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Rock shox suspension oil substitutes?

65768 Views 20 Replies 17 Participants Last post by ang, May 11, 2015

Ripzalot

Discussion Starter · Jun 20, 2006

Can I substitute 7.5wt motorcycle fork oil for Rock shox suspenstion oil? And how about a substitue for "Red Rum" (RS fork lubricant)? These are both impossible to find here without an expensive special order.

THANKS!

1 - 20 of 21 Posts

Squash

· #2 · Jun 20, 2006

Yes you can substitute any....

quality fork oil of the proper weight for RS fork oil. 5w is stock, but 7.5w will work, though it will most likely change your required damper settings, but not by much. For a Red Rum substitute use the heaviest fork oil you can find, 15w or 20w will work fine. It won't last as long as Red Rum, but it will work. You'll just have to check it more often as the lighter weight oil will find it's way passed the air chamber seal faster and will need to be replenished more often. But as long as the chamber seal is well lubricated you should be fine. In a pinch you could even use the same fork oil that you are putting in the rest of the fork, but you'd have to check it often and replenish it more frequently.

Good Dirt

Homebrew

· #3 · Jun 20, 2006

Rockshox Oil- Rockshox repackages and sells Torco RFF oils for their forks. This is a blend of synthetic and mineral oils. The goofball aspect to this is that Rockshox in their infinite wisdom re-grades their product. RS2.5=Torco RFF 5, RS5=Torco RFF 7, RS10=Torco RFF 15, and RS15=Torco RFF 20. Rockshox considers their 5 and 10 weights their stock oils in Boxxer forks. RS5 then has a [email protected] of 16, and RS10 has a [email protected] of 33. To make RS5 from Red Line Oil use 28% Extra Light and 72% Light, to make RS10 from Red Line Oil use 93% Medium and 7% Heavy. Rockshox RedRum is just Torco MPZ Assembly Lube with the one difference that the Torco product is 117 [email protected] and the RS Product is 50 [email protected] This change was for very cold weather performance.

http://www.peterverdonedesigns.com/bikesuspension.htm

Ripzalot

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jun 21, 2006

Excellent info. Thanks, guys!

Chris2fur

· #5 · Jun 22, 2006

Ripzalot said:
Excellent info. Thanks, guys!

80wt fully synthetic gear oil is also a good replacement for the Red Rum (actually better, IMO). This is the same thing Fox uses on top of their air pistons (Float Fluid) and it works well.

29erchico

· #6 · Jun 24, 2006

The SRAM factory techs advised me to Run Silkoline full synth motorcycle fork oil. They even stock it and put it in their own special projects. Great stuff if you don't mind paying around $15/quart.

29erchico

hojong

· #7 · Dec 13, 2006

For the lowers and positive air chamber in my 2005 Reba Race, does the brand of oil matter as much? From what I gather, the damper is more affected by the type of oil. I'm considering just buying some cheap Bel-Ray 15W fork oil for the lowers and positive because the Torco oils I ordered are taking forever to ship. Any thoughts?

GTV8

· #8 · Dec 13, 2006

While we are on the subject, what is the difference between Redrum and Rock Shox 5 & 15wt. fork oil? I read through the service procedures, and they only mention the 5 & 15wt. oil. Where or why would the Redrum be used?

edit...upon further research it appears that Redrum can be used in place of the 15wt. oil. Is this correct?

energetix

· #9 · Dec 13, 2006

I serviced my RS Tora 318SL recently and used Maxima Fork Oil, 15wt in the lowers and 5wt in the motion control chamber.

I think as long as you get the right weight or close enough to it (compare CSS @40 from the link as a guide if using motorbike oils - as not all oils laveled 15wt are the same viscosity) you should be right. And yes I don't think the 15wt in the lowers matters too much - and it's easy to change out more frequently if needed, but I'd get the right weight or a good oil for the motion control side of things - I was surprized how dirty mine looked after only owning the bike for 6 months!

http://www.peterverdonedesigns.com/lowspeed.htm

Chris2fur

· #10 · Dec 13, 2006

phugger said:
For the lowers and positive air chamber in my 2005 Reba Race, does the brand of oil matter as much? From what I gather, the damper is more affected by the type of oil. I'm considering just buying some cheap Bel-Ray 15W fork oil for the lowers and positive because the Torco oils I ordered are taking forever to ship. Any thoughts?

You are right about the importance of getting the damper oil right. On the bottom of the air spring leg, you have a variety of options. Personally, I think that a multi-viscosity synthetic oil (i.e.: 5w/40 synthetic motor oil) works best in the bottom leg of the spring side because you only have a very small volume and you want something that will flow well at all temps and will stick to the parts (stay up at the bushing area). This is along the lines of Manitou's "Semi-bath Oil." On top of the air piston, you could use a small amount (usually about 5cc) of this same oil, Fox Float Fluid, or 80wt fully-synthetic gear oil).

Chris2fur

· #11 · Dec 13, 2006

GTV8 said:
While we are on the subject, what is the difference between Redrum and Rock Shox 5 & 15wt. fork oil? I read through the service procedures, and they only mention the 5 & 15wt. oil. Where or why would the Redrum be used?

edit...upon further research it appears that Redrum can be used in place of the 15wt. oil. Is this correct?

Redrum is not the same as 15wt suspension fluid. Probably what you read is that 15wt oil or Redrum can be used on top of the air piston. This is because the exact grade of oil is not critical in this application. However, if you were to use Redrum in the damper leg, you would have pretty bad suspension. It's way thick. Redrum is really more of an assembly lube.

spooney

· #12 · Feb 9, 2011

Interested in the silkoline stuff just need to know which one is best for the lowers and which is best for the damper

egebhardt

· #13 · Feb 10, 2011

I use Pennzoil 5w-20 in my Fox F100 forks.

It's cheaper and acts about like 8 weight.
Never had a problem.

joemamad

· #14 · Feb 12, 2011

I use Silkolene Pro RSF "racing suspension fluid" in my dampers.

hernluis

· #15 · Feb 12, 2011

rockshox uses maxima oil starting at 5wt and up. their 2.5wt is specially made by maxima for rockshox so you cant get a maxima 2.5wt. I think maxima starts at 5wt but the 2.5wt has almost the same cst40C. as the 5wt. just so you guys know, rockshox does NOT use torco.

MTBeing

· #16 · Nov 21, 2014

2

Just wanted to update this thread

hernluis said:
rockshox uses maxima oil starting at 5wt and up. their 2.5wt is specially made by maxima for rockshox so you cant get a maxima 2.5wt. I think maxima starts at 5wt but the 2.5wt has almost the same cst40C. as the 5wt. just so you guys know, rockshox does NOT use torco.

Looking for the same info and found this thread to be most helpful. Here are a couple pics that pretty much prove this.

Product Bottle Red Liquid Black

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bing!

· #17 · Nov 21, 2014

I prefer the equivalent Torco RFF to Maxima Green. I do like Maxima Racing Blue oil for Fox and Zokes.

ang

· #18 · May 10, 2015

I'd like to change the oil in my 2011 Lyrik. Already have a bottle of 5w motocycle fork oil.

1) Any suggestion for the spring side 15w substitute?
2) Can regular 15w-30 motor oil be used as substitute?

Thanks.

silentG

· #19 · May 10, 2015

Damn Smokey, old thread back from the dead.

I'll bite.

Kind of a nuanced thing fork oil with a number of variables.

Two useful links for foundational information:

Suspension Fluid - Pvdwiki

and

Peter Verdone

Broadly speaking your generic fork oils are of two types - lowers or 'splash' oil and damper oil.

If you have an open bath fork (Lyrik is not) then the two are kind of the same thing.

Splash oil can be motorcycle oil or even auto oil like Mobile 1. Things to be aware of here are junk put in the oil for seals, etc that might be important for a car that may not be so nice in your bike.

It is pretty common or companies like Fox, Manitou, etc to use separate damper oil for well, the damper like the FiT, TPC/ABS+, etc of the world.

Rockshox doesn't list a separate oil other than 5wt or 15wt Rockshox oil.

Example - https://www.sram.com/sites/default/files/techdocs/2011-rockshox-fork-oil-chart.pdf

Long story short if you are talking splash oil you have some freedom, carefully considered freedom but freedom nonetheless.

If you are talking damper oil you might have some freedom but it depends on the fork/damper and the oil needed.

As the Verdone articles point out the cST 40/100 and VI ratings are the key to match close to the OEM oil if that makes sense.

Some of the particulars with oil are important and others are a 'close enough' type of a deal so it really depends on your curiosity level, patience, etc.

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Ratt

· #20 · May 10, 2015

ang said:
I'd like to change the oil in my 2011 Lyrik. Already have a bottle of 5w motocycle fork oil.

1) Any suggestion for the spring side 15w substitute?
2) Can regular 15w-30 motor oil be used as substitute?

Thanks.

As sG pointed it depends on the additives. Your "motorcycle" oil could have seal conditioners and swellers that might add stiction to your fork. what kind of fork oil you have?

Over the years the air springs oil has varied from 5 to 10 to 15 wt to Redrum back to grease now. I used to use a grease+oil slurry in there but now I use Torco assembly lube (rumored to be redrum)

For the Pike and Boxxer, Rockshox is currently listing 0-30wt in the leg which sounds a lot like motor oil numbers. I have been using 0w and 0-30w mobil one in the lower legs of my forks off and on for over 10 yrs and sometimes I like it and others times I swear its not smooth as fork oil.

As you can tell I like to tinker with my bike to find cheaper alternatives and improvements. If you like to experiment use what you brung, if you want that factory feel get the factory oils.

Here is the current chart recommending grease on the springs.

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