SKF Forks Seals

[Jacob 'Berg]

Are these seals worth the $70.00 price tag? I needed seals quickly and ordered the crappy All Balls seals just so I can ride this weekend, but am considering buying a pair of SKF to have on hand when the shit seals blow.

 

[(F5)]

What do people want in car tyres?

Cheap?

Or looking further ; Cheap that last a long time.

But that may give up grip. To what level is the real question.

Or real crap may end up with bad grip and fast wear.


Stiction is the real enemy of suspension. Having the seal fail and lose its guts is a drag too. You could wind up the spring pressure but that could cause stiction.

At this point I'll bow out as I have no idea about all balls seals

 

[shang]

I have read that this is the last set of fork seals people will need to buy. Plus the reduction in stiction is supposed to be significant enough to require some fork adjustment. Sounds good to me. Keep in mind I have no real world experience with them yet.

 

[MNKeith]

I have SKFs and they lasted one full season without touching them, then both let go within a week of each other. Cleaned them out with a seal doctor and they seem to be holding again.

 

[Jakobi]

I think a lot of the time that a seal is leaking its usually just something holding the lip open a tad or damage to the lower tube itself which is allowing oil past/has cut the seal edge.

The SKF are bloody expensive, but do have reduced stiction and wear well. Is it worth it to you? Maybe.. maybe not. A lot of tuners opt to use them.

I find the OEM KYB seals to be priced more reasonably, offer good lifespan, and while they're not as slippy, they're not bad either.

The cheaper brands often have loads of stiction, offer 2-3 sealing lips, and while this can be a good thing in that they seem to never leak, they have so much drag that its very noticable.

 

[Fred1956]

For me they're worth it, I use either KYB or the SKF but I prefer SKF. I can also tell the difference in the stiction between the two. AllBalls will get you by but not the choice for performance IMO

 

[bkwdc]

+1 what they said. If mine ever leak (maybe after 6 or so races), i tear down the forks and clean and change oil and reassemble. No leaks. Great product.

 

[Moto7man]

+1 what they said. If mine ever leak (maybe after 6 or so races), i tear down the forks and clean and change oil and reassemble. No leaks. Great product.

As Jakobi would say, "They are the Bee Knees" or something like that. The SKFs are the real deal. Drew Smith at WER installed mine and they have very low stiction. I wouldn't use anything else.