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Pike RCT3 Squelch

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flag jenksy
O+ FL
Posted: Nov 12, 2015 at 14:53 Quote
Evening,

I've got a set of 2014 Pike RCT3 27.5" 160mm that are about a year old now.

They've had a heavy year and well over the recommended 50/100hours so have developed a squelch. I've serviced the lowers a couple of times throughout (although i didn't change the wiper seals) and although a lot smoother afterwards the squelch hasn't gone away. What do I need to redress next, charge damper or air spring or just new wiper seals??

There's lots online about servicing the lowers and installing tokens but other than the SRAM manual nothing for servicing the uppers on a set of pikes. It looks pretty involved on the charge damper side but has anyone tried this themselves?

Bit of a newbie on this so apologies.

Cheers,

Tom
flag DavidSA
O+
Posted: Nov 13, 2015 at 4:54 Quote
Tom,
You certainly do need to change your wipers and foam rings at this point.
I usually keep mine through one lowers service cycle and clean them thoroughly at that point but after a year, even if you are only riding two days a week, you need to install new ones.
The Charger is really nice because it's a fully sealed cartridge and runs synthetic oil so it only needs service when the performance drops off. If you drop the lowers, you can cycle the damper shaft in all three settings and if it feels the way you want it to, there is no need to bleed or service the cartridge.
I do always service the air piston (clean and re-greae the air piston seal) when my forks are apart. All this involves is dropping the lowers, removing the c-clip at the bottom of the spring side stanchion tube, and pulling the air shaft down the remove the assembly.
Otherwise, just make sure you are using the correct 0W-30 RockShox oil for the lowers lubrication and make sure that the quantity is correct. The fork uses a very low amount of oil (especially on the damper side – 5cc.) which makes adhering to the recommended service interval even that more important.
These are not the days of Marzo Z1s when the fork ran a liter of oil and you could run them for years without service!
Send me a PM if you have any questions.
Cheers!
-D
flag jenksy
O+ FL
Posted: Nov 13, 2015 at 5:15 Quote
DavidSA wrote:
Tom,
You certainly do need to change your wipers and foam rings at this point.
I usually keep mine through one lowers service cycle and clean them thoroughly at that point but after a year, even if you are only riding two days a week, you need to install new ones.
The Charger is really nice because it's a fully sealed cartridge and runs synthetic oil so it only needs service when the performance drops off. If you drop the lowers, you can cycle the damper shaft in all three settings and if it feels the way you want it to, there is no need to bleed or service the cartridge.
I do always service the air piston (clean and re-greae the air piston seal) when my forks are apart. All this involves is dropping the lowers, removing the c-clip at the bottom of the spring side stanchion tube, and pulling the air shaft down the remove the assembly.
Otherwise, just make sure you are using the correct 0W-30 RockShox oil for the lowers lubrication and make sure that the quantity is correct. The fork uses a very low amount of oil (especially on the damper side – 5cc.) which makes adhering to the recommended service interval even that more important.
These are not the days of Marzo Z1s when the fork ran a liter of oil and you could run them for years without service!
Send me a PM if you have any questions.
Cheers!
-D

Great, thanks David.

Just one question then since you mentioned fluid quantities. There are a bunch of guides out there that all say 5ml on non-drive side and 15ml on the drive side (http://enduro-mtb.com/en/how-to-lower-leg-replacement-on-a-rockshox-pike/)

There are 2 SRAM service manuals though...and revision D says 10ml in both legs, what am I missing!?

https://www.sram.com/sites/default/files/techdocs/gen_0000000004461_rev_b_2014_-_present_pike.pdf

https://sram-cdn-pull-zone-gsdesign.netdna-ssl.com/cdn/farfuture/bCYfrm-SsKAKdqyBg3VNrDkLO-yUdvLXvQh5oLdTNvE/mtime:1441832446/sites/default/files/techdocs/gen_0000000004461_rev_d_2014_-_present_pike.pdf
flag DavidSA
O+
Posted: Nov 13, 2015 at 5:28 Quote
I have only ever seen 15 cc on the spring side and 5 cc on the damper side.
That revision is new. I just did a lowers service 2 days ago on my newest 20 hour old 2016 Pike and the footnut on the damper side is still engraved with "5 cc Max"
My personal procedure is to soak the foam rings in oil before I install them (probably 5 cc just in that) and THEN add the specified amount. I have not had any issues with this.
I would go to 10 cc in the damper side if SRAM says it's ok but I would have a hard time going below 15 cc for the spring side under any circumstances because I've been running my Pikes with that amount for three years with no issues. There is plenty of space for oil in the spring side lowers.

-D
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