How old is too old for a fork?

I own a 2002 shiver, it is bombproof and super reliable and it hasnt broken at all. The only thing I would worry about is bolts stripping on an older for. Other than that a shiver is a great fork!

Age isn't so much a factor but riding hours is and that can be very difficult to gauge. Are you able to physically inspect the fork for wear/damage?

Check the seals and crown bolts for signs of wear, ask for additional pics if needed. Shiver is an awesome fork! Indestructable, plush, and forgiving. Enduro seals are available, or most moto shops will cary seals and oil since it is derived from the mini bikes. Go with Marzocchi recommended torque and oil levels. Been riding 04 and 05s, only real issue is that I have not found a fork that I like as much, and therefore have not been supporting the suspension companies. You can find the original service manual on Marzocchi's website: http://www.marzocchi.com/template/d...&IdFolder=113&idMY=2146&uf=IU&IdOggetto=2430#

Sounds dangerous to me... better send the fork to me for further testing & seal replacement

I'm riding my '00 or '01 Monster T still, and I got it used with leaky seals as well. I'd say these old 40mm forks are pretty bulletproof, although in one of the "Down" videos (perhaps Third Down?) I recall seeing "Evil Dave" breaking the crowns. On a giant jump where he missed the landing...

Clay

I would most likely not be able to see the fork first, but there were a few pictures. It looked used but not thrashed, just scratches on uppers and a little cable rub. I am glad that the consensus is that I wont die if I get one that old, now I just have to get the money together. Also, the shiver has preload and rebound as its adjustments, no compression?

From what I've seen recently.... I'd feel safer on an old shiver than a new boxxer! But I'm yet to see any fork actually break without it being crashed, its not like people are just riding along and the stanchions suddenly snap. If you nose case a big gap and fly miles over your bars or hit a tree head on going full noise then usually it is a case of broken bike parts being of secondary importance.
As for dialling it in, its old school Marz tuning, all about oil weight and height. Go ride did a very good article when the 888 was new, while the details are all wrong for a shiver the theory is all the same so its a great place to start reading if you are unsure about how your fork works. Then you'll need to find some sort of service guide for the shiver - shouldn't be too hard because that was from a time when Marz were good at supplying such things - suspension forum on here would be a good place to start.
Go - ride articles (some good basic stuff in here) - http://www.go-ride.com/WSWrapper.jsp?mypage=RidingTips.htm