Help with changing fork seals

[aim]

Hi everyone,
I'm trying to change my fork seals because I blew them out last week riding supercross. At this poing, I've have the head off of my fork and am trying to get the nut that holds the plastic spring guide off of the fork. The problem is that the Clymer Manual says to just take the nut off (no problem, right...), but I can't do this because the nut is threaded onto a hollow threaded tube. In other words, I turn the nut and the entire assembly turns. I can't use vice grips to hold onto the threaded end of the tube because I'll hose the threads or disfigure the tube which won't allow me to replace the top of the fork. Does anyone have any ideas about how to get around this problem? I'd really appreciate any help! www.mxintheus.com
Thanks!
Amy

 

[Jeff Gilbert]

What kind of forks or bike do you have?

 

[endosports]

Looks like you ride a Yami.

KYB forks. Hold the cap nut. Pull down the spring and use a 17mm end wrench on the bottom nut. Hold the bottom one and loosen the cap. This should do it.

Do yourself a favor and stay away from using vise grips or channel locks. If you need any more help feel free to email or pm me.

BTW: Cool website, I like the sponser program you got going on good idea. I have a service shop and will have access to donateable items all the time. Please contact me if you are interested.

Brian

 

[aim]

Hey Brian,
We are always in need of donated items. I have someone right now who wrecked and needs a chest protector in a bad way. Lots of other people are looking for everything from clothing to boots, etc. Anything that you would be willing to donate would be extremely helpful. Email me at amy@mxintheus.com and I'll give you an address of where to donate stuff to.

As for the forks, I have a YZ125 and I got the cap off of them easily. It's just the nut that holds the plastic spring guide on that I'm having trouble with. I guess this plastic spring guide has to come off before I can remove the entire rod from the fork. Based on my Clymer Manual, it looks like you pull the rod out from the bottom of the fork. I usually let a shop do my forks, but my husband just lost his job, so money's tight right now. Anyway, forks are the one thing that terrify me when it comes to working on my bike, so I figured I'd better just do them and get over being afraid that I'll ruin them. I do all of the other maintenance myself anyway, why not forks too.
Thanks Again!!!
www.mxintheus.com

 

[endosports]

Aim,

You don't need to remove that part to service the seals. Pull down the dust seal with a screw driver, then remove the snap ring. Once the cap is off and the spring out, heat the outer tube where the seal is with a torch.(don't over do it) Then hold lower tube in your left hand and upper in your right and pop them apart with some a quick pull. There you have it and the seal should pop out and stay on the inner tube. You will need a fork seal driver to install the new one.( you can use a piece of pvc cut down the middle) Make sure all parts are cleaned very good and all the old oil is removed. when yolu put the new fork seal on use a plastic baggie to keep the seal from getting damaged. And there you have it.

Let me know if you knee more help.

 

[aim]

Thanks for all of your help. I really appreciate it! I was able to finally fix my forks. My husband and I just rigged up a system in which we put two nuts together on top of the locknut on the dampner rod. We locked the two nuts together and used them to enable us to get the locknut loose. Once that was taken care of, the rest was cake, well minus trying to get the oil level right without the correct tool (hey straws and a ruler work good for this, it's just time consuming...). After this, I'm not sure why people freak out about servicing their own forks. It was cake and we didn't even have the "special" tools to do the job.