[romphaia]

90psi is low. Transfer ports might be clogged by grease, preventing correct setting of the negative chamber. How long is the visible stanchion? Should be about 1cm more than nominal travel, no more. If you deflate the fork slowly with the button on the shock pump, does it stay up or it sinks?

 

[MarcoITA]

Ordered full service set and tooling. I'll try the skf dual compound will post results and finding. Thanks to all for the input and Suggestions

 

[ehfour]

90psi is low. Transfer ports might be clogged by grease, preventing correct setting of the negative chamber. How long is the visible stanchion? Should be about 1cm more than nominal travel, no more. If you deflate the fork slowly with the button on the shock pump, does it stay up or it sinks?

Thats been mentioned a few times in this thread, but assume he’s missed it, as he’s ordered tools to service the fork?

Forget about the Fox 38 mega thread

https://www.mtbr.com/threads/fox-38-whats-your-setup.1151629/#replies

 

[Curveball]

If all those efforts don't get it to perform as you want, then you might consider the new version Lift damper from MRP.

 

[MarcoITA]

Thats been mentioned a few times in this thread, but assume he’s missed it, as he’s ordered tools to service the fork?

Forget about the Fox 38 mega thread

https://www.mtbr.com/threads/fox-38-whats-your-setup.1151629/#replies

Porting look ok the fork is able to balance the 2 chambers. I'm making now full service, never serviced the air spring in the last year and will check bushing tolerance

 

[SirMeatPants]

+1 for mrp V2 Lift.

I've got two buddies whom have gotten Fox to warranty the fork for this exact issue on new 38 gripX2. 1 dude said his new warranty fork was exactly the s ame, other fella is still waiting.

 

[ehfour]

+1 for mrp V2 Lift.

I've got two buddies whom have gotten Fox to warranty the fork for this exact issue on new 38 gripX2. 1 dude said his new warranty fork was exactly the s ame, other fella is still waiting.

What was the issue they had? no compression? no rebound?

 

[SirMeatPants]

What was the issue they had? no compression? no rebound?

Both compression and rebound adjustments resulted in no noticeable change. Rebound especially being really slow.

 

[ehfour]

Both compression and rebound adjustments resulted in no noticeable change. Rebound especially being really slow.

Crazy- were they OEM builds? or off the shelf buys? I wonder what Tunes they had

 

[SirMeatPants]

Crazy- were they OEM builds? or off the shelf buys? I wonder what Tunes they had

Both were direct from Fox to replace older 38 Grip2 forks.

 

[Curveball]

+1 for mrp V2 Lift.

I've got two buddies whom have gotten Fox to warranty the fork for this exact issue on new 38 gripX2. 1 dude said his new warranty fork was exactly the s ame, other fella is still waiting.

Of course, I would resolve any spring or chassis issues first, but if that doesn't make it all good, then the Lift is a very nice upgrade. The V1 in my 38 made a very positive difference.

 

[Muttonchops]

Damn this post resonates. Came here for this. Hope I'm not derailing but adding to the conversation!

I have a similar issue. It's hard to describe why I don't enjoy my 38 (2023 GRIP X / 170) but it just feels wrong. I haven't even enjoyed riding the bike that I built up with it. After a year of messing around with tokens / air and settings (I even got a coil for the rear because I thought it was the bike I wasn't getting along with) I threw a 36 on the bike and instantly felt comfortable. I even went back to the air shock and I now love the bike.

Regarding the fork - I never really trusted the front end. I can't say if It was harsh or what but I felt like couldn't get over it and ride the front of the bike. Played with stack / sag etc. It just never felt right. When I threw the 36 on it was like I was home. I will probably leave the 36 for local riding as I have a lot of technical climbing trails that are better on the 36 and fine on the DH.

For certain rides / trips (North to CA) I would like to have a 38.

So my options are :
1. Get a custom local service and ask the tech to do whatever to make it better (I trust his work).
2. Sell and get a new 38 with the new damper
3. Get a lyft v2 damper.

Thoughts?

Thanks.

 

[sandman1111]

Damn this post resonates. Came here for this. Hope I'm not derailing but adding to the conversation!

I have a similar issue. It's hard to describe why I don't enjoy my 38 (2023 GRIP X / 170) but it just feels wrong. I haven't even enjoyed riding the bike that I built up with it. After a year of messing around with tokens / air and settings (I even got a coil for the rear because I thought it was the bike I wasn't getting along with) I threw a 36 on the bike and instantly felt comfortable. I even went back to the air shock and I now love the bike.

Regarding the fork - I never really trusted the front end. I can't say if It was harsh or what but I felt like couldn't get over it and ride the front of the bike. Played with stack / sag etc. It just never felt right. When I threw the 36 on it was like I was home. I will probably leave the 36 for local riding as I have a lot of technical climbing trails that are better on the 36 and fine on the DH.

For certain rides / trips (North to CA) I would like to have a 38.

So my options are :
1. Get a custom local service and ask the tech to do whatever to make it better (I trust his work).
2. Sell and get a new 38 with the new damper
3. Get a lyft v2 damper.

Thoughts?

Thanks.

Well. You got a tech who you trust. Why are you posting here and not talking to him?

If he is any good, he will have a look and tell you it is crooked or fix it. Probably has too much stiction and no new damper will fix it.

 

[Muttonchops]

Well. You got a tech who you trust. Why are you posting here and not talking to him?

If he is any good, he will have a look and tell you it is crooked or fix it. Probably has too much stiction and no new damper will fix it.

Waiting for him to get back to me after the weekend and appreciate the ideas and info of people on the forum

Thanks

 

[Curveball]

Probably has too much stiction and no new damper will fix it.

A well-designed damper can really transform a fork's performance. I agree that the best damper ever made won't do much if there are existing chassis issues such as stiction. I think it's always a good idea to address spring and bushing issues first before going into the damper. Otherwise, you could end up spending some good money on a new damper without gaining any performance increase from it.

 

[naturaltalent]

^^This. Solve friction problems first. Burnish that thing and its unlikely you'll even want those "upgrades" afterwards. Fox has a great air spring design on their 38's, I always find its best to run no volume spacers and use higher psi. Coil conversion is the next best move after reducing chassis friction to get rid of air spring friction.

 

[MarcoITA]

So, today I could finally open the fork for servicing. After the service it runs much smoother. Just to complete the scenario below usage data:

• running time : 120h
• riding condition: muddy winter
• air spring coming from fox assembly line (never serviced)

Findings:

• both air spring and damper quite sticky
• air spring had huge amount a grease on the lower as reported from many
• damper oil viscosity was quite changed and colored
• bushing quite tight, but acceptable

Service actions done:

• full air spring rebuild
• oil change into damper (motul 2.5w)
• dust wiper changed with dual compound skf
• lower oil on spring side, supergliss 100k

 

[Bikesair]

So, today I could finally open the fork for servicing. After the service it runs much smoother. Just to complete the scenario below usage data:

• running time : 120h
• riding condition: muddy winter
• air spring coming from fox assembly line (never serviced)

Findings:

• both air spring and damper quite sticky
• air spring had huge amount a grease on the lower as reported from many
• damper oil viscosity was quite changed and colored
• bushing quite tight, but acceptable

Service actions done:

• full air spring rebuild
• oil change into damper (motul 2.5w)
• dust wiper changed with dual compound skf
• lower oil on spring side, supergliss 100k

Very nice. I think a lot of users would benefit from the service you just did to your Fox fork.

Fox makes great stuff, but their factory assembly is kinda shoddy and it's a darn shame because it really devalues their whole brand.

I've found that after a quick lowers service, and opening up that air spring and replacing all the assembly grease with a bit of Fox Gold 20wt, any Fox fork feels noticably better. I wish more people would do this more often.

 

[Mtbmandan]

So, today I could finally open the fork for servicing. After the service it runs much smoother.

Thanks for sharing! Also if anyone else is reading this, I recently "serviced" the air spring in my 38. Didn't change any seals, oil looked clean, probably less than 40 hours on the fork. Just cleaned the extra grease out that was mostly on the positive side for me (I'd guess about 1 volume spacer equivalent), but some extra in the negative as well.
I didn't have complaints about small bump before, but it did feel too progressive and also not poppy enough (probably cause I had lowered pressure to partly account for the extreme progression).
I was worried I didn't find enough extra grease that I'd really feel it on reassembly, but sure enough it was immediately noticeable! Ran an extra 5-10psi, used more travel, felt more support, and got some pop back! Went from being a ok/decent fork to great fork for me!
I was considering trying the noken before, but I'm happy now. Would definitely recommend to anyone, even if it's one of the more annoying air springs to service out there.

 

[Muttonchops]

Very nice. I think a lot of users would benefit from the service you just did to your Fox fork.

Fox makes great stuff, but their factory assembly is kinda shoddy and it's a darn shame because it really devalues their whole brand.

I've found that after a quick lowers service, and opening up that air spring and replacing all the assembly grease with a bit of Fox Gold 20wt, any Fox fork feels noticably better. I wish more people would do this more often.

Thanks to tge folks who nudged me to get this done. And like the post above i highly recomend a quick lowers service to anyone with a new fork.

My 2024 38 grip2 felt like crap for a year. I didn't even enjoy riding that bike until I threw a 36 on it and decided my issues were the fork and not the bike.

I finally decided to give it a service and see if it made a difference. Definitely lacking oil in the damper side. Maybe 1/2 as much oil as recommended. A removed a ton of grease from the air chamber and ran a Clean rag through the lowers. That's all. 30 mins. Yday was my first ride and it was unbelievable what a difference it made. I set sag and all dials to "basic settings" and didn't change a thing all day. Hit a drop i hadn't hit in two yrs.

Thanks to all those who have contributed. Stoked

Cheers