Honda Fork Seal Removal

Rocan

"Long after I rest, my steel will live on"
Every so often, you get a stuck seal. now, there are two ways to get them out. the hard way or the easy way.

Here, we have a stuck seal. it didnt pop out when i removed the fork, so now well need to find a way to take it out.
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Take your fork and place the damper rod back inside it. i included the damper rod spring, but you dont need to do this.
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now place the fork back into the lower, as if you were to install it.
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tighten up the damper rod using the rod bolt. i used the original spring to hold it in place as i turned, but its not necessary. it just makes it easier.
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remove the spring from the fork.
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fill the fork with water. as much as possible while leaving just enough room for the top cap (and enough airspace so that you can get the cap on... plan ahead)
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with the cap installed, push down on the fork a million and one times with as much force as you can, with a towel underneith it to protect the bolts from bending and other mayhem. The stupider you look, the better of a job you are doing. ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXC8jqwgNBM

once that fails, make your life easier and find a way to wedge the fork between a hard place and a car jack, as seen in the following video i created.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ny83QDlLwFM

with the cap off, proceed to clean every corner of the fork as you can get too, using a long wood stick with cloth wrapped around it to get deep inside the fork. rebuild like normal. I will make a video on rebuilding the forks once i get the lowered polished.

Heres the seal removed...
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theboxrules said:
Brilliant!

thanks man! i have no access to a video camera right now, so i cant make a video on how to rebuild the forks. i guess i could take pictures and add to this thread... but video makes it easier i think. hell, its so easy i wouldnt mind taking forks apart again just to make the video!
 
I just use a big ass flat screwdriver to pry it out. Takes 10 seconds, tops.
 
DrJ said:
I just use a big ass flat screwdriver to pry it out. Takes 10 seconds, tops.

mine wouldnt come out with that. also it started nicking up the fork lower, so i used the other method. ;D
 
This is an old post but I believe I have something useful to add here. I never have any problem at all removing the seals, no matter how badly they seem to be stuck and I do not mar the lower leg with my approach.


I have a 3-foot-long prybar that has a flat blade on one end that is about 3/4" (19mm) wide and will slip just under the seal. I use it to pry the seals out in one single push and it never puts any scratches in anything the the seals come out. Its really just a matter of overwhelming force being applied. Don't mess around with screwdrivers or homemade pullers, just get a very long inflexible lever and pop that little booger out of there.


Just to explain the mechanical advantage here it works like this. The distance from the bottom of the seal to the opposite and upper side of the fork leg is approximately 25mm, the total length of the prybar is approximately 1 meter, the ratio of the two is 1:40, meaning that whatever pressure I exert on the long end will be multiplied by 40 while the distance moved will be 1/40th. So when I push down with 20 pounds force on the end of my bar - which is not much effort - it exerts 800 pounds of force at the seal; I move the bar a couple of inches and the seal moves up a quarter inch and pops out. To achieve the same force with a typical long screwdriver (let us say a foot long) requires roughly three times the force (about 60 pounds) be exerted to achieve the same effect, albeit over a shorter distance. Let leverage be your friend.


Anyway, get a real long prybar and they pop right out, it takes about 3 seconds and I've never seen it fail no matter how bad they seem.
 
Or, as I just did - Boil that sucker.

Seriously, put the fork lower upside down in a pot of boiling water for about 10 minutes, grab a hammer, put a shop rag between the part and the hammer and pry it out. Took zero effort at all they literally just came right out. ( this is the same part I couldn't get out with a 25" pry bar.
 
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