[synkronized23]

this guy has a problem with his fork, but he says that's the only thing wrong with it. here's what he said:

"there is something wrong with the right damper i believe. im pretty sure you just need to replace the whole cartride, it shouldnt be that much from fox and will be very easy to install. it pretty much just has alot of stiction and i replaced the seals as well as oil so yeah its the damper im almost positive"

do you think his diagnosis is right, and that just replacing the damper cartridge will do the trick? also, does anyone know how much one of these cartridges will cost?

 

[Ottoreni]

Ummm

I don't know about the stiction damper problem, but I do have a used R damper cartridge if you are interested. It is in perfect working order.

 

[synkronized23]

I don't know about the stiction damper problem, but I do have a used R damper cartridge if you are interested. It is in perfect working order.

how much?

 

[DGC]

not convinced

this guy has a problem with his fork, but he says that's the only thing wrong with it. here's what he said:

"there is something wrong with the right damper i believe. im pretty sure you just need to replace the whole cartride, it shouldnt be that much from fox and will be very easy to install. it pretty much just has alot of stiction and i replaced the seals as well as oil so yeah its the damper im almost positive"

do you think his diagnosis is right, and that just replacing the damper cartridge will do the trick? also, does anyone know how much one of these cartridges will cost?

I've been inside the Fox forks many hundreds of times. If this stiction happened only right after the seal/oil rebuild, then it sounds like sometime was done wrong during re-assembly.

Could be any number of things without seeing it. I have quite a long list to choose from. But.......if you replaced the seals with Fox seals and foam rings, it is possible the foam ring got pinched between the bushings and stancion legs, I have seen it 3 times on Fox fork now. Very common on a Rock Shox Sid. Could be seal install, could be oil etc.
First thing I would suggest, is open both legs top caps, get them dis-connected from the top of the legs. Then see how easy it is to cycle the lowers up and down. See what that tells you.

 

[synkronized23]

Thanks for the response. Well, my situation is that someone is trying to sell me this fork in this condition. Are you positive that it can be fixed when I receive it by checking for these things? I might be able to get it at a great price if this is all you think is wrong. Is there any chance that there might be a bigger problem that might make the fork useless or permanently damaged?

I've been inside the Fox forks many hundreds of times. If this stiction happened only right after the seal/oil rebuild, then it sounds like sometime was done wrong during re-assembly.

Could be any number of things without seeing it. I have quite a long list to choose from. But.......if you replaced the seals with Fox seals and foam rings, it is possible the foam ring got pinched between the bushings and stancion legs, I have seen it 3 times on Fox fork now. Very common on a Rock Shox Sid. Could be seal install, could be oil etc.
First thing I would suggest, is open both legs top caps, get them dis-connected from the top of the legs. Then see how easy it is to cycle the lowers up and down. See what that tells you.

 

[DGC]

no guarantees

Thanks for the response. Well, my situation is that someone is trying to sell me this fork in this condition. Are you positive that it can be fixed when I receive it by checking for these things? I might be able to get it at a great price if this is all you think is wrong. Is there any chance that there might be a bigger problem that might make the fork useless or permanently damaged?

I personally would never buy a fork from anyone in a damaged state ......Without seeing the fork, I wont say I am positive about anything, sorry. Fox would probably tell you about the same thing, they have to see it first to make any decision about what is wrong and what it would cost to repair.
If someone is selling you a fork in this condition, it could be bent and have serious internal binding going on causing stiction. So now who really knows what is wrong or how bad it is. If your going to take a chance on buying a used fork in any condition below a good rating, good luck to you. It might be something simple, or if its bent then the fork is toast.
Take it to a shop and have them just look at it for 5 seconds, and they should be able to tell you how bad it MIGHT be......

 

[Ottoreni]

Sorry for the Delay

Sorry it took so long to get back, but I was trying to fix my Vanilla that I bought used. It had rebound issues according to the seller on Ebay. Hence when I bought the fork it was based purely on the great price he was selling it at. When I also saw a like new dampening cartridge on Ebay I scooped it up, for $20. I thought I was not going to need to use it, thats why I made you the offer, but last night I finally got to the bottom of the issues my Ebay fork had. I'll summmarize for you because I think some of these might apply for your situation.

1) I bought the fork used on Ebay. The seller was up front about the rebound issues, but claimed he did not know why.

2) When I got the fork, it had basically no oil inside. I cleaned it, reassembled it, but the top cap on the dampening cartridge side was really hard to screw in. I noticed one of the extra springs he had sent me was 200mm, the other two were 240mm. When I compared it to Vanilla I had bought new 2 years ago, it does take the shorter spring on the dampening side rod.

3) Next I had to find a way to get the spring off the rod and put the correct spring on. I asked on this message board and my LBS, but no answers. I was planning to resell the whole fork on Ebay.

4) Finally, last night I was doing a search on Vanilla Lockout Levers, and someone explained you can disassemble the cartridge side by the screw on the bottom. Success!

5) I ended up using the dampening rod/cartridge I bought on Ebay because it felt smoother than the one that had the too long spring. Who knows how long my "honest" seller had been using the fork with the 240mm spring.

Now I have a sweet Vanilla that cost me 125 for the fork + 20 for a like new dampening rod/cartridge + lots of frustration = $145, but I know the Vanilla internal workings a whole lot better!

I have become much more knowledgeable on the internal workings of the Vanilla. I was really able to see how the hydraulic lockout works.

As for your situation, how well do you know the seller? Mine was not to up front about what had happened to his fork. I find difficult to believe you change the springs on the fork, but don't remember doing it. As for the cartridge, contact Fox first and find out how much it would cost you. I know there replacement parts can be pricey. I once looked into getting a new steerer tube, but you have to get a whole new upper assembly for $150, so I can see fox charging close to $100 or more for a new cartridge, but this is purely a guess.
As someone else suggested, take it to your LBS and have them give it a look.

Good Luck!