On Sep 6, 7:24 pm,
[email protected] wrote:
> I have taken delivery of a '97 GT LTS DH. It came with Rock Shox Judy
> DH forks (dual crown). Can these forks be serviced, or should I be
> buying new forks? I' m not a downhiller, I just love the bike's design.
> I'm just a commuter really.
>
> Are there manuals available anywhere? Are aftermarket parts available?
> I am hoping to strip and powdercoat the forks, so want to ensure that
> my investment will not be totally wasted.
The forks can be serviced but parts may be hard to come by. If you
google carefully you should be able to find a digital copy of
Barnett's bike manual somewhere on the web that will explain how to
rebuild them. According to Barnett's, the '97 Judy DH has a
rebuildable damping cartridge. Replacment cartridges may be available
but you won't get much help from Rock Shox/ Sram- After about three
years they don't even bother to track replacement parts for older
shocks even when they might have compatible parts from current fork
models. You can probably find seals but if you need bushings it might
be worth it to just replace the forks. According to Barnett's, "Good
bushings have a gray coating. Worn bushings have a gold or bronze
appearance where the coating has worn away." Or there is noticeable
play in the forks. Judys are considered to have excessively thin upper
tubes and a more contemporary downhill shock would presumably have
fatter, stiffer tubes, hence you might not want to spend $100
replacing bushings. It is also possible that the cartridge, bushings
and seals are pretty much okay and that you could open the fork up,
clean everything up, replace the oil, put it back together and ride
fine for a while.
Google, google, google. There is info out there on how to navigate the
maze of parts for Judy shocks, but you have to be persistent following
links. If you have $400+ to spare you could just buy a new fork, but
if your fork seems more or less okay and you don't mind spending some
time on the research, you can rebuild your fork.
