Fox Offers Fork Top-Cap Sockets and Seal Drivers
Top-Cap Sockets: Made of 7000 series aluminum, the 6-point socket has no lead-in chamfer and a low-profile design for a precision fit that minimizes scarring. They feature external knurling to increase finger grip and a durable anodized and laser etched finish. Top cap sockets are $25 each
Seal Drivers: The Delrin seal drivers match all of our seal sizes: 32mm, 34mm, 36mm, and 40mm. Centering off the upper bushing, they guide the seal in straight for a perfect install every time. Seal drivers are $30 each.
Purchase yours at Fox Racing Shox
MENTIONS: @foxracingshox
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Lame...
Does anyone know, is it possible to home service the FIT damper?
"Could I reasonably have made this in my high school shop class for equal or lesser cost"
Items like this fall into that category. If they were $30 for a set I wouldn't baulk but it's outrageous when you realise that you could turn this shit on a lathe in minutes with a few dollars worth of raw material - never mind the fact this shit would be mass produced, further lowering the cost.
m.uniortools.com/?doc=29340&prod=303751&lang=ang
Also machined wrenches for top fork cap with two sizes ! 12$
www.ebay.com/itm/252011535057
www.ridefox.com/help.php?m=bike&ref=bc_help
FIT dampers are sealed so you will need to bleed it. To disassemble the damper you will probably need a specific vice block. If you read the service instructions for your particular damper, you will see all the special tools you need. You can usually order them (as well as complete seal kits) from well stocked online retailers.
If you don't want to fork over the cash for a seal driver you can use a carefully picked piece of PVC pipe. Obviously this method will lack any sort of alignment so it will take 30 minutes with a rubber mallet and a bit of luck but you don't *need* a seal driver. For that matter you can get your air top cap off with an adjustable wrench, just be careful you don't knacker the fork upper.
Edit: Also, bleeding suspension dampers is not nearly as difficult as it sounds. Easier than brakes IMO.
Kind of like a Shimano bleed kit in Canada...the funnel and stopper is $14, if you want the complete kit you get to pay another $30 for a $1 syringe, 30 cents worth of rubber tubing and a plastic hose clamp. The bike industry is a blood sucking parasite.
I've had rockshox and marzocchi DBC dampers open before, but never a bladder damper. The 2015 36 RC2 is a bladder damper, yes?
In your opinion, will a damper service make a noticeable difference, or is it mostly about the large diameter seals in the legs and air spring?
Servicing lowers will probably make a big difference. When fork seals go bad they can create huge amounts of drag, dramatically increasing stiction. Low friction fork seals like those available from SKF will make a noticeable difference, but stock replacements are always a good bet. If you haven't changed the oil in your lowers, you will get a feel for how needed that is when you see the color of the oil you drain. Lower oil primarily keeps the bushings lubricated.
I don't have a FIT damper so I'm not an expert. I have serviced a shock damper which is a sealed system and it was no trouble in any way - you just need to make sure you have all the proper tools. Also have a compatible torque wrench if your damper uses shims. You will need to make sure the locknut (or whatever your damper has) is tightened to the right spec for the shim springs to behave properly.
Buddy, it was all pinkbike sarcastism... I can't help but get it out of my mind
Beside, if they really make a kashima coated socket and if i really buying them, it'll b just a decoration in the showroom; I'll use socket from harbor freight or eBay
For the sockets, I'll stick with the Lunar Tools wrenches. They are cheap(er), work and don't have to worry about having the wrench.
Go ahead and buy your $10 socket. Spend 45 minutes messing with it. Then destroy your top cap and have to pay a shop to order a new one and fix it for you... spend $150 and have some down time instead of just spending $30. LOL!
Don't know about you but I make a lot more than the $20 an hour I'd be saving to risk damaging my fork.
Right tool for the job. Any mechanic will tell you the same thing. That's why real mechanics have $15-30k tool boxes and most people struggle to drop $300-500.
www.epicbleedsolutions.com/products/tools/flat-socket-spanner-fox-forks
Aluminum not steel. Laser etched. Anodized. Much much lower quantity than the mass produced lowes and sears brands... etc etc.
Compare these to the larger sized higher end products. Abbeys are $45-55. Fastenal sells 32mm aluminum sockets for $115. Snap-on 32mm sockets are $50-65. Mac's are $40 and they're shitty.
Even the store bought crappy ones run $8-12 for larger sizes. And they're huge pieces of steel that you have then turn around and spend time to modify. You can buy a store brand and machine it down but not everyone has the skill or tools to do that. And for me... my time is worth more to me. I'd rather be doing other shit.
I love that people jump on and make these claims with absolutely no idea how pricing works.