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I serviced my RS fork but forgot to add SRAM butter to the seal, am I toast?

2105 Views 9 Replies 8 Participants Last post by  btsjeff
I’m assuming I gotta crack it back open and add grease inside, right?
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It's lubricant for the air spring rubber seals (was assuming airspring seals).

If you didn't put any on them, it will be sticky and have lots of friction that will turn into heat and chew out the seals.
I'm assuming you're talking about the dust wiper seal right? I don't think it's critical. My last couple Fox forks didn't have grease on the wiper seals and they were fine and felt good. I added some when I did pull the lowers off though.

You could always get some of that lubricant oil specifically for wiper seals if you're worried.
I'm assuming you're talking about the dust wiper seal right? I don't think it's critical. My last couple Fox forks didn't have grease on the wiper seals and they were fine and felt good. I added some when I did pull the lowers off though.

You could always get some of that lubricant oil specifically for wiper seals if you're worried.
Good point, I hadn't thought about wiper seals. I was just assuming airspring seals.
Somewhere I saw a guy showing how to add grease into the pocket in the wiper seal without taking apart the fork. So I know it is possible in theory, but I've never done it myself. Sorry I don't know where I saw that.
flanged seals are easy to pop up and add grease. (Tape covered flat blade) Flangeless not so much as you can press them in too far...flangeless seals are stupid and therefore adopted as industry standard to make things harder for the consumer...

If it starts feeling notchy add grease, if it's fine, don't worry. The old Marzocchi forks which had a secondary oil seal rather than a foam ring really needed to be packed with grease. Most air forks now just have the dust seal and foam ring, not sure how long the grease stays beneficial before it's diluted.
...old Marzocchi forks which had a secondary oil seal rather than a foam ring really needed to be packed with grease. Most air forks now just have the dust seal and foam ring, not sure how long the grease stays beneficial before it's diluted.
I agree. When I put grease on the dust seals, I usually end up thinking "I'm not sure this will make a difference, but everyone else does it so I will."
I'd peel back the lip of the seal with a plastic tool or even a zip tie and go around the stanchion blobbing some in.
You are dry toast without butter !
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