CB360 fork seal removal

[randy lahey]

I've read about many other peoples struggles about getting out old fork seals, but mine seem to be a real bastard. I've got all the rubber out through picking at them and burning them, but these metal rings just will not budge... the can be removed right? I've tried prying, tried heating with a torch, tried freezing them first, etc. to no avail. Any suggestions?

 

[hillsy]

Get a flat bladed screwdriver and pry them out. Put something on the fork outer to stop the screwdriver marking the top of the fork leg. Use some force.

 

[2_DONE_THE_TON]

What hillsy said,I did the same on all my forks.

I tend to heat the OUTSIDE of the fork tube (just around where the fork seal sits),put the fork lower in a vice grip (soft faces) and use a thick rag to protect the top of the fork bottom from scratching when I pry them out with a flat screwdriver....the trick is not to stick to one side but more to move from side to side prying.

I hope you didnt melt the rubber together with the aluminium when you heated the seal up and not the aluminium around it...

 

[adventurco]

Yep I have had good luck wrapping the fork leg in a rag and putting it in the vice, then using a long pry bar and a thin block of wood or ABS to lay on the aluminum to protect it. Pry perpendicular to the vice so the leg doesn't move. I've never needed to heat 'em before. Be careful, as its very easy to score the inside of the fork leg where the seal seats when fighting with them.

 

[Kamn]

judging by the marks on top of the fork tube in the pic, he has been prying on them. This can happen occasionally where a seal is glued to the tube. If you have the ability to place it in boiling water for a while, this will help to release the seal from the tube + the tube will expand slightly .........then pry them out while still hot, and place something on the tube for your pry to rest on and not indent the aluminum

 

[randy lahey]

The one in the picture I haven't touched. The other one, half out of frame, is what I was working on. I posted this after I gave up trying. I heated it, tried prying with a wrench and a welding glove under it. Hammered on it enough to leave marks on the fork upper, even tried using an air duster upside down to spray cold shit on it.... no luck. I've got them soaking in WD40 beside the woodstove now.

 

[irk miller]

Heat the fork around the seal, then take some CRC Freeze off or similar nitrogen remover and spray the seal. The nitrogen alone may do it without heat.


Sent from my iPhone using DO THE TON

 

[jpmobius]

I run into this rarely, but sometimes it is so difficult to remove the seals that you run a very real risk of damaging - even breaking the fork lower, even with heat, a nice smooth wide offset pry bar (like a tire lever) and rags for protection. When this happens, I take a die grinder with a small carbide burr and very carefully cut the steel shell of the seal until I can crack the almost cut through section and peel the rest out. If you are careful you can cut very nearly all the way through the seal and not cut into the aluminum. When it is thin enough, you can get something really thin behind one side of the cut and pry it away toward the center of the leg, cracking the thin sliver of steel that is left. Once that happens the seal should come out very easily.

 

[irk miller]

I've done this ^ too. It works. I usually do it after the freeze off doesn't work.

 

[randy lahey]

Well, I succeeded. I soaked them in WD40 overnight, then spent a little more time with the propane torch. After using a tire spoon (long and flat, with a lip on the end) as leverage, a welding glove under it to protect the finish, and hammering on it they popped right out! Seems easy in hindsight......