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