Originally posted by dsndblm
I need to replace the fork seals on my 88 KDX. I have qoutes from a couple of shops for around $200.00. I was thinking of buying the tools and doing it myself. Has anyone done them before? Am I better off having a shop do them?
gwhII said:The first time you do them, you probably won't save any money depending on what tools you buy. I tore my forks down when I did the gold valves and I replaced the all the bushings and the seals. The cost of the seals and bushings was about $70. My bike's an '03 so the tools and parts are probably a little different and checking in a shop manual will tell you what you need.
Special tools I absolutely needed were a cartridge holder which can be either fabbed or bought and I used a double-nutted 9/16" Grade8 bolt to undo the cartridge. The expensive tools for me that made my life easier were a seal driver ~$60 which I justified because I have a couple bikes that have 43mm forks and a fork oil measurement tool ~$50. The seal driver probably could be substituted with some kind of PVC pipe. The fork oil tool can be fabbed if you look at www.dirtrider.net/justkdx tools. I'd also suggest soft jaws in your vise so that the sliders don't get messed up. All together, I would have around $200 in specialty tools and parts if I was just looking at seals.
Do a search on forks and you'll find a lot of information.
Best,
Greg
dsndblm said:Greg
Could you explain how you undo the cartridge? I have an idea but am not sure how the 9/16 bolt works with the metric threads on the cartridge. I am a trained mechanic and have access to a machine shop. I can fabricate the tools, just need some help getting a clear picture of what I need to do.
Thanks in advance!
David