Fox float rebuilding/upgrading?

[roughrider99]

hey, i got a set of fox floats that are in major need of an overhaul, noticeable amount of oil coming out of one shock, Can a guy service/rebuild fox floats themselves or are there special tools needed? i was also planning on doing the Evol upgrade to.

 

[F-Bomb]

The 2011 Fox Evol R's are awesome! I also have Evol X's and they are exceptional but probably overkill for 99% of the recreational sledding world. The R's are pretty simple with less combos of air and settings for people to mess with. If you want a rebuild Carl's in Boise Id is about as elite as they get. 208-853-5550 Chris in Performance. Being north of the border is a bit of a slow down hassle but we still ship all kinds of new and used product back and forth daily. FED EX air and warranty replacement repair are the keys!

 

[roughrider99]

ya the evols are the cheap upgrade and alternative i need compared to a new set of coil overs. about 90% of the trails i ride are never groomed and extremely whooped out and stuff wears out and breaks quickly. can a guy rebuild and upgrade to evols by themselves? if i can;t do it myself i will be sending them to h2r distributing.

 

[Dogmeat]

The best upgrade you can do to a fox float or any air shock for that matter is to junk it and buy a good coil over

 

[DTR]

you can service them yourself, IF you have the equipment (Nitrogen gas, regulator, needle valve, etc). You can buy rebuild kits that include all O-rings, seals,etc, but the rest of the equipment will run you about $300.

I do all my own and my buddys at $50/shock.

 

[mountainhorse]

You need special equipment as DTR points out... and someone to show you what to do.

IMO... send them to someone that knows what they are doing.

If you simply have green oil coming out and not red oil... you simply have leaking air sleeve seals... You can replace those without special tools.

Go to the foxracingshox.com site and go to the download section... there are instructions for that there.

The basic, Non-Float2/EVOL, shocks are worth upgrading to the float 2's IMO... a bit pricey but less than new shocks.

There are two upgrade "packages" out there right now...
1) Evol upgrade... It does NOT upgrade the internals ...piston, valving, neg-air-spring,

2) Float 2 upgrade.. it does give you new pistons, valving, neg air spring and higher air volume... This really improves the ride quality of the float shocks.

IMO.. For the float 2's... go with the EVOL kit upgrade...For the Standard floats.. go with the Float 2 upgrade.

When properly valved, the float 2 With the EVOL upgrade and float EVOL R's (once set) are equal performers.

When choosing the service center... It is VERY important that they have extensive experience not only in the technical aspects of servicing shocks... but that they will KNOW how to valve the shock for your sled, riding style, weight and terrain.... This is the biggest difference in true high perf shock.....

Worth doing a bit of homework to find the right service center... certainly worth a bit of HST... I think that Carls can return them using the Postal Priority mail system so that you dont get into expensive customs fees like you will have with non Govt. couriers.

Good luck.

 

[Dogmeat]

The best upgrade you can do to a fox float or any air shock for that matter is to junk it and buy a good coil over

I'm seriously just LMAO @ the guys giving me "bad rep" for trashing on air shocks ROTFL ...

Seriously, do you guys ride at all or do you only weigh a buck 20 wet and wearing boots?

 

[roughrider99]

You need special equipment as DTR points out... and someone to show you what to do.

IMO... send them to someone that knows what they are doing.

If you simply have green oil coming out and not red oil... you simply have leaking air sleeve seals... You can replace those without special tools.

Go to the foxracingshox.com site and go to the download section... there are instructions for that there.

The basic, Non-Float2/EVOL, shocks are worth upgrading to the float 2's IMO... a bit pricey but less than new shocks.

There are two upgrade "packages" out there right now...
1) Evol upgrade... It does NOT upgrade the internals ...piston, valving, neg-air-spring,

2) Float 2 upgrade.. it does give you new pistons, valving, neg air spring and higher air volume... This really improves the ride quality of the float shocks.

IMO.. For the float 2's... go with the EVOL kit upgrade...For the Standard floats.. go with the Float 2 upgrade.

When properly valved, the float 2 With the EVOL upgrade and float EVOL R's (once set) are equal performers.

When choosing the service center... It is VERY important that they have extensive experience not only in the technical aspects of servicing shocks... but that they will KNOW how to valve the shock for your sled, riding style, weight and terrain.... This is the biggest difference in true high perf shock.....

Worth doing a bit of homework to find the right service center... certainly worth a bit of HST... I think that Carls can return them using the Postal Priority mail system so that you dont get into expensive customs fees like you will have with non Govt. couriers.

Good luck.

as posted before i plan on going to fox evol upgrade. not worried about not being able to do it myself just was wondering about the special tools as i have rebuilt lots of mtn bike forks, both air and spring setups, (yes i realize they would be different internals but its still same junk, different pile). if do send them out i will be going with h2r distributing. they are canadas fox distributer and service center

 

[bushy]

I'm seriously just LMAO @ the guys giving me "bad rep" for trashing on air shocks ROTFL ...

Seriously, do you guys ride at all or do you only weigh a buck 20 wet and wearing boots?

Huh?

 

[mountainhorse]

Here is my take...

If you have standard Floats... You will be much better off going with the FLOAT 2 upgrade as opposed to the EVOL upgrade...

The EVOL upgrade Does have more "Bling" to it... but not the function of the Float-2.

The EVOL kit simply adds the additional IFP air chamber... But it is NOT an upgrade to modern EVOL-R or EVOL X internals.

The Base shock with the Float2 upgrade will have much better ride than the base with the EVOL conversion.

The EVOL upgrade (Pic)...Does NOT do any thing for the basic valving, piston nor does it benefit from one of the most important items...the negative air-spring.
There is a reason they show the Float2 in the advert for the EVOL upgrade kit.

The Float-2 is, IMO, MUCH more bang-for-the buck than the EVOL only

BTW... Here is the list that Fox supplies for Rebuild of the floats.

Tools & Materials Required for Rebuild
1. Safety Glasses
2. Latex Gloves
3. Lint Free Towels
4. Vice w/ Soft Jaws
5. Assembly grease: FOX P/N 025-01-013
6. FOX Float AirShox Seal Kit: Fox P/N 803-00-099-A
7. Recommended Shock Fluid – 1 Qt 5wt: Fox P/N 803-11-005
8. 12” Scale or Caliper (for IFP depth setting)
9. Fox Seal Installation Bullet, 1/2” Shaft: Fox P/N 398-00-026-B
10. Fox Nitrogen Safety Needle : Fox P/N 802-01-000-A
11. 5/64” Hex Key (“Allen Wrench”)
12. 5/32” Hex Key (“Allen Wrench”)
13. 3/16” Hex Key (“Allen Wrench”)
14. 3/16” Pin Spanner
15. Scribe or Dental Pick
16. #2 Phillips Screwdriver
17. 9/16” Open End Wrench
18. 9/16” Socket
19. Torque Wrench
20. Hammer
21. Nitrogen Tank w/ Regulator
22. Cleaning Solvent
23. 8” Long Pin Punch with 1/8” to 1/4” Point Size

 

[flying pig]

Who does the best valving? I'm running Floats off a phazer on my genII SKS front end (eye to eye length is the same) and the comp valving is wayyyy too stiff for my sled. In order to hold the ride height I have to run like 90psi in them and the valving makes it rank stiff.

 

[mountainhorse]

90 PSI on that small of a sled???

How confident are you that the length is the same extended and Compressed as the stock SKS skis?

If it is too stiff... you wold benefit from the Float2 kit (or the EVOL kit if they are already the float 2's)

For that sled... those shocks.... hands Down... Carls Cycle..

The extra air volume of the Float 2 or EVOL will help with how stiff it feels at that kind pressure.

 

[AndrettiDog]

I'm seriously just LMAO @ the guys giving me "bad rep" for trashing on air shocks ROTFL ...

Seriously, do you guys ride at all or do you only weigh a buck 20 wet and wearing boots?

Here you go Dogmeat. But before I poach the thread I will say that I loved the Evol R's on my D8. They really did 99% of what I would ride. I don't think I ever bottomed them out. I just decided to give the X1's a shot.

 

[roughrider99]

i'd be running ohlins suspension in a heart beat. but fox has the best bang for the buck. mountain horse so correct me if i'm wrong. the evol is just larger air chamber volume, just like those chambers than you can screw onto the air apadters. and the float 2 changes valving. from what i read the float 2 is more plush on the bottom and more progressive. am i on the right track.

 

[roughrider99]

I'm seriously just LMAO @ the guys giving me "bad rep" for trashing on air shocks ROTFL ...

Seriously, do you guys ride at all or do you only weigh a buck 20 wet and wearing boots?

i could care less if you trash airshocks. air will never ever perform better than a coil spring IMO . but your comment is pointless and time wasting when somebody is trying to find some valid info.

 

[flying pig]

90 PSI on that small of a sled???

How confident are you that the length is the same extended and Compressed as the stock SKS skis?

If it is too stiff... you wold benefit from the Float2 kit (or the EVOL kit if they are already the float 2's)

For that sled... those shocks.... hands Down... Carls Cycle..

The extra air volume of the Float 2 or EVOL will help with how stiff it feels at that kind pressure.

not overly confident at all that they are the same. Sucks cuz the m-10 is sweet but the front end not so much. They just won't hold the front end up without that much air. Those motors are very hefty for a 2 smoke though too, I dunno. Gonna take my air pump on the first ride n see if I can figure it out a bit better. I'll give Carl's a shout n see what they say too...