Thread: Fox 40 damper cartridge - replace or rebuild?

looks like i have a blown damper cartridge on my 2008 Fox 40. my LBS called Fox and it's about $700 to replace.

how hard is it to rebuild these things? i see a cartridge seal kit on ebay for about $45.

does anyone have a lead on a new or rebuilt cartridge for (relatively) cheap?



thanks for any help!

$700 seems way too high... is it a Euroland thing?

You can buy a used Fox 40 for that price.

retail on the new 2012/13 40 cartridge is about $400 in the US if memory serves, but you would had to add VAT and shipping.

in terms of repair, it really depends on what is wrong (bladder? bent valve port? etc), and how used/beat the rest of the for is.

I suspect at the least the bladder is blown and all the oil leaked out. It seemed weird last weekend so i cranked it all one way, test rode, then cranked it all the other way. Nothing seemed to engage damping after that.

Fork is in pretty decent shape otherwise. Stanchoins are clean. Seals started to leak a little recently, probably all the extra oil coming out the cartridge.

Pretty typical maximum full retail price for the fix. Like most everything else here.

The FIT seal kit/bladder should be like 40 bucks. It's not that bad to do, and instructions are up on FOX site. I could see paying someone with experience 100 to do a proper, air free rebuild and bleed.

those other prices are mad.

Or, if you have some cash to spend, pick up the avalanche cartridge for your fork. It'll ride better than anything else out there, and is simple and user serviceable, which seems important given the astronomical prices of stuff over there.

Originally Posted by 300hp

Or, if you have some cash to spend, pick up the avalanche cartridge for your fork. It'll ride better than anything else out there, and is simple and user serviceable, which seems important given the astronomical prices of stuff over there.

Have you been using of those things? Pretty happy with it?

Originally Posted by 300hp

The FIT seal kit/bladder should be like 40 bucks. It's not that bad to do, and instructions are up on FOX site. I could see paying someone with experience 100 to do a proper, air free rebuild and bleed.

those other prices are mad.

Or, if you have some cash to spend, pick up the avalanche cartridge for your fork. It'll ride better than anything else out there, and is simple and user serviceable, which seems important given the astronomical prices of stuff over there.

well, since the avalanche cartridge is $500 + $100 installation + whatever the shipping is back and forth, the $700 for the Fox cartridge isn't really too far off. ok, you get a much better one with the avalanche but still.

the thing about swiss prices is that switzerland is a small market, there are few mailorder options within switz and bike shops don't hold a lot of inventory. so anything that you might need that isn't basic parts has to be either ordered by the bike shop (means max retail price usually) or has to be ordered from a website outside switz (so you get gigged extra for shipping and duty).

having said that, my go-to site is chainreaction in the UK - strong swiss franc and weak pound helps these days. i had a look at new forks and there are a few marzocchis and rockshox dc forks available (but no Fox 40s. i did find a new Fox 40 on a swiss site but it's 2000CHFs). is there a good fork here that would be a good replacement to a Fox 40 on a scott gambler? i might even consider a single crown if it's burly enough.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/C...rtBy=PriceDESC

Try a search for the part number - maybe you can find a better deal in Germany or France.
A mate might want to get rid of his BOS, but I think that'd be about 1500€...

i get exactly one hit for the damper part number 820-04-117 on google - to the fox service parts page!

Maybe you don't specifically need that one:
http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/f5/...bility-238215/

http://www.singletracks.com/blog/mtb...your-mtb-ride/

This one might also work:
http://www.toxoholics.de/FOX-BLOW-OU...--08-40-R.html

Originally Posted by Incompetent Boob

This one might also work:
http://www.toxoholics.de/FOX-BLOW-OU...--08-40-R.html

ooooh = that's be best deal so far. but it's an R and not RC2 - what's the diff? i presume not as good since it doesn't have as many letters/numbers.

Woo, I've spent a good amount of time on the rear shocks (retrofit and custom) and man, they feel good. I have not gotten to ride the 40, but if it is like the other avy carts I have bounced around on, it'll be pretty killer.

The cool thing about craig, is that he'll do what you want. Not what he thinks you what, or what he thinks you need (sound familiar in the suspension market?) but what you ask for.

I asked for a coil shock for my trail bike that was supple in the first half of the travel for traction/tracking, but nice and progressive after that. I told him I only wanted to use all the travel when I hit something really hard, not every xc ride. And, you know what? He delivered.

With the midvalve kit, I (assume) the fork will ride similar, in that you can set 25% sag, and not bottom out every single run, or have to avoid bottom out by cranking the compression on your fork all the way.

But that's just me. I'm a pretty average rider, and not a woo-level shredder, so take it as you will. Personally, I think it's lame that at 175lb, running the stiff spring in my van rc2, compression over half way in, I can bunnyhop off a curb and bottom the fork. Sag is only like 12-15%. It just plows thru the midstroke on bigger hits. Trail riding? It's great. I'm not gnar or extremeo, so that shouldn't happen. With the avalanche stuff I've had, it didn't.

If I had to buy a new fork right now, or retrofit mine with an avy, I would go avy 100%. Add on the fact you can reshim it yourself in about 15 minutes, and all the sudden you can't wish the manufacturer would do something different. E-mechanics everywhere now have the power to make their bikes ride really bad, all by themselves.

oh, check the install instructions on avy's page and see what the install takes.

It might just, you know, drop in.

Just swap for one of these?
http://www.hibike.de/shop/product/pd...-Maxle-DH.html

Fuck it. I just bought a new bike! End of season deals. I couldn't resist no mo.

My rebound blew today for no particular reason after having it completely rebuilt only about 7 or 9 riding days ago

Originally Posted by 300hp

oh, check the install instructions on avy's page and see what the install takes.

It might just, you know, drop in.

Thanks for all the info. There's some install instructions on the avalanche site. Looks pretty straightforward. I'm still just trying to decide if what I'm trying improve on my fork is a damping problem or a sticky air piston problem.

dooo it.

What fork?