Fork tools

[fungorus]

That welded nut on rod set up is same as mine only I used a wheel nut.......rounded part of nut makes a nice surface to weld to rod.........and I used hollow hills hoist tube.....

[AussiXS11G]

that last one looks exactly like mine but  used a bolt with the right size head.......

[pgnz]

Rod with suitable nut welded on,  19mm nut for the XS11

[melbxs]

do yours come undone easier if the if you leave the forks compressed till after you crack the bottom bolts??

That's what I did. Left the legs assembled and gave the allen bolt a bop with the impact driver. Luck more than judgement, but no welding required. 

[Eveready1100]

Steptoe, I always try first to get the allen bolts cracked and undone before undoing the fork caps to retain tension on the damper but my use of loctite in this application always ends up with me having to hold the rods to undo the bolts. I had a very bad experience in my teens on an AT1 mx bike and I've got the scars on my elbows to remind me never to let that happen again so Loctite it is!

Hey Carl. Got any pics of your setup? Sounds interesting.

[fungorus]

My fork tool is a piece of old hills hoist arm tube cut to length and a wheel nut welded to the end. This acts as the perfect allen key to undo bolt (fits neat into that funny looking star like bolt head). I drilled a hole at top of tube so I can put a screw driver or small bar (from spark plug tool) in top to stop from spinning. And for the bolt underneath an allen key with 1/2 inch socket connection used with socket wrench. Works a treat and cost me one welding rod.     

[steptoe]

do yours come undone easier if the if you leave the forks compressed till after you crack the bottom bolts??

[melbxs]

A bip with the impact driver got mine out in a second.

[Eveready1100]

I thought I'd share this little bit of info if it'll help anyone trying to get their forks apart.
These are what I use to hold the innards still while undoing the Allen bolt at the bottom of the sliders



Long bar is simply a 3/8th drive socket welded to a length of rod welded to a 3/8th extension bar.



Sockets are driven over the threaded end of bolts that fit in the damper rod end.
11/16ths head for the Special's forks - should be the same for RH's. 17mm is too small.
3/4 head bolt for the standard forks



This is how they fit in the end of the damper rod (previously inside fork tube)

Just feed the bolt down the inside of the fork tube till you feel it bottom on the damper. It may take a bit of wriggling to get it to engage in the recess but be patient.
NOTE - It will still require some downforce on the socket/bar/bolt to hold it properly as it's not an exact match to the damper recess, so it would be very helpful to have a helper to undo the Allen bolt from below. Otherwise, remove the spring and compress the fork so you can then reach both ends at once.

Hope this helps.