Where did this front fork damage come from?

Well the problems keep piling up...just discovered some damage to the upper fork tube. On the back of the upper tube, just above the dust seal with the suspension unloaded, i've discovered some horizontal nicks and a couple of inches of vertical scrapes. I've dissasembled the fork as much as I think I can tonight without a spark plug socket, which basically consited of prying the dust sheild up. The circlip and oil seal seem properly intact. I've never dissasembled a fork before; is there something below the oil seal that could be causing this damage?

One way or another it looks like I'm off to the wreckers tomorrow to find a new fork. Maybe there will be a silver lining and I'll be doing a double disc upgrade...

Oh, and to top it off, the fork cap had been replaced at some point with a black bottle cap the PO had hot-glued into place!

 

I think you should track down the PO and beat him mercilessly........

 

Wow I love it. When I was on the assembly line we had a guy shear a head off a bolt. He epoxied it on. Was not found until the machine needed to be serviced. Some folks will go to any lengths...


How deep are the marks? Could they be from dirt etc that got into the seal?

 

Tracking down the PO is tempting, but according to the used vehicle information package there are four of them...although with the stuff I've found so far I'm sure all of them had a hand in it!

The scratches that go up and down are just surface marks, possibly from dirt, but the other ones are the really disturbing ones. They're not that deep... just a few are enough to catch a nail on... but they're perfect little horizontal nicks, almost like someone bounced a hacksaw across it.

 

yea that could be an issue. I could see that tearing upa seal.

any chance you could polish them out?

 

Possibly...what would be the best way to try and get rid of them?

 

First find out if its still stright. Those might be the result of a bent tube.

 

My thoughts exactly. Some PO with a vice and hammer straightening tubes. Order up some new ones from Chacal, you won't be sorry.

 

Wow, if that visual isn't enough to give you the heebie-jeebies and break out in nightmare-ish cold sweats , then I don't know what is.......

 

I'll bet you that's exactly what happened. Those "hacksaw" marks were probably left by the "pipe-holder" jaws of a vice. I'll bet any money those tubes aren't straight.

 

Interesting I was assuming the pipe was straight but you guys have probably nailed it. Given the cap it would not surprise me if it has been "straightened"

 

Well I got them pulled apart today... The upper tube appears perfectly straight against a level, but I found matching scratches at the bottom of the upper tube, opposite the scratches half-way up. I'm guessing the lower tube is bent. There was also some rust on the inside ring of the lower tube at the back...I suppose I'll never know if it was a cause or effect of the damage on the chrome upper. It's a shame one half couldn't have survived.

 

If the damage is in the seal path they are not going to seal anyway. I had a similar issue on a set of forks and replaced them with parts from ebay. Very glad I did. Sorry you can't salvage either end but rather safe than sorry