So I replaced my fork seals and they worked great. Now no less than a day later they are leaking. I ordered them off ebay, perhaps these ones just suck. A guy at a local shop said that the little burs on my fork legs were hard on the seals. But seeing as only one was blown and now they are both leaking this doesnt seem reasonable. Any ideas what could have caused this?
Clarification please: Only one was blown and now both are leaking?
Did you use a plastic baggie (sandwich bag) over the top of the fork leg? The plastic bag creates a barrier that keeps the lips of the seal from hanging up on teh sharp edges of the fork leg.
Yes only one was blown, now both are leaking. I did'nt use a plastic baggy over the top of the forks. Never saw anything in the posts on hear about that. Perhaps thats my fault. Guess I'll pop some lubed condoms over the top this time round. Thanks
If you have burrs on the fork tubes, they will damage the seals when you slide them over the burrs, which defeats the purpose of installing new seals...
Get a VERY fine sharpening stone (the type used to sharpen knives with) and some WD-40 or other light lubricant (sewing machine oil, cutting oil, whatever). Put a drop or two of oil on the burr, and rub some of the oil into the face of the sharpening stone. Then, GENTLY use the sharpening stone to remove / reduce the burr. Check your work often (let your fingertips tell you how much more you need to remove; DON'T over-do it). Work slowly and methodically; ruining a fork tube from carelessness is an expensive lesson to have to learn the hard way. If you're not sure whether to stop or continue at some point, STOP, take a break, then go back and re-check your work. Better to take your time than to ruin a salvageable fork tube.
Check the ENTIRE fork tube from top to where it enters the fork leg (even better, remove the tube completely and deburr ALL of it); pay close attention to the details, and you just might be able to avoid replacing the fork tube.
You're NOT trying to grind through the chrome surface on the fork tube when you do this; you only need to make the burr as small as reasonably possible. Your biggest concern is to remove the sharp edges of the burr, which do the most damage. You can also use this method to smooth out any pitting or other corrosion you find on the tube...
Give this a shot if there are burrs on the fork tube(s), and let us know how things turn out...
Are you sure you have bought the correct type of seal, do the replacements look like the old ones. You may have been ripped off and sold Radial lip seals in the same size as the original fork seals. These are fine if the center element rotates with no axial (or, in and out movement)...like on a gearbox output shaft but are totaly unsuitable for forks as the tubes move axialy through the seal. My suggestion: get the OEM part from Suzuki, you know then its right, and do what the other guys say reagrding burrs as their suggestions could also and equally well be the root cause. It would do no harm either to coat the tube in fork oil before sliding it into the seal on asseambly as it will help to prevent the sealing lip from turning inside out as it goes in.
If it looks like this its a lip seal and its wrong for the application!
http://www.supaseal.co.uk/oilseals.htm