Should you lube the outside of your suspension

PB Forum :: Mechanics' Lounge
Should you lube the outside of your suspension
Author Message
flag brianl
Posted: May 7, 2013 at 11:33 Quote
Quebec2010DH wrote:
unleash wrote:
in my opinion your better of keeping em clean and servicing lower regulary .lubes on the outside seem to attract shite and form some kind of grinding paste .i used to put lube on and still wore the anodizing right off the stanchions

+1 to that. Regular maintenance shouldn't require any outside oil. I used it on a 36 Van non kashima and is slowly rubbed the coating off, as dirt and grime got caught in between the seals and the lowers.. I now run a Kashima 36 Van, with SKF low friction seals, and they are butter smooth.
+2.
Plus, inverting the fork/bike overnight will saturate the foam rings with oil, which should help lube the seals and tubes (from the inside) before riding.
flag maituk
O+
Posted: May 9, 2013 at 22:05 Quote
No. You shouldn't lube the stanchions on your fork. Why all this funky advise? The top oil seal needs to be cleaned and and foam seal saturated with fork oil. After about 50 hours the tablespoon or 2 of oil is used up and fork is dry and allows filth into internals Greasing the stanchion is a shade-tree mechanic way to prolong maintenance that results in fouling foam seal and importing grit into the rubber seal which devours the finish. Its not that you want it wet looking, you want the foam seal wet so it seals. If its dry and you expect lube to make it past the seal you must have no faith in your seal and your logic just proved your effort wrong.
flag superbikes
Posted: May 10, 2013 at 1:51 Quote
maituk wrote:
No. You shouldn't lube the stanchions on your fork. Why all this funky advise? The top oil seal needs to be cleaned and and foam seal saturated with fork oil. After about 50 hours the tablespoon or 2 of oil is used up and fork is dry and allows filth into internals Greasing the stanchion is a shade-tree mechanic way to prolong maintenance that results in fouling foam seal and importing grit into the rubber seal which devours the finish. Its not that you want it wet looking, you want the foam seal wet so it seals. If its dry and you expect lube to make it past the seal you must have no faith in your seal and your logic just proved your effort wrong.
I was advised by top guys at TF to use lube but to put it on run the forks up and down then wipe away . ill stick with TF advise to be honest and THIS http://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=related&v=BWYMTnE7RjY
flag superbikes
Posted: May 10, 2013 at 1:59 Quote
http://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=related&v=BWYMTnE7RjY
flag tylerthegiant
Posted: May 10, 2013 at 10:46 Quote
It actually pulls dirt out of the dust seals so yeah. You wipe Judy butter on compress the fork a bunch then take a paper towel then whipe it down.
flag maituk
O+
Posted: May 10, 2013 at 11:20 Quote
I am twice your senior and a professional engineer. Grease does not pull dirt out of dust seals any more then it pushes it past and into the inner foam seal Grease makes them lose their mass and break down. The dirt you see coming back on stanchion is from your worn out seal. Judy butter is for internal application. There are lots of ways to keep a bike rolling but the right answer to this question is no. Follow your fork maintenance schedule instead of gimping along an abused seal and stroking your stanchions with lube. Seal is engineered for fork oil, not grease. Have you seen inside a fork that was treated the way you suggest?
flag superbikes
Posted: May 10, 2013 at 12:26 Quote
maituk wrote:
I am twice your senior and a professional engineer. Grease does not pull dirt out of dust seals any more then it pushes it past and into the inner foam seal Grease makes them lose their mass and break down. The dirt you see coming back on stanchion is from your worn out seal. Judy butter is for internal application. There are lots of ways to keep a bike rolling but the right answer to this question is no. Follow your fork maintenance schedule instead of gimping along an abused seal and stroking your stanchions with lube. Seal is engineered for fork oil, not grease. Have you seen inside a fork that was treated the way you suggest?
I'm your ageish and that has nothing to do with this point . You maybe a engineer that's great but I've been advised to do this by TF and those guys know their stuff . It has not done any harm . Mabe if your heavy handed then yes it could course problems . Don't mean to be or sound rude on this subject I just disagree with you . Evan top DH riders have this done while bike is in the pits . I think it's just one of those things if you think it does harm then don't bother
flag maituk
O+
Posted: May 10, 2013 at 16:07 Quote
There is room for disagreement here so nothing personal but I've seen it cause significant harm. I prefer to keep foam seals soaked in fork oil and that keeps stanchions lubed like new all the time. That is the best thing to do. If you don't do your maintenance then suboptimal choices ensue. Usually dudes are lubing stanchions because they're dry from disregard. Just trying to encourage best option.
flag superbikes
Posted: May 10, 2013 at 16:09 Quote
maituk wrote:
There is room for disagreement here so nothing personal but I've seen it cause significant harm. I prefer to keep foam seals soaked in fork oil and that keeps stanchions lubed like new all the time. That is the best thing to do. If you don't do your maintenance then suboptimal choices ensue. Usually dudes are lubing stanchions because they're dry from disregard. Just trying to encourage best option.
good stuff
flag tylerthegiant
Posted: May 10, 2013 at 22:55 Quote
maituk wrote:
I am twice your senior and a professional engineer. Grease does not pull dirt out of dust seals any more then it pushes it past and into the inner foam seal Grease makes them lose their mass and break down. The dirt you see coming back on stanchion is from your worn out seal. Judy butter is for internal application. There are lots of ways to keep a bike rolling but the right answer to this question is no. Follow your fork maintenance schedule instead of gimping along an abused seal and stroking your stanchions with lube. Seal is engineered for fork oil, not grease. Have you seen inside a fork that was treated the way you suggest?


kool story bro. guess what? people are paid to fix you mess up. i guess thats why tf and push are around. and are you a suspension engineer
flag tylerthegiant
Posted: May 10, 2013 at 23:06 Quote
oh and tell my second hand xfusion vengeance you shouldn't use grease on it. its a 2011 and never been serviced. its going to in june, little sad it wasnt taken care of. but it was always judy butterd.
flag maituk
O+
Posted: May 11, 2013 at 8:10 Quote
Dude.
You just made my point. No maintenance since 2011? If you run your gear way past maintenance intervals to save money and time it doesn't work. The upper seals on your fork take 15 minutes to clean and oil but if neglected the filth damages internals and complete rebuild eminent. Once the damage is done the rebuild usually doesn't include your guide bushings so fork wears out faster next time. I am not a "suspension" engineer. That would be mechanical engineering. I am a environmental engineer with training in mechanical. I got my first suspension fork in 1990 when I ran a bike shop and have owned over 20 since and performed all my own work. Alaska pushes maintenance schedule so I don't get to slack or the gear fails fast. Your advice is fine for a cockrotter, that's just not me because I love my bicycles.
flag tylerthegiant
Posted: May 11, 2013 at 9:49 Quote
Hmmmm it's weird because every thing works fine in it.
flag maituk
O+
Posted: May 11, 2013 at 12:51 Quote
you're stoked then
My experience riding in muddy conditions much of the time is that the bushings wear and I get play in the fork if I don't maintain foam seal. I wore out a set of bushings on a new bomber in one season of DH and learned my lesson. Now I have 2 more seasons on the fork and zero play still.
flag tylerthegiant
Posted: May 11, 2013 at 13:01 Quote
Sorry sir your older and smarter. But the oil that in there isn't much to stop wear. It's for the dampening part of it. What every you do isn't going to stop the fork from wearing out. Be for I wash my bike I whipe the fork an shock. I have some old 5 inch marzochi that I've never serviced and don't know if it ever has works like a charm. I think it's how you treat your fork. Dh is way hard on every thing. My buddy who use to race dh an ride all summer rebuilt it every season. Just comes down to how you treat things.

 


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