manitou magnum r servicing

can anyone please tell me how to get the lower legs off these forks? ive noticed the dark circles at
the bottom of the leg but cant work out if they are duct covers or what. the manitou website says to
use 4 and 8 mm allen keys, but how!????

many thanks

panda

 

Hey Panda. Under the Preload cap on each upper, under the springs and elastomers should be a shaft
that connects the uppers and the lowers (it is this shaft that presses on the springs). Have a look
down inside with a pen-light and see if the top of that shaft has a 4mm or 8mm "female" hex to match
the short stubby not-quite-long-enough allen key you have.....then button everything back up and go
to a shop. Why? Well, I think you may have the wrong instructions. First generation Magnums had an
in-line dropout similar to an old Mag 21 or Quadra (rock shox products) and would not have had a 4mm
allen at the bottom of the fork for stanchion seperation, they would have had a plastic shaft,
threaded at the bottom with an Allen head at the top to hold it all together. Even in perfect
conditions, most shops used to strip these shafts out trying to remove them about half the time.
Second, if you have an newer set of Magnums, they should have a leading axle dropout, and the
smaller allen key would fit the spring side bolt and the larger one the damping side (tpc sport
side).....but, you have no bolts, only "dark circles"........ And lastly.... i believe (and I may be
wrong here) that the fork has grease inject ports in the back of each leg. These should have allowed
you to ride for a much longer interval than most forks between overhauls (if you pumped a squirt of
appropriate lube in there occasionally).... enabling you to save the cost of an overhaul for now,
when you can use the money for an overhaul. Good luck. Keith.

*------------------------------------------------*
* *
* "The knack lies in learning to throw yourself *
* -at the ground and miss" *
* D. Adams. *
* * *------------------------
-------------------------*
"panda" <[email protected]
hopthurstan.hull.sch.net>
wrote in message news:b1tc-
[email protected]
.theplanet.net...
> can anyone please tell me how to get the lower legs off these forks? ive noticed the dark circles
> at the bottom of the leg but cant work out if
they
> are duct covers or what. the manitou website says to use 4 and 8 mm allen keys, but how!????
>
> many thanks
>
> panda