Noisy fork

[Alysum]

Hi,

I have an issue with my Fox RL120 which I'm not sure is normal or not.

When the fork decompresses it makes a loud *tchac* sound when it has reached the end of how much the fork can extend i.e. 100% decompressed.
Same when I'm about do to a jump and pull up the handlebar it makes that loud sound, quite distracting actually.

And it seems to have got worse lately, I've tried putting more and less air in the fork, no differences.

The fork is only a year old, could it be that some kind of stopper absorbents are missing?

I hope you know what I mean - I don't know any technical word at all to describe all this!

Thanks

 

[Fat_Ride]

Your fork is topping out.
Have you adjusted your rebound all the way out? Check your rebound settings first and if it's still doing it it could be worth taking into your LBS for closer inspection.

The forks are only a year old now right... have you had them serviced recently?

 

[patto94]

They could be topping out, and thats when the forks rebound up the staunchons top out, like botteming out but in the top. And have you recently had them serviced?

 

[b_S]

Have they been serviced recently?
Check out my post here, it might just be the cartridge not filled with oil. Try that first. Secondly, what pressure are you running them at? It could be a topout spring issue, which is really simple to fix and a good excuse to service the fork and inspect it at the same time.

 

[Alysum]

Hi thanks for the responses - topping out is the word then. No I haven't had it serviced yet. Might take it to my LBS then.

 

[T-Rex]

They are topping out. You might have lost some or all of the oil out of the damper cartridge. It can leak internally into the lower, so you wouldn't necessarily know from looking at the outside. This happened to my son's Floats. Try this:

1. Wind the rebound damping adjustment to full fast.
2. standing next to the bike, push down on the bars as hard as you can, then pull back on the bars. When they rebound, they will probably go "clunk"
3. Wind the rebound to full slow.
4. Repeat step 2 and see if you notice any difference eg no difference(no oil left in the cartridge) or fork rebounds quickly for part of the stroke, then slowly for the other part of the stroke (some oil left in the cartridge), or very slowly for all of the stroke (you still have oil in the damper cartridge)

In the case of my son's Floats, we pulled the cartridge apart and found that a small amount of what appeared to be lock tite had got into one of the seals in the cartridge, presumably in the factory when they were assembled. This was causing the oil in the damper cartridge to leak very slowly into the slider. We cleaned up the seal, put it all back together, and it hasn't been a problem since.

If you are mechanically inclined, Fox forks are easy to work on, and you can get really good step by step info of their service web site, which is one of the reasons I really like them. Otherwise, if you have a good LBS with MTB experienced staff, they will be able to help you.

 

[ACNRS]

your fork is topping out, you have to slow the rebound down, if that doesnt work take it to your lbs

 

[b_S]

You might have lost some or all of the oil out of the damper cartridge. It can leak internally into the lower

It's not a sealed cartridge, it sucks oil from the bath up through the damper and squirts it out the top of the cartridge, constantly cycling the oil... it will drain if left hanging horizontally, but usually a few deep cycles will prime it again.

 

[Alysum]

I took it to the LBS and it was indeed the rebound and air pressure that were much too high! I must start adjusting those more seriously...

thanks for the tips