Pull base valve without fork teardown?

[bergerhag]

On my Mz shivers, would it be safe to clamp the bottom part of the fork upside down in a vise, with support from underneath preventing tube and slider to separate and then use an air gun to loosen and pull the base valve?
Would I get air trapped somewhere in the cartridge that wouldn't come out?

I'm adding a bleed shim to the base valve and I hate to waste the oil.

Anyone tried this procedure?

 

[Dave]

There are some that use that method and I haven't read any horror stories. Most don't remove the forks from the bike. Search the KTMTalk suspension forum for details.

 

[gasIdaho]

Why the need of an air gun to loosen and pull the base valve? I'm getting ready to do a fluid change but I'm thinking I may want to pull the base valve and make sure it's not gummed up with broken down fluid gunk. I've never done a complete fork teardown and not interested in doing it at this point but thought about pulling the base valve, cleaning and putting it back in. Then putting the fresh fluid in. Any thoughts? Thx!!

 

[GMP]

Yes you can do that, I've actually seen pics of guys doing it in the pits, on the bike, with the bike upside down! Any air introduced will be naturally purged from the cartridge. Just use a good six point socket on the base valve, and grind the lead taper off for max contact (an LTR tip). Using the fork spring tension, you may not even need a pneumatic wrench, but don't count on it.

Now, why add a bleed shim to a fork that has a lot of free bleed in the piston anyway?

 

[gasIdaho]

Thx GMP! I can't answer your last question. I'm just doing a fluid replacement and want to make sure to get the fork as clean as possible. From other threads it sounds like gunk gets trapped down there and doing the std drain will not get this stuff out. Too broke to send'em in to Les right now for a much needed overhaul.

 

[nick790]

Yes you can do that, I've actually seen pics of guys doing it in the pits, on the bike, with the bike upside down! Any air introduced will be naturally purged from the cartridge. Just use a good six point socket on the base valve, and grind the lead taper off for max contact (an LTR tip). Using the fork spring tension, you may not even need a pneumatic wrench, but don't count on it.

Now, why add a bleed shim to a fork that has a lot of free bleed in the piston anyway?

No bleed shim on my 08' shivers, is this correct?

 

[gasIdaho]

HELP!! I decided to loosen(crack)the base valve nuts before I took my forks off. The bike was on the stand with the fork legs extended all the way....wheel not touching the ground. This was fairly easy with a 21mm socket. Immediately after doing this, I tried to tighten the nut back up a bit and but now it spins freely without getting tight again. Any ideas on what happening? Thx for answering this noobie's questions!!

 

[nick790]

It should tighten with an impact gun, or maybe preload the fork and tighten it? It's just the damper tube inside spinning it think.