Fork Tube Separation Advice

[Grand Poobah]

Hi all,

I believe this is my first post, not counting my intro post, whenever that was. Don't ask me why that's relevant because I don't have an answer.

I'm doing a fork rebuild on my '03 FJR and I've run into a bit of difficulty separating the inner and outer fork tubes. I got the 6mm allen head bolt out of the bottom of the fork and the damping assembly is out and sitting on the bench, but I'm not sure now how much force to use when separating the tubes.

Exerting steady force when pulling on the inner tube seems like a waste of time and energy. It seems like I should be using it as a sort of slide-hammer against the seal until the seal pops out. But not being familiar with the process, I don't want to make an expensive mistake. The Yamaha tech manual says to exert firm steady force until it comes out (or some similar cryptic, useless BS.)

Does that make sense? If not, then I'll just slink off to my corner and not post again until I've had more tequila.

But if it does make sense I'd appreciate if someone could enlighten me?

Brian

EDIT:

Alrighty then... Never mind. I gently beat it to death. I verified that there was nothing in the way, then I started gently impacting the inner tube against the inside of the seal, and out it came.

Sometimes all I need is someone to bounce my thoughts off of.

 

[Crash Cash]

I think there's also a circlip under the dust seal and on top of the fork seal itself holding things together. That's parts #10/#35 on the "Front Fork" page of the microfiche. Did you remove that? You'll need a Radio Shack style circlip remover pliers. My service manual's at home, of course.

 

[wfooshee]

This is where the other sites come in handy, fjrtech.com and fjr1300.info. Have a look here and see if you find out what you need.

 

[Grand Poobah]

Yep, I took that wire ring out first-thing.

I thought about handling this the way I used to handle seal-removal when I worked on my dirt bikes, and that's by hammering a screw driver through the seal and prying it out by force, but I figured it would be better to get some advice this time before I resorted to the nuclear option.

I've gone back over the work I've done, and I can't imagine there's anything holding the two tubes together but the seal.

I think there's also a circlip under the dust seal and on top of the fork seal itself holding things together. That's parts #10/#35 on the "Front Fork" page of the microfiche. Did you remove that? You'll need a Radio Shack style circlip remover pliers.

 

[Grand Poobah]

This is where the other sites come in handy, fjrtech.com and fjr1300.info. Have a look here and see if you find out what you need.

Yeah, I checked those sites too. The one you mentioned had the best step-by-step advice, but when he got to where I'm stuck, he says this:

"Now the fork tube and fork leg are ready to come apart. Just follow instructions in the manual for disassembly and then get everything squeaky clean."
Naturally, I was disappointed at the level of detail there. Otherwise, I found that article very helpful.

I searched all of the FJR sites I could find but no one talked about this part of the process. Which leads me to believe I'm just being too dainty with it. However, based on my own personal history with things like this, this is the point where I lean on something too hard and my little maintenance project suddenly becomes expensive.

 

[dcarver]

I just had GP Suspension rebuild my front forks ( :yahoo: ) and got to view the entire disassembly process. They used a small propane torch (you know Coleman bottle of gas with small nozzle thinge) and heated that junction just a bit, and it just about fell apart. Oh, this was a Gen II, which may matter as the Gen II are slightly different.

 

[HaulinAshe]

Heat definitely helps, even hair dryer heat helps. Think of it this way...

When you are replacing the seals, you have to use some type of driver to seat them. It takes at least that much force to remove the old ones, and perhaps even more if the seal has been in there a while. Original seals on an 03, well let's just say they may be chemically part of the outer tube.

Just make sure you have the clips and any washers out of place, then use the inner tube to "hammer" the two apart. Pull straight, pull firmly, pull briskly. Start with heat and "tapping" at the junction with the inner tube. Watch for signs of movement. Use WD-40 and let it sit.

YOU ARE REPLACING ALL THE SEALS AND BUSHINGS AREN'T YOU??? If not, stop right where you are and go order seals.

 

[FJR919]

You can use the inner fork tube as a slide hammer (just don't get crazy). The result will be the washer under the seal will become concave. Get a new washer; it's cheap. Also search for previous threads that include Jestal's brilliant electrical PVC seal installation tool fabrication. You may also have a problem holding the fork cartridge while reinstalling the bolt in the bottom of the fork. It will turn as you tighten the bolt. The nut on the end of the cartridge is 27mm, but you can't use a socket. Absent the Yamaha tool, you can use two pieces of aluminum bar stock rounded on one side to slip down the fork so the flat sides grab the nut face. This way you can hold the bars where they stick out from the fork to prevent the cartridge from turning. Good luck!

 

[Grand Poobah]

Heat definitely helps, even hair dryer heat helps. Think of it this way...
When you are replacing the seals, you have to use some type of driver to seat them. It takes at least that much force to remove the old ones, and perhaps even more if the seal has been in there a while. Original seals on an 03, well let's just say they may be chemically part of the outer tube.

Just make sure you have the clips and any washers out of place, then use the inner tube to "hammer" the two apart. Pull straight, pull firmly, pull briskly. Start with heat and "tapping" at the junction with the inner tube. Watch for signs of movement. Use WD-40 and let it sit.

YOU ARE REPLACING ALL THE SEALS AND BUSHINGS AREN'T YOU??? If not, stop right where you are and go order seals.

Yep. I replaced both bushings, the dust seals, and the oil seals. I also replaced the '03 springs with new springs from an '04.

But I found it difficult to locate replacement fish-oil (I was looking for Mackerel or Cod wt), so I ended up using Spectrol 10wt.

 

[Grand Poobah]

You can use the inner fork tube as a slide hammer (just don't get crazy). The result will be the washer under the seal will become concave. Get a new washer; it's cheap. Also search for previous threads that include Jestal's brilliant electrical PVC seal installation tool fabrication. You may also have a problem holding the fork cartridge while reinstalling the bolt in the bottom of the fork. It will turn as you tighten the bolt. The nut on the end of the cartridge is 27mm, but you can't use a socket. Absent the Yamaha tool, you can use two pieces of aluminum bar stock rounded on one side to slip down the fork so the flat sides grab the nut face. This way you can hold the bars where they stick out from the fork to prevent the cartridge from turning. Good luck!

Great advice, thanks. I didn't have replacement spacers and time was of the essence so I pounded the originals flat and reinstalled them.

I used a modified PVC pipe that I had laying around. It was big enough to fit over the inner tube but too big to cover the bushing and seal. I ended up cutting four 3-inch long grooves in one of the ends (one with a smooth factory edge,) and used a hose clamp to crimp it down to the required size. It worked quite well. I used it in conjunction with the old bushing to force the new bushing into place, then I used it again to push the seal into place.

I read a tip that talked about removing the bottom bolt with an impact wrench, so I dug out my old Ingersoll-Rand electric impact wrench, which handled that task quite nicely.

I appreciate all the advice. Thanks very much!

 

[TellurideFJR]

My 07 Gen2 forks with 75K+ started leaking for the second time, so instead of spending $500 for the shop to do it, I ordered the parts. Slide hammer technique got both legs stuck so it sat all winter. I then went with aluminum angle iron and clamps to the tube and used a come along to pull them apart, one leg was a bit stubborn so I used a bit of heat. In the end both the top bushing and seal remained on the lower leg and the middle bush was wrecked but it came apart. It was fairly easy to pull the seal and upper bush and do the reassembly. I did buy the 48mm driver and used some 2" exaust pipe to seat the middle bushing.

 

[FJR30FAN]

I gave mine a hard couple of pulls and it separated without major issues. It requires forceful sudden pulls otherwise it can get stuck. Mine started leaking at 50k miles. Its got 7500 miles of no issues so far.