So I ended up buying the rebound needle online to have a go at repairing this myself. Sadly my house doesn't have any tools, so I waited until I was staying with my parents over Christmas to use my Dad's epic workshop/machine shop if I broke something. I've never even tried a lower service on a fork, so I was jumping in the deep end and was very surprised about how simple the process ended up being.
When the rebound needle broke the shop told me it would be $350 for a new damper + installation fee. They also told me it wouldn't be worth servicing this fork, just ride it till it dies and get a new one. I followed their advice and have put about 10,000km on the fork since it's last service, so I expected to find a train wreck of wear on the inside....
I spent $40 getting the rebound needle delivered to my door and this took about 2 hours, including faffing reading the instructions on the Fox website.
These were the steps I followed:
Snapped rebound needle, it is also jammed so can't be adjusted
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Small amount of dirt in the fork, but pretty clean overall
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Amazed at the perfect condition of the stanchions, this fork is the smoothest I've ever owed, I think 6 years of use has burnished the bushings to perfection
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The culprit
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Home made damper shaft tool
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Burn it with fire to release the Locktite
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Shaft free!
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The culprit, there is a shit load of dirt which had corroded and seized the ball in position, I can see why they have updated the design as having an adjustable dial on the bottom of a fork is pretty stupid idea
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New ball bearing and spring cleaned, re-greased and ready for assembly
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Put it all back together and filled it up with some hydraulic oil, the fork was basically dry after 10,000km and this was the only thing I could find, a quick google suggested it will do a feasible job
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Clicky clicky click
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Back together
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10/10 will do my own fork servicing again.