Squeaky front suspension

[Jerry]

Hi,

Have just developed a regular squeak in the front suspension of my 1999
Giant Alu Boulder Shock MTB. The fork is a Suntour M 7500. The manual warns
strongly against dissassembly at home (I had been thinking of doing this to
clean and grease it properly) so I have just some lube on the stanchions,
but not too much in case it just attracts more dirt into it and makes the
problem worse. This doesn't seem to have made much difference so far.

Does anyone know if this fork can be dissassembled (and reassembled!) or is
it a case of taking it to the LBS?

Thanks for any help.

Jerry

 

[Doki]

Jerry wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Have just developed a regular squeak in the front suspension of my
> 1999 Giant Alu Boulder Shock MTB. The fork is a Suntour M 7500. The
> manual warns strongly against dissassembly at home (I had been
> thinking of doing this to clean and grease it properly) so I have
> just some lube on the stanchions, but not too much in case it just
> attracts more dirt into it and makes the problem worse. This doesn't
> seem to have made much difference so far.
>
> Does anyone know if this fork can be dissassembled (and reassembled!)
> or is it a case of taking it to the LBS?

Most forks fitted on bikes in this price range are disposable. Servicing one
properly is nearly the cost of a replacement.

 

[Werehatrack]

On Fri, 18 Jun 2004 19:36:37 +0100, "Jerry"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Have just developed a regular squeak in the front suspension of my 1999
>Giant Alu Boulder Shock MTB. The fork is a Suntour M 7500. The manual warns
>strongly against dissassembly at home (I had been thinking of doing this to
>clean and grease it properly) so I have just some lube on the stanchions,
>but not too much in case it just attracts more dirt into it and makes the
>problem worse. This doesn't seem to have made much difference so far.
>
>Does anyone know if this fork can be dissassembled (and reassembled!) or is
>it a case of taking it to the LBS?

It can probably be dismantled, but you probably won't find either a
service manual or instructions for the unit, and spare parts may not
be obtainable either. Whether *you* can take it apart with any hope
of getting it back together in a usable condition is not something
that I can speculate about with any accuracy at this distance. This
class of fork is not intended to be repaired; replacement is generally
cheaper than fixing it. I've taken apart exactly one Suntour fork;
the pieces weren't worth reassembling once I found out what was wrong
with it. (It was doing things much more serious than squeaking.)

If it still works, I'd recommend that you live with the squeak but be
aware that the fork is quite possibly reaching the end of its service
life, though it may very well continue to squeak along for quite a
while.

 

[Jerry]

Many thanks for the advice, doesn't sound like its worth spending time
trying to do much with it. It is still working at the moment despite the
squeaks so think I'll try and put up with it a little longer and then
upgrade to a better fork.

Thanks, Jerry

"Jerry" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hi,
>
> Have just developed a regular squeak in the front suspension of my 1999
> Giant Alu Boulder Shock MTB. The fork is a Suntour M 7500. The manual
warns
> strongly against dissassembly at home (I had been thinking of doing this
to
> clean and grease it properly) so I have just some lube on the stanchions,
> but not too much in case it just attracts more dirt into it and makes the
> problem worse. This doesn't seem to have made much difference so far.
>
> Does anyone know if this fork can be dissassembled (and reassembled!) or
is
> it a case of taking it to the LBS?
>
> Thanks for any help.
>
> Jerry
>
>