Tool Time

[Roxtar]

What people don't realize until they've actually done it is that it's a completely different type of process than normal chain lubing.
They think of doing the whole wax process like they drip lube.

The beauty of immersive waxing is that:
1) You only do it every 3 weeks or so.
2) When you do it, it's a sideline to whatever you're actually doing that day. Take a Saturday afternoon doing chores. Turn on the crock pot. Go about your day. An hour or so later, snap off the quick link and drop the chain in the wax. Walk away. 15 minutes later, pull it out and hang. Some time later, pop it back on the bike.

Yes, the entire process takes an hour (due to the crock pot heating) but are you actually doing anything all that time?
No
The time spent actually doing anything is literally a few minutes.

Push "ON" switch.
Put bike in stand, pull quick link, pull chain, arrange on hanger, drop in wax - 3 minutes tops.
Repeat in reverse order - 3 more minutes.

Probably takes more time to do a proper drip lube that you're having to repeat every few rides.

[EWG]

What people don't realize until they've actually done it is that it's a completely different type of process than normal chain lubing.
They think of doing the whole wax process like they drip lube.

The beauty of immersive waxing is that:
1) You only do it every 3 weeks or so.
2) When you do it, it's a sideline to whatever you're actually doing that day. Take a Saturday afternoon doing chores. Turn on the crock pot. Go about your day. An hour or so later, snap off the quick link and drop the chain in the wax. Walk away. 15 minutes later, pull it out and hang. Some time later, pop it back on the bike.

Yes, the entire process takes an hour (due to the crock pot heating) but are you actually doing anything all that time?
No
The time spent actually doing anything is literally a few minutes.

Push "ON" switch.
Put bike in stand, pull quick link, pull chain, arrange on hanger, drop in wax - 3 minutes tops.
Repeat in reverse order - 3 more minutes.

Probably takes more time to do a proper drip lube that you're having to repeat every few rides.

I'm a progold zealot and have never waxed chains, so not sure of the steps. In your list above, are you also cleaning the chain you are taking off the bike at some point?

[Roxtar]

I'm a progold zealot and have never waxed chains, so not sure of the steps. In your list above, are you also cleaning the chain you are taking off the bike at some point?

No.
The chain has a wax coating so it stays clean.
Since I'm in New Mexico, every ride leaves the bike covered in dust so I do a quick rinse after each ride to keep the grit at bay but no real cleaning.
If you didn't do this perhaps you should add a light chain rinsing (on bike) before waxing it.
Add another 30 seconds to the process for this

[Roxtar]

My personal take on the process makes it even easier.
I start with two chains and rotate them. Doing so allows me to just swap in the waxed chain whenever I feel it's time. I then have a few weeks in which to find a convenient time to get the waxing done and have the next one ready.
It doesn't actually cost any more because each chain gets half the wear so they last the same as replacing one at a time. Associated components actually last longer because you're spreading out the wear process.

[nickwm21]

…the queso thread is splooging all over this one…


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[Roxtar]

We'll go anywhere to preach the good news and make converts.
Bless you, my son.

[chicken feathers]

So do you reuse quick links? Or are you replacing them every X amount of waxes?

Excuse my ignorance as I almost never take a chain off until it’s time to replace them.

[jm2e]

As with much evangelizing, the message is inestimable, The converts are exiguous.
The contrariety remains invariable.


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[Gunder]

Bunch of new suspension tooling

Fox drawer

Rock shocks drawer

The OSO shock Dyno is already paying for its self. Wish I had bought one sooner.

[XXX-er]

Wow someone is going to have serious tool envy

what do you do and what do you charge , or do you have a website ?

[Andeh]

1) Anyone have a recommendation for large (23, 24, 25, 28 mm) crow's foot wrenches for properly torquing stuff in suspension rebuilds? The shit I've gotten off Amazon is too tall to fit some of the spots you've got to wrench on a Charger 3 damper. Even 1 really good adjustable crow's foot might work too.

2) What's the best way to get the goddamn Rockshox vise soft jaws (the grey ones, not the bitty brass ones) to keep from falling out of the vise, especially when covered in suspension oil? There's a little hole drilled in one end from each, I was wondering if there's a magnet you can stuff in there. This last time I held each in place with a bit of Gorilla tape, but since you're flipping from 10mm to flat every other step in a damper service, that's a PITA.

[Roxtar]

So do you reuse quick links? Or are you replacing them every X amount of waxes?

Excuse my ignorance as I almost never take a chain off until it’s time to replace them.

I've been doing this for several years now and have replaced exactly one quick link (it broke while disconnecting).
Literally dozens of re-uses without a failure.
That whole "one-use" warning thing is the evil spawn of a demonic union between marketing and lawyerspeak.

The above statement represents the opinion of a fictitious forum user and should be looked upon as purely conjecture. All known or unknown sexual unions between the aforementioned parties can not actually be proven to have taken place in the Pits of Hell

[Roxtar]

1) Anyone have a recommendation for large (23, 24, 25, 28 mm) crow's foot wrenches for properly torquing stuff in suspension rebuilds? The shit I've gotten off Amazon is too tall to fit some of the spots you've got to wrench on a Charger 3 damper. Even 1 really good adjustable crow's foot might work too.

If you can find one of these:

https://www.modernbike.com/barnett-b...-adapter-twa-2

They allow any box or open end wrench to be used in a torque wrench.

[Gunder]

Wow someone is going to have serious tool envy

what do you do and what do you charge , or do you have a website ?

My day job has been shooting ski and bike pics full time the last 25 years. This summer I started a suspension service business here in Bellingham. Was supposed to be a side gig but it quickly evolved into a full time gig.

https://pnwsuspensionservice.com

I specialize in damper rebuilds / revalving (tuning) and am a Vorsprung dealer.

[jm2e]

My day job has been shooting ski and bike pics full time the last 25 years. This summer I started a suspension service business here in Bellingham. Was supposed to be a side gig but it quickly evolved into a full time gig.

https://pnwsuspensionservice.com

I specialize in damper rebuilds / revalving (tuning) and am a Vorsprung dealer.

Put it in your sig?


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[Lvovsky]

Bunch of new suspension tooling

Fox drawer

Rock shocks drawer

The OSO shock Dyno is already paying for its self. Wish I had bought one sooner.

Where does one find foam that is cost effective? And how do you cut it? Exacto knife?

[Andeh]

If you can find one of these:

https://www.modernbike.com/barnett-b...-adapter-twa-2

They allow any box or open end wrench to be used in a torque wrench.

Thanks, once I knew what search term to use, I found a similar item on Amazon for $52. From the customer reviews, it sounds like you can even put a set of Knipex in it, which sounds perfect.

[Gunder]

1) Anyone have a recommendation for large (23, 24, 25, 28 mm) crow's foot wrenches for properly torquing stuff in suspension rebuilds? The shit I've gotten off Amazon is too tall to fit some of the spots you've got to wrench on a Charger 3 damper. Even 1 really good adjustable crow's foot might work too.

2) What's the best way to get the goddamn Rockshox vise soft jaws (the grey ones, not the bitty brass ones) to keep from falling out of the vise, especially when covered in suspension oil? There's a little hole drilled in one end from each, I was wondering if there's a magnet you can stuff in there. This last time I held each in place with a bit of Gorilla tape, but since you're flipping from 10mm to flat every other step in a damper service, that's a PITA.

Cheap crowfeet suck. They all either spread, don't have very good tolerances or have a shitty finish that will damage sensitive parts.
I have a full set of Snapon ones that work very well.

Williams is a Snapon owned company and their wrenches, sockets and crowfeet are almost identical to Snapon for a fraction of the costs.

The teardrop shaped cutout in a Park cone wrench is also designed to be used as a Crowfoot.

In fact that was the only way to properly build the original Smashpots.


I machine dovetails to go on all of my shaft clamps. This works with my custom interchangeable vise jaws that I made.

Best system I've found other than the very expensive Laba7 or Anbdrenalli ones.

Where does one find foam that is cost effective? And how do you cut it? Exacto knife?

Use tooled.de for my main tool drawers. ITs the best stuff I have found. For drawers with lots of specialty tooling and ones that I tend to change around more often I use the Kaizen foam from Fastcap. It costs best with OLFA style knifes with new blades.

[Andeh]

Thanks, I saw the Park cone wrenches' description mentioned that but didn't understand how it would work since I didn't see an obvious square hole. If the adapter thing sucks, I'll think about either the Williams CF or the Park cone wrenches.

[rideit]

Am I weird for imagining breaking into Gunder’s garage…but not to steal anything.
Just to sit there for a few hours in awe and wonder.

Maybe even leave some cookies, and lock up when I’m done?

[Name Redacted]

My garage is just like his, only the complete opposite.

[jm2e]

My garage is just like his, only the complete opposite.

X100


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[Gunder]

Am I weird for imagining breaking into Gunder’s garage…but not to steal anything.
Just to sit there for a few hours in awe and wonder.

Maybe even leave some cookies, and lock up when I’m done?

My garage is just like his, only the complete opposite.

X100


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You guys are funny.

You can remove dampers / airshafts by using a socket (fox) or a bolt for (Rockshocks), but when you do enough of them, that sucks. I purchased the Fox factory tools years ago, and it's been really nice. Recently I bought a bunch of suspension tools off of a shop and they had this cheaply made Rockshocks version of the tool. Not liking the quality, is used it as motivation to modify the Fox factory version that I also got from the same shop. Made sense as I didnt need two sets of those!

I drilled and then tapped it to accept the M8 thread that RS uses. Proper way to do this would be on the lathe, but I still haven't gotten around to converting it from 3Phase power.

I applied a ton of red lock tight to the Stainless M8 all thread and inserted it into the Fox tool using a nut and jam nut to tighten it in.
I now have a dedicated Rock Shocks damper / air shaft removal tool thats built to last.

Continuing on the making tools theme, My Push 11.6 blew up. The seals on one of the compression pipit valves failed causing it to instantly loose all fluid mid ride.... not fun and not stoked since they just rebuilt it a few months ago. Instead of sending it to Push, I decided to do the service myself. Especially since based upon these tooling marks from the last service they did a shit job.

The 11.6 only requires two special tools to open it up

The first is this Facom pin spanner for removing the main seal head.

The second tool is a 4 pin spanner wrench for removing the compression Popit valves. This I needed to make.

I machined a spanner wrench with the proper size bore to clear the Popit valve shafts. This needs to fit snugly, so the pin spanner wont slip and damage the valve covers. Not critical, but we dont want to do any damage. Then I used the Bridgport to space the four 1/16" holes for the pins.

Steel pins would be better for this, but I dont have a reamer smaller enough to do the proper press fit, so I used roll pins. Should be plenty strong for this application.

The finished tool.

And here is a fully torn down 11.6 Its very simple to service, and is very similar to a Fox DHX. It even uses the same main piston seal as a DHX.... The only thing thats really special about it, and its Push's special sauce is the massive shim stack they run in these for the custom tuned valving. The valving shim stack configuration is all that makes these special.

I have a Telum on order. Will probably tear it down once I get it and do a side by side comparison.

[Gunder]

Got tired of constantly searching for bleed adapters and bullet tools so machined up this rack out of Delrin to hold them. Added a groove around the circumference to capture any oil that might drip.


It’s absurd how many different bleed fittings there are. Fox is the worst with 4 different versions.



These bullet tools are for installing seals on suspension damper shafts. You can do it with out them, but they protect the seals from the edges of the shafts so they last longer.

[scrublover]

Best snap ring pliers for the stupid fucking little snap-ring in some of the Guide brake lever/master cylander assemblies...? I've got some nice ones already...that won't quite get in there.

Re-habing a buddies ride and am charging him beer/parts/any new tools I might need...