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Front forks heavier weight oil or upgrade to progressive mono's
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Front forks heavier weight oil or upgrade to progressive mono's
2012 FDXWG with 6K miles starting to experience some soft fork action on even the most minor of bumps. Noticed some oil leaking from upper fork seals. Thinking about going with the Progressive monotubes at some point. Should I pull the trigger now and do it or is it worth it to try switching to a heavier weight fork oil and see if that helps?
If your forks are already leaking you will need to disassemble them to replace the seals. Thicker oil will exacerbate the leakage. I tried the heavier oil and I would say the improvement was just perceptible, not dramatic. When I tore my forks apart to fix my seals I went with a Traxxion kit and I am very happy with the results. If you have your eye on monotubes I would say do it. The stock spring/orifice/valving is beyond redemption.
I recently rebuilt my 2012 FXDB forks with the Traxxion kit. Same noodley soft feeling up front as you. Some debate over progressive rate springs vs single rate with valves, Im firmly planted in the later, amazed by the difference in the AR25 kit in my bike.
Only thing I’d do differently next time is be patient and wait for an HD fork rebuild kit. I used a Drag Specialties rebuild kit and the seals were not as high quality as the HD parts, but all went well and no leaks yet.. The bushings looked to be just fine from the Drag kit, though.
I also would opt for a higher quality oil syringe tool that will handle heavy 15wt oil a little better. I ordered a cheapy, and it did work, but the tube is almost too small to use with 15wt.
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Front forks heavier weight oil or upgrade to progressive mono's
