I sure do feel for the early adopters. I remember reading the big thread from start to finish, and squidhead amongst others must of pulled his forks apart to cut spacers 10 times to get his sag right. I originally was not going to use preload adjusters since many say that once you're dialed in they just get left alone. Thankful I decided to make it easier. At least my spacers were slightly below the fork cap at 6 inches. Still required decent pressure to get threaded but nothing like some of the others went through.

 

Great write-up and pictures! Thanks.

Just to add to the body of knowledge here, for the 135mm top cap a 1-3/8 12pt box usually works. However, as a cyclist, my specialized bike tool box happened to have a 135mm open end thin body wrench. If this nut is giving you trouble, check with a bike shop for this Parker tool. Affordable alternative for a seldom uses special tool.

Also, should one ever have to take the slider off of the fork tube, there is a 12mm brass/bronze/copper(?) crush washer on the fork tube bolt that can NOT be reused without leaking. Ask me how I know.

 

Great info thanks! I'm a cyclist as well and have used my mini torque wrench that I use for carbon parts a fair bit on the MC as well. Trying to think what parts on a bike use a 135mm wrench though... too small for a BB, headset? I love riddles!

Thanks for the kind words. I'm going to go in and edit for spelling, grammar, and set up now.

Those other threads had loads of great information in them but I was hoping to distill it down to make it easy on some. That being said, reading through the challenges and successes of others really made the work much easier overall.

 

Nice write up!

 

Firstly thanks to all who have paved the way and helpfully posted their successes and failures. I've read all the posts I can find to determine what I want and have just finished importing all the bits from the US to New Zealand to upgrade the front end on my 2012 FXDF/Fat Bob. I've gone with
- RSD Fork Preload Adjusters
- Amsoil Shock Therapy Fluid #10
- Ricor Intiminators
- Traxxion 44x380mmx0.95kg Straight Cut Springs

My weight with gear say 295lbs. For a starting point I'm thinking
- 125mm Oil with forks extended and intiminators only installed
- Stock pacer cut to 6"
- RSD preload adjusters set to 1/2 point

So two questions
1. Does this sound like a good starting point?
2. What is the stock length of the shocks on a FXDF? (I'm having a workshop do the work and am concerned they won't measure for me).

I'm also fitting 320mm Hagon Nitros at the same time so I'm confident my boy will handle the uneven roads we have much better than stoc.

 

I think you're on the right track. With your weight you may want to consider the next heavier spring, but I know most say to err on the side of lighter. The other thing I would suggest with 295lbs would be to cut your spacer to 6.25 inches vs. 6. I did mine 6 inches and still had the pre-load adjusters out a few turns and I only weight 170-ish with gear on.

I believe your stock springs are 330mm.

Are you having a shop do the work due to not having the time or tools available or out of concern for your ability? I do need to say that this was an incredibly easy mod to do that can be done with pretty normal tools and a torque wrench. Even the oil measuring tool can be fabricated out of something as simple as a dowel or straw. Just a thought to say a few hundred dollars in labor!

 

Could probably do it myself although I don't have a lift or torque wrench. Better to do what I do to make a living and pay someone to do this one. I do some stuff myself when/where I can but if the choices are work + pay someone and have time to ride or work +'do mods and no time to ride its a nno brainer. Thanks for feedback

 

I installed Intiminators last winter when I switched to +2" tubes and I felt it made the front end almost to harsh, where before it was too soft. I need to spend some time tweaking the preload and the oil height I think.

 

Ok a few questions....how difficult is it to remove triple trees when doing this mod. What needs to be done? Im taking them off to powder coat trees sliders and tube.

Also i got my traxxion springs in and they seem quite short. I havent pulled my stock springs out yet but are the traxxion springs supposed to be only about 12" long anf thr spacers provided with the trax springs are about 8 in. It just doesn't seem correct

What would the difference be if the spacer is under the spring? I only ask because we did a fork service for a friend and his springs were at the top not the spacer.

does one have to take the tubes off of the sliders to get powder coated? If so how do u do it?

I know im asking a lot of questions i just figured i should ask now before the entire front end of my bike is taken apart

 

Hey there.

Removing the Triple Trees would not be that difficult while doing this, but you would need to remove your stem bearings, headlight, etc. Just follow your shop manual and then reset your fall away when putting everything back on.

The Traxxion box should have the length written on it with a white sticker. something like 380x.9 or along those lines. The stock length for the traxxions are 380mm I believe. Stock springs are around 330mm, and if you look at the Google Chart (link on the first page of this thread) you'll see that many people had Traxxion's that were 365mm. Just factor in the change between stock and what you have into your formula for cutting your spacers. So as an example if your new springs are 1 inch longer than stock plus the length of the intiminators, say 1 inch (but that is NOT the number! You'll need to look at the thread), then you would take 2 inches off the spacer. Since you have the preload adjusters you may want to take an extra .5-1 inch off the spacer so that you have room to play with pre-load. Again... I would use the chart and other people's weights, etc to determine what you think may be best for your spacer length. Feel free to post it here or in the grand daddy thread and ask opinions on it before you do any cutting. Just list it like I did within the very first post of this.

Yep, forks would need to be disassembled completely for PC I would imagine.

Good luck and have fun!