45mm Marzocchi - removing upper caps

[MNKeith]

Super easy, right?

Not for me. I've rebuilt forks in the past and generally know what I'm doing. I cannot get these bastards unscrewed. Is there some secret I'm missing? I'm starting to chew up the nut and don't want to totally screw myself. Next step is to put some heat (not a torch) into the fork body.

 

[gasgasman]

I remove the caps while the forks are still mounted in the triple clamps.

Be sure to loosen the upper clamp pinch bolts first, before unscrewing the cap!!

 

[Jakobi]

I remove the caps while the forks are still mounted in the triple clamps.

Be sure to loosen the upper clamp pinch bolts first, before unscrewing the cap!!

This! If the upper clamp is still torqued the pinch bolts will be squeezing the outer leg around the threads of the cap and will add loads of resistance.

Not sure what the cap on the 45mm zokes looks like, but I'd imagine a hex nut? If so make sure you use a quality 6 point socket. Really though there should be very little torque on the cap. If the threads have seized a bit, a tap on the top of the socket might be enough to shock them loose/even a quick zap with a cordless impact.