Fork tube screw up

[ChopperJeff]

So I finally went in and decided to replace the fork seals as they've been leaking for a while. Everything was going great until we yanked on the one fork tube in order to get its seal to pop out. One MAJOR mistake we made was that we forgot to remove the bolt at the bottom that holds the damper tube in. After several VERY hard yanks on the tube we got the seals to pop out, but then when putting it all back together I realized something wasn't right.

In taking it all apart again we saw that the inner damper tube was now separated from the 2" fork tube. It appears that we ripped the thing from its "housing". It all goes back togther just fine, and the spring action seems to work OK. However, if you take the fork tube to its maximum extension, then pull up on it with a bit of force, the fork tube extends to the point of being up against the seal. Normally it appears that the inner fork damper would hold the fork tube from going to that extreme, but as it's no longer "attached" to the fork tube, it's not holding from doing this.

Is there a way of just replacing this peice? Do I need to replace the entire assembly? Or, can I simply assemble it "as is" since the fork basically functions correctly, aside from the fact that it can extend to the point that it normally wouldn't be able to? The other fork is fine as we did that one correctly, thus as a whole it will not extend beyond its designed limitation.

I've attached an image of the part that I'm talking about (assuming I've done that right ).

I hope what I wrote makes sense... it's rather hard to describe in words, but hopefully you get the idea.

Thanks for any info!!!

 

[woodbutcher]

i ain't sayin' it would be alright, but since the fork tubes work as a pair, it seems like the one that you did correctly would work as a stop for the other one. that being said, i think i would try to find one that has not been damaged and replace it.

 

[ChopperJeff]

Yeah, that was my thought in that the forks as a whole are not going to do anything since they work together, and the one is 100% OK. Being the front end is rather important though I wanted to pick people's brains about this.

 

[Gas Man]

MAN O MAN... post #3 on the how to.
http://www.bigdogbiker.com/forums/how/2498-how-service-your-forks.html#post38962

I'm unsure on the proper repair on this... I would say at least a new dampner rod... you can take the rod and stuff out of the tube... I just didn't when I did mine...

 

[ChopperJeff]

Part of the real kicker to this whole ordeal is that we WERE following the "How To service your forks" How-to article. It's a GREAT article, and worked well, but obviously only if one follows ALL the steps, which was not done on the 2nd fork. I guess we got a bit over confident and figured we knew what we were doing after having completed the first one so well.

Anyway, last night I took the "good" fork apart to see how it was suppose to look, and figured out that what happened was that the damper tube pulled out of that thing at the top of it with the rings on it. Apparently it was crimped onto it somehow. I managed to pound it back on, and then a friend added a bit of "mushrooming" to the top to help hold it in. It just has a little play in it, but it's certainly not coming apart. I'm going to put it all back together and see how it works out.

 

[Gas Man]

:lol: That is a real kicker... we have all been there and got a bit too cocky and fucked somin up.

Let us know how it turns out after you get it back together.