i have my forks off and on the work bench trying to get at the seals. how do you seperate the lower tube from the top tube. do i need any special tools

 

Drain the oil.

Remove the top caps and fork springs.

Remove the snap ring above the seal.

Remove the allen bolt (most likely 6mm) on the bottom of the slider, you may need to use an air wrench to break it loose, sometimes the damper valve inside spins.

Give `em a yank and they will come apart. If you have a fair amount of miles on the bike you may want to replace the slider bushings also, they are cheap.

Save the old seals to use as an installation tool.

Clean the upper fork tubes of any pitting that could damage the new seal, it will be slid down from the top, after you re-assemble the fork.

Reinstall the tube into the slider, torque the allen bolt.

Slide the new seal down the upper tube as far as it will go, then slide the old seal down against it. Use a length of PVC pipe to drive down against the old seal, which will push the new seal into position. Re install snap ring.

Before installing the forks on the bike, and before the springs are installed:

Hold the fork vertical, add a few ounces of fork oil at a time, then extend and compress the fork slowly to remove air, you want the oil level in the fork to be 5.5 inches below the top of the tube while it is in the compressed state. Make a note of how much oil you used, so you know how much to add when you do a fork oil change in the future.

 

Did you get the front end back together?

Sometimes those forks don't come apart easy and you really have to man handle 'em.

Or check this out...never tried their "jack and car" method myself sounds interesting though.

 

Old thread I Know, But thank you Dan89FLSTC. I was trying to install my seals with PVC Cut in half like I read, and then the ground down 1 1/2" coupler and had a heck of a time. Came across this about using old seal and it worked like a charm!