RockShox Revelation RL Dual Air 2011 Full Service

tom_dot_com
tom_dot_com Posts: 13
in MTB workshop & tech
Hi!
I've had my Ragley Blue Pig about 10 years (mostly just XC on it) and never serviced the forks. I want to do a big service on them before a trip to the Peak District.
The lockout has stopped working, as the o-ring under the knob has perished, apart from that they still run ok.
I've bought both 5wt and 15wt oils and a huge pot of Sticky Honey.
I've also ordered THIS SERVICE KIT (11.4015.406.000) as per the code in the RockShox manual.
The advert states "does not include main fork seals or wipers"
Are main fork seals and wipers normal parts to replace in a big service?

Comments

  • mully79
    mully79 Posts: 904
    O ring is probably not the cause of the lockout not working. The damper may be broken.
    Kind of the problem with leaving it ten years between services is you might find everything’s broke when you strip them but what to have on hand when you strip them.

    You have enough bits to get away with rebuilding them and it will be good practise if you find later you need to replace the main fork wiper seals.
  • tom_dot_com
    tom_dot_com Posts: 13
    Thanks. I'll just stick with replacing all the bits in that kit for now then.
    I think if I can get them back to a good state of health now, I definitely wont be leaving it another 10 years before the next service :#
  • steve_sordy
    steve_sordy Posts: 2,454
    In my opinion, fork seals and wipers are essential bits for a service. They are what keeps the muck out and the oil in.
  • tom_dot_com
    tom_dot_com Posts: 13
    Right, so I've started stripping the forks down and have found a bit of an oddity. The drive side main fork seal has a single metal retaining ring around it, but when I removed the non-drive side, two metal rings popped out. The seals appear identical so I'm not sure where exactly this was seated, or why this second ring was in the fork. Any ideas? The manual seems to show both sides should be the same.

  • mully79
    mully79 Posts: 904
    The metal rings usually sit around the outside of a seal to provide an even amount of compression around the seal. I cant see the ring in the techmical manual but
    https://www.servicearchive.sram.com/sites/default/files/techdocs/2011-revelation-technical-manual.pdf
    there may be a black oil seal which would probably also include a metal ring.

    These are different seals but you can just about see the metal ring in the black seal on the right.
    https://www.runandride.co.uk/components/forks-shocks/rockshox-dust-seal-and-oil-seal-kit-for-35mm-domain-lyrik-froks__2505
  • tom_dot_com
    tom_dot_com Posts: 13
    I saw in the service manual that some forks have black oil rings, but these didn't. I have assembled them with one for now, as I really can't see where this would go. :sweat_smile:https://servicearchive.sram.com/sites/default/files/techdocs/2011-revelation-technical-manual.pdf
  • tom_dot_com
    tom_dot_com Posts: 13
    Update: Just finished the full service, pumped the positive valve up to pressure, fine, then pumped the negative valve up and the non-drive side seal popped out. So it looks like that second metal o-ring does belong somewhere around the main non-drive side seal after all. I'll update this when I get the chance to strip them down again and figure out where that o-ring belongs.

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