or so, and the lockout worked. And come to think of it, when I first took the shock apart and went to drain the original oil I peered down the tube and thought the volume looked a bit low to start. The guy I bought the bike from had hardly ridden it; it'd been sitting around a cold garage for the better part of three years, so perhaps a good portion of oil had simply evaporated, so maybe low oil volume was the problem all along, and not the Damper assembly?
Anyhow, hope this helps someone out there.0 -
To anyone who is reading this and thinking of changing the position of the metal disc can I suggest a different method of moving the metal disc on the bottom. the OP suggests turning it to the correct position, this will work but might strip the splines from inside the plastic part that attaches to the blade inside.
I suggest not dismantling the end off the MoCo unit but removing the metal disc from the end and re locating it. Like this:-
If you delicately work the edge of a small flat screwdriver under the edge of the metal disc it will lift up , you will feel the light spring pulling it back down, if you keep levering it up it will come all the way out, you can then rotate it slightly which ever way you want to move it, then push it back in. you will notice that it has splines on the end and this way you are not damaging the splines in the plastic part inside, you are just changing the position within the splines.
Make sure that in the fully locked out position the holes are fully covered and then a little bit more, a minute hole/gap will give no lockout at all and also if it just covers the holes & your lockout lever doesn't pull it hard round onto the stops it will not lockout.
If you have an external floodgate adjuster make sure you fully back it off,the through shaft will then be at its longest, then press the floodgate adjuster rod down, you might notice that the metal disc comes out a bit further, at this point press the disc in as far as it will go, it is now fully seated and should be back to the correct functioning position. and should just separate from the end of the MoCo when fully open, ie full flow.
Oil level is critical too. make sure the bottom of the MoCo is just sitting in the oil with the fork fully extended.
I've just spent several hours fettling mine and this is the best advise I can give on this matter.
Good luck guys.0 -
When I saw this topic I hoped that I was going to get lucky and hoped that the Tora lockout worked like my Recon Solo Air fork. But what you describe is completely different to how my Recon damper is unfortunately. Despite a full seal service my lockout still does not work.0
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Depends what the model of fork is.
Toras and Recons can either have the Motion Control damper, or the Turnkey damper.0 -
It's the 09 Recon solo Air SL with turnkey (remote lock). I've search the various years of toras and recons and it seems only the 08-09 recons used my model damper - well at least the damper part number is unique to that fork. I wouldn't know if some dampers are interchangeable between the various model forks.0
