Coilover help.

[Desert Thrasher]

My inner fender was rubbing on the remote reservoir hose and eventually caused a leak. I'm going to have a new hose made and get some fox oil. How do I go about adding the correct amount of oil? I've read about having to completely disassemble the shock to refill it. Is that really necessary, or could I top off the fluid in the shock by using a funnel to pour it through the hose, and then filling the reservoir?

 

[ntsqd]

You need to get ALL of the air out of the fluid, and you're not likely to be able to do that without pulling the shaft and piston. Even then you need to be overly anal about putting the piston back in and getting all of the bubbles to go thru it and float to the top of the fluid.
Don't know if Fox has a spec on it, but Bilstein has a spec for the initial reservoir divider piston position. Might look to see if Fox does too. Set that before doing anything else.

 

[ame]

There is a spec for the IFP on all shocks, you will want to know reservoir and shock length when figuring the spec. Too much oil and the IFP will bottom on in the reservoir before the shaft is all the way collapsed, too little and it will bottom on the other end of the reservoir.

If you did not loose much oil and are just needing to top off you could put the reservoir in a vice with the Schrader facing up and the shock below, pull out the end cap and IFP then fill thought the reservoir to the right level and reassemble. However as mentioned above you must bleed all the air out so if the shock body itself has a lot of air in it then it would be best to pull the shaft out.

 

[67EB_in_619]

Isnt a "reassemble" rebuild only like $45 @ Fox? They are right off the 67 if I remember correctly.

 

[ntsqd]

.....
If you did not loose much oil and are just needing to top off you could put the reservoir in a vice with the Schrader facing up and the shock below, pull out the end cap and IFP then fill thought the reservoir to the right level and reassemble. However as mentioned above you must bleed all the air out so if the shock body itself has a lot of air in it then it would be best to pull the shaft out.

That won't work. The reservoir piston will trap air under it when you try to re-install it. Collapsing the shock fully and over-filling the reservoir so that there is no air to get trapped won't work either because then in use the reservoir piston will hit the end cap because of too much fluid in the shock.

Really best to fill the reservoir from the fluid end. Pulling the shaft & piston isn't that much work compared to getting to do it again when you find that you didn't get all of the air out of the fluid.

 

[Desert Thrasher]

Fox is 2 weeks out for rebuilds, and I'm going wheeling next weekend. Guess I'm pulling the shock apart now. Damn it.

 

[ntsqd]

Run a hole saw the same size as the shock body thru a pine 2XX or 2X6 near an end, then cut a wide slot from the end into the hole. Clamp the 2X in a vise and use a c-clamp across the end of the 2X to hold the shock body upright. Excellent, non-distorting or marring way to firmly hold a shock while working on it.

 

[ame]

That won't work. The reservoir piston will trap air under it when you try to re-install it. Collapsing the shock fully and over-filling the reservoir so that there is no air to get trapped won't work either because then in use the reservoir piston will hit the end cap because of too much fluid in the shock.

Really best to fill the reservoir from the fluid end. Pulling the shaft & piston isn't that much work compared to getting to do it again when you find that you didn't get all of the air out of the fluid.

I was thinking Fox had bleed screw on the IFP, I have seen a few that do but may have been a different application.

 

[ntsqd]

Never seen that, but it could be handy. And a hidden failure mode.

 

[Desert Thrasher]

Run a hole saw the same size as the shock body thru a pine 2XX or 2X6 near an end, then cut a wide slot from the end into the hole. Clamp the 2X in a vise and use a c-clamp across the end of the 2X to hold the shock body upright. Excellent, non-distorting or marring way to firmly hold a shock while working on it.

That's a great idea! Thanks!

 

[ntsqd]

It is, but not my idea, came from Ruben @ Ventura 4x4