Judy SL

[David11lund]

Hello, i have taken owner ship of a marin bike which has come with some Judy SL i am not sure of the year but i want to have a go and a service as they need it! I have un done the bottom bolts but i cant pull the lowers away i have removed another bolt from with in one of the legs but still no joy?? Does it need a bit more brute strenght? I didnt want to go mad incase i have missed something. Also how do i remove the tops to get into the forks? As you can see i do need some newer parts and if anyone has any caps/bits please let me know.

Any advice would help. Regards

 

[merckx]

put the bolts back in, but only do them up a few turns, so they still sit proud of the yellow slider tubes.

then give each bolt a tap with a mallet or hammer.

you just need to dislodge the cartridge rods from the inside of the slider tubes, they get stuck together, its normal.

take the bolts out again after this, and the sliders should come off no problems.

thats a lovely fork, its an early one, one of the first generation of Judy

 

[David11lund]

Cheers mate will give that a go, any ideas how to undo the top to get into the forks?? Managed to get a really lightweight Marin with atx rc front rear, middle burn crank xt v's mavic rims for £80!

 

[We_are_Stevo]

...any ideas how to undo the top to get into the forks??

Just undo the plastic cap in the top of the stanchion; all it does is hold the elastomer stack in place and add a little pre-load. If you break them trying to get them out I may have a couple of spares...

 

[David11lund]

Cheers for the advice, I will try it all tomorrow, as you can see I am missing one red cap. How do the black caps come off they seen stuck on!

 

[jim-laden]

How do the black caps come off they seen stuck on!

They just unscrew. You may have to use a pair of Mole grips or a pipe wrench to grip them. Just go easy so you don't chew them up. Very straight forward and they have a very coarse thread so once they move they are basically out.

So in a few days we can expect the "My elastomers have turned to dust where can I get some new ones/springs" thread!!

Answer is ebay (us)

Jim

 

[jonboy]

Cheers for the advice, I will try it all tomorrow, as you can see I am missing one red cap. How do the black caps come off they seen stuck on!

The easiest way to get the top cap out of the leg is to undo the 2 clamp bolts on each side of the crown.

I have the same age Judy DH forks and I can't undo the caps on mine with the bolts done up. I can turn them with my fingers when the bolts are backed off.

You are likely to find the cartridges have either shed their oil, or will do when you take the outer legs off. It's not an issue - they can be refilled without too much hassle. These forks are easy to service your self.

 

[jonboy]

How do the black caps come off they seen stuck on!

They just unscrew. You may have to use a pair of Mole grips or a pipe wrench to grip them. Just go easy so you don't chew them up. Very straight forward and they have a very coarse thread so once they move they are basically out.

So in a few days we can expect the "My elastomers have turned to dust where can I get some new ones/springs" thread!!

Answer is ebay (us)

Jim

I really wouldn't recommend using a mole grip or pipe wrench, unless they are absolutely stuck fast. Try gripping them with a tea towel or with gloves on first.

 

[We_are_Stevo]

Cheers for the advice, I will try it all tomorrow, as you can see I am missing one red cap. How do the black caps come off they seen stuck on!

The easiest way to get the top cap out of the leg is to undo the 2 clamp bolts on each side of the crown.

Not quite so easy with bonded stanchions though...

Molegrips will be okay just to break the corroded seal so long as you don't crush the caps by gripping too tight, or round them off by not gripping tight enough! :?

In other words, gently does it...

 

[merckx]

they can be hard to undo ( the top caps) due to the preload compression of the elastomer stack pushing against them.

yes, try and avoid using pliers etc, try a rag over them and then hand strength, slow and solid.

the adjuster knob on top is a bit cosmetic really, the adjusters don't do an awful lot....but yeah if you would like to replace them, they are the kind of thing guys on here sometimes have spares of.

personally, i would suggest running steel coil springs in them once you have them cleaned up, as opposed to elastpmers. steel coils are easier to manage long term, and give slightly better performance to new elastomers.