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Unable to separate fork!

  • Thread starter Thread starter oblique
  • Start date Start date
O

oblique

Guest
I cannot for the life of me get one of my forks apart!

Took off forks cap, removed springs, drained oil, removed dust cap, removed circlip, removed fork bolt, removed damper rod.

Tried repeatedly to separate leg from stanchion to no avail. Even tried standing on the axle with both feet as I pulled up - the seal wont budge. I noticed that the oil seal is installed upside down but would this cause the seizure?

Im out of options. :confused:
 
wrap it in rags or use a piece of wood on each side and lock it in a vice very tightly. Grab the lower and jack it like you would a slide hammer..it will come apart. be sure to remove the retainer clip at the top of the seal....sits in a groove to retain the seals and spacers.
 
chuck hahn said:
wrap it in rags or use a piece of wood on each side and lock it in a vice very tightly. Grab the lower and jack it like you would a slide hammer..it will come apart. be sure to remove the retainer clip at the top of the seal....sits in a groove to retain the seals and spacers.
Click to expand...

+1

If you have a vice with soft jaws (aluminium) you can lock the caliper mounts in the vice and slide the stanchion back and forth. Sometimes they are tough, but it will come out.
 
The problem is that Im working inside my apartment and the vice is fairly light and mounted to a rather thin table.

Is there any way to jack these apart? I tried using a bottle jack to jack the lip of the stanchion but the leg just kept sliding against the wood I had in the vice.

Also after all this sliding back and forth I can feel slight scraping when I top out the fork leg.
 
What about the retainer clip and washer thats right on top of the seals??? You never mentioned that yet. IF you have everything out ( and you did mention the bolt from the bottom was out ) then it shouldnt take Herculean force..just a few good quick slaps.
 
Don't need the vice, just hold one end in one hand, the other in the other hand, slam the two pieces apart. Asuming you have the retainer out as Chuck says.
 
The retainers been out since day 1. I've been slamming these 2 against each other repeatedly and the fork seal has not moved a millimeter above the retainer groove.

The other fork was a piece of cake and came out like any other I've done.
 
There's nothing holding it in apart from the seal. You probably need to get the lower into a solid vice so you can get the right amount of force into sliding the stanchion.

Be patient.
 
OK then...,the rubber has sealed itself to the lower and its stuck.heat it up with a torch or above the stove burner till its pretty warm to the touch but not so hot it starts to discolor the metal...should pop right off. The heat will soften the seals rubber and release it.
 
Burn the seal out with a propane torch and it will come right apart.
 
On really stubborn ones I put the tube back in the triple clamp and then do the side hammer bit with the lower. You get a lot more force that way compared to just having them in your hands.
 
I've the triples off the bike but I will give it another shot with some heat and my vice.
 
It's done!

The recipe: plenty of heat, triple tree stopper, a vice, and some brutal force.

vfvh.jpg


wpld.jpg
 
Did you still hgave the seals and clip in the bottoms? my bad thought I saw a clip in there.
 
Last edited:
Yep, good eye, the circlip is still there. :eek: Never seen anyone force it past the clip before.

No wonder it was stuck. :D
 
I wonder if he left the clip in the other one.....

I hope it was just this one that he forgot to remove it and the other one he actually removed it....

.
 
GateKeeper said:
I wonder if he left the clip in the other one.....

I hope it was just this one that he forgot to remove it and the other one he actually removed it....

.
Click to expand...


:dancing: Hey "he's" right here.

There is no circlip. Its a retainer clip holding the seal which was removed. What you are seeing is the top of a burnt oil seal. The two little holes are a coincidence. The bent 'circlip' that came out is the washer that sits between the bushing and oil seal.

I thought you guys are supposed to know something about fork anatomy.
 
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