Taking rust off of fork tubes?

woody1981

woody1981

Coast to Coast
DTT BOTM WINNER
What ways have people found is a good way to take rust off of the upper fork legs? Its just the area under where my headlight ears were. I wanted to hear people opinions before I tackled it...

Thanks in advance.
Woody
 
The finest steel wool money can buy and oil. That should do the trick, and it shouldn't scratch up the tubes.
 
woody1981 said:
What kind of oil? Motor oil? 3-in-1 oil? Fork oil? WD-40 oil? Baby oil? ;)
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Some swear by WD40. I used 5-30 motor oil and it worked just fine
 
DrJ said:
Some swear by the old tin foil and cola trick.
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Hey DrJ, care to elaborate a bit on this? What do you exactly do with those two? Do you put cola on the rust and then rub with the foil?
 
HerrDeacon said:
Hey DrJ, care to elaborate a bit on this? What do you exactly do with those two? Do you put cola on the rust and then rub with the foil?
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Just put some coke in a bowl, ball up some foil, get it wet with coke, and scrub lightly. I just did this to the Katana forks the other day.
 
tobiism said:
Just put some coke in a bowl, ball up some foil, get it wet with coke, and scrub lightly. I just did this to the Katana forks the other day.
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Cool, I'll have to give this a try as I have some little bits of rust on the tubes. Thanks.
 
The Cola trick works OK for light rust. I just removed tarnish and light rust from my forks today. I used 400 grit sand paper then 900 then 1200 plus steel wool. The picture was taken at about 80% of the work done. (and has not been buffed yet)
 
Is fine steelwool still the best choice for the UPPER fork legs? Like the chrome above the area that the lowers... the area where it slides is fine... its the area where the headlight ears were.

Wood
 
It reall depends on the how much rust there is.

A lot of rust - I use electrolysis with pretty good results. I also use this method for hard to reach areas.
Some rust- use sand paper and steel wool
Light rust or chromed surface- try the coke and steel wool method

If not sure which method to use then start with the coke method and work up.
 
I actually just did (like 15 mins ago) an experiment with some old crappy crash bar. I used PB blaster and 320 emery cloth. dont use emery with your forks though. use steel wool. spray on the PB let is sit for a while and then start rubbing. Keep the forks wet with PB. It worked really well on this project. I wish I had a camera here at work because these bars had light to deep rust and almost all the rust came off. probably 95% rust free. the chrome was still in tact also. it was scratched by the 320 obviously though.

late
 
PB blaster is a penetrating lube similar to WD-40 but alot better. I usually use it to loosen rusty bolts that I need to save. You can usually get it at most auto parts stores.
 
spankey said:
PB blaster is a penetrating lube similar to WD-40 but alot better. I usually use it to loosen rusty bolts that I need to save. You can usually get it at most auto parts stores.
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Yeah, I love PB Blaster. Anytime I have to work on the car, I always soak the bolts with it a day or two in advance.
 
NOT similar to WD40...WD40 is not a penetrant. People oft think it is, and if used as one its crap. Its best useage is for water repellant. on contacts and what not. PB Blaster is THE SINGLE best penetrant i have ever used. Its helped break loose nuts and bolts that i was sure i was going to have to cut off.
 
TonUpSoldier said:
NOT similar to WD40...WD40 is not a penetrant. People oft think it is, and if used as one its crap. Its best useage is for water repellant. on contacts and what not. PB Blaster is THE SINGLE best penetrant i have ever used. Its helped break loose nuts and bolts that i was sure i was going to have to cut off.
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GEEZ, I did not know people are so protective of their LUBE? ;D :D.
I agree. PB is the best!
 
I tried polishing the rust off of my fork tubes but the rust quickly came back. ( I live very close to the ocean) Any reccomendations to prevent that?
 
Oil them after you polish them. Just a light coat of clean motor oil will do. Worked for me anyway. Tho my problem was only on the uppers where they would never get touched by the wiping action of the seals.
 
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