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So I rebuilt some 41mm 2000 Softail forks and found that they're of the type that can't be compressed by hand in order to get everything back in place and the top caps screwed down. I saw that some tools are available but proceeded to use an H-frame press with my own "specialty" tool, made of some old thin wall 1.5" PVC pipe plus end cap with a 1" hole drilled through. That set up was able to contain the spacers and fork tube cap while compressing the springs, still allowing me to turn the cap. Also, being able to separate the two PVC parts allowed me to assess the position of the cap in the meanwhile. Maybe nothing new-new to me anyway.
I am glad you got it figured out but I have personally rebuilt dozens of set of 41mm forks and never come across a set that could not be compressed to get the fork cap on. Why exactly could you not compress the forks? I am genuinely curious!
I am glad you got it figured out but I have personally rebuilt dozens of set of 41mm forks and never come across a set that could not be compressed to get the fork cap on. Why exactly could you not compress the forks? I am genuinely curious!
IDK. I've been able to do others but these were quite a cut stiffer and while reading service literature on this particular application it was confirmed that a tool was necessary. Or maybe I'm just getting old. . I actually got there quite awhile ago come to think of it.
IDK. I've been able to do others but these were quite a cut stiffer and while reading service literature on this particular application it was confirmed that a tool was necessary. Or maybe I'm just getting old. . I actually got there quite awhile ago come to think of it.
Originally Posted by dfwhockey17
I am glad you got it figured out but I have personally rebuilt dozens of set of 41mm forks and never come across a set that could not be compressed to get the fork cap on. Why exactly could you not compress the forks? I am genuinely curious!
I just did my forks with new progressive springs and their pvc spacers and washers when it came time to computed it all yup get the top cap on it was almost impossible with out the expensive tools. Too much preload top push through before getting to the threads. I took mine to my Indy who did it in two minutes flat 😁
IDK. I've been able to do others but these were quite a cut stiffer and while reading service literature on this particular application it was confirmed that a tool was necessary. Or maybe I'm just getting old. . I actually got there quite awhile ago come to think of it.
I know this is probably an old thread but I had to look it up after the nightmare I had last night with some 49mm dyna forks. My buddy took the top cap off before removing the drain bolt at the bottom that holds all the internals together so in short the bottom bolt wouldnt come out to remove everything inside to replace with some legends cartridges. It was a nightmare to put that fork cap back on. Three of us tried to compress the spring by hand and couldnt get it all the way down so I used the only thing I could find which was a tie down strap after about three times if the strap slipping off and the cap/preload spacer/fluid went flying everywhere I finally got the cap back on. Got the tie down to pull the cap far enough down that I could slide the tube up and catch a couple threads but holy hell. Thinking about it now if I had a socket that could fit the cap it been much easier I could have stuck two screwdrivers into the back of the socket to hold the strap in place
Thinking about it now if I had a socket that could fit the cap it been much easier I could have stuck two screwdrivers into the back of the socket to hold the strap in place
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Fork spring compressing
. I actually got there quite awhile ago come to think of it.
