Fork Oil

[Junker]

I need to replace the springs and oil in my 1989 Venture. I have done many fork overhauls but never on something with air ride. Taking them apart and puting them back to gether is pretty straight forward but refilling the oil has me questioning what I am reading. Can you fill the forks from the top like any other fork or do you need to fill the lower tube through another means? Besides new fork seals is there anything that needs to be changed while I am in there?

 

Thanks

 

Junker

[MiCarl]

The only difference to a non-air fork is you need to make sure you bleed the air off before you start taking things apart. You pour oil in from the top and set the level with the fork compressed before installing the spring.

 

You should replace bushings any time you disassemble. Might want to have new o-rings on hand too.

 

Two things to watch for: 1) there is a foam ring between the air joint and top bridge. If you don't hang on to them while you pull the fork through they end up behind the radiator.

2) there is a circlip around the inner tube to hold the air joint up, you need to take it off to pull the tube through the lower tree.