judy sl forks, talk to me!

so i just won a pair of judy sl forks from ebay, they didn't look to bad in the pics but in the flesh they suck a bit.

i quickly pulled them apart, one of the stantions is in awful shape, although with a major polish etc it will work but not great, also the elastomers are pretty dead and the paint isn't great.



but i'm gonna persevere with them, so from these pictures, which spring system is this? type 3? i need some elastomers for my proflex so i thought i'd sort an order from suspensionforkparts.com but i just wanted to confirm that they were indeed type 3.

also if anyone happens to have a stantion spare that would be cool, 32cm long by 28mm diameter.

IMG_1240 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

IMG_1242 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

IMG_1239 by Dr. Branom, on Flickr

Type 2

Aren't the stanchions pressed into the crown?

i thought the type 2 had shorter elastomers? and the crown on the SL has a bolted crown

I have what must be late type1 judys with press fitted stanchions and type2 that have press fit stanchions.

Type 3 was all coil spring from 1998. You have the Type 2 version from 1997
The crown with bolt-on stanchions for Judy SL was 1995 only. XC and DH continued to have it in 96 and 97 I think but with a steel steerer.
The one piece lowers you have are from 1997.

That stanchion is buggered, keep it for fitting races or things.

If it is original (probably not and someone's pulled a fast one, but they may have cut the crown off) then the bushings are probably toast as well.
Cut your losses as you need another pair of forks, keep the damper if it's good.
Also looks like the bosses are not Ti either ?

Damper should be a metal damper, probably silver.
If you are mad and want to keep on going
They did had Type-II springs/MCU mix, but just fit springs as they soon switched to the type3 spring/spring setup. Don't get the suspension fork parts elastomer, they are not what these had and as far as I know they are just standard elastomer and not the MCU type used in these.


If the crown is Alu though and nice and long (200mm+) then it's not so bad as they demand a higher price, if it shorter and fits you setup then find some better forks.
(edit, found it http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rock-Shox-Jud ... 7675.l2557 long 1" steerer )

just spent some time working on the forks, the cartridge is dead, the oil has come out and the piston is scored, the cartridge stanction is as above, in a right mess although cleaning and polishing it now feels smooth. i have removed the stickers from the legs and given them a light sanding.

i'll paint them in the same yellow if i can find some then reassemble the fork with new elastomers and run it without any dampening and see what it's like.

also i have just bought another 1995 judy xc (which has a replaceable crown) that looks pretty good, the main reason i got the SL's was because the 1inch forks so worst case i can use the judy xc with the SL crown.

Buying used judys is a minefield! If you want a full set of springs for these, I have a set in red (medium I believe) I will let to for £20. They are nos so no risk of a shoddy used part.

I've spent time and money on crap judys but have amassed a small collection of good ones now, though I really should fit some to a bike

I may have a spare stanchion too if you are still after one. Not 100% sure though.

I am the same, I have about 8 pairs of them and about 2 of them are scrap, 2 are usable but on a limited lifespan and 4 are what I can only describe as as good as you can buy internally.