Fox servicing

HenryTheHoover

Afternoon Gents.

I am somewhere around 60 hrs runtime on my Anthem. Having ridden fully Ridgid previously it's my first foray into suspension servicing. I have a Fox float 32 performance fork and a Fox performance shock ( with boost valve ) .

I have already done a complete strip, clean and rebuild of the forks once. The guy I Spoke to at Mojo told me I shouldn't really need to put new seals / wipers in every 30hrs and to wait until a full service as long as they are maintained properly.

So far I haven't touched the shock. It is holding pressure fine and seems active. I am considering getting it push tuned at its full service because I think I am a bit heavy for the tune and can sometimes feel too much give when the boost valve kicks in. The push tune will replace the boost valve with a shim stack which seems to make sense.

So my questions are:
1. Does it seem reasonable, like mojo have suggested, to run the same seals/ wipers for a year ( given they will be stripped and cleaned regularily )

2. What sort of realistic servicing schedual should I be doing on my rear shock?

3. Is it worth swapping out the seals in the rear shock in between full services if it's holding pressure and not sticking? Or will a decent clean, grease and oil suffice. ( Due to the shock being upside down My thinking is it is Unlikely the seals will dry out)

4. Am I barking up the right tree r.e. The Push tune or is it worth considering an alternative? For example I could get the tune upped from Medium to Hard ( Mojo say I am right at the top end of a medium tune ) I am currently 220 lbs fully kitted out but really need to get down to 200 which might be relevant here.

Any input appreciated, Ta.

cooldad

I would listen to Mojo. I have RS and Magura forks, but my Fox shock has had three home services in six years and works perfectly.
What I would have spent on 'recommended' services would buy me a couple of new shocks.

rockmonkeysc

Reusing fork seals is fine. Just give them a good clean, grease the dust seals and soak the foam seals in oil before refitting.
Sounds like a tune would work for you. TF Tuned would be my choice for PUSH tuning.
I only ever serviced my Fox shocks once a year and did it myself.

Herdwick

I would trust mojo as well, I did not use their services so far but I spoke on the phone with one of their guys and was really helpfull and thourough on how to solve a specific problem.

With your weight I would recomend to use a thicker oil on the fox float 32, is a crappy fork, flexy and prone to dive to much and the heavier the rider the worst still!!!
I used motorex w10 fork oil in a fox 34 o/c damper and now the dampening is more consistent and smooth with out diving much, which helped to set the fork

Herdwick

Also I always use the dust seals until fall apart, new seals cause a lot of stinction and hinders forks performance by the time they bed in new service is due and you never going to get it to work ok

rockmonkeysc

Mojo don't do PUSH tuning.
Using a heavier oil isn't the way to tune for a heavier rider, it will ruin the damping.

Herdwick

as far as the o/c damper fox uses is the only cheap way, actualy on open setting there is no dampening at all to ruin, if you use a slightly heavier oil will work better in all conditions,

rockmonkeysc

If there's no damping then how will a heavier damping oil help?

Herdwick

the heavier oil will do

HenryTheHoover

R.e. The forks I swapped to using fox 20wt gold oil on my first service. It's all still a steep learning curve for me but in hindsight I should have serviced them on purchase of the bike. Basically because I now think the seals dry out when bikes are stored.

Bar the sealed FiT damper I have stripped and slick greased every seal/ wiper. I have also experimented with reducing the amount of float fluid from 5 ml to 2 ml in the air chamber to increase air volume to see if I get closer to full travel. Considering one of the main selling points of the Anthem SX is an extra 20mm travel upfront it is a bit frustrating that, in reality, it is more like a decent 100mm fork and a 20mm spacer.

The above is all based on the Trail setting which seems a bit poor over small bumps but fairly good when pushed harder. I had previously given up on Descend mode due to brake dive. I think maybe the ideal might be somewhere in between.

I don't get the time I would like to ride and really appreciate the input, Thanks for taking the time to add your thoughts







D