Fox float won't compress

[Bedhead]

Stock floats on the front of a 2006 M7 LE will not compress. Fine last season, fine early this season. After a trip to Michigan, while messing around in the garage I noticed zero movement in the front end. I can almost rip the bumper off pushing down and nada. 60psi in air chamber. So tonight I removed them, emptied and REMOVED air sleeve. Still can not compress them and im 220lbs! Anyone ever see this? Recommendations?

 

[kidwoo]

Sledgehammer?




If you've got the sleeve off, it's something in the damper. Either a high pressure bubble in the fluid or something broke and the piston is all **** eyed.

I've seen it happen on bike shocks but not these.

 

[Coldfinger]

Seems odd if both of them stopped working at same time. I would call a gas shock repair guy and ask them if it is something they can easily fix. They may tell you what's up.

Andy's gas shock repair has been mentioned numerous times.

 

[Bedhead]

I totally agree, it is weird to have them both do this. Honestly I only have one shock off/apart at this time. But when I first noticed the problem I could not compress either side of the sled. This is a first for me. I kicked around the idea of just buying new shocks but with the age of the sled I would rather send them out to be fixed and spend the money on the next sled. So I'll leave this here and see if anyone else has input. When I get it resolved I'll post what I find.

could a hard bottom out have wrecked something? I did land very hard one time on the first of 3 days. There was so much snow, maybe I didn't notice the harsher ride...

 

[kidwoo]

Whoa, I completely missed that you said both of them. I read singular in your thread title.

So something weird happened to your front end......road salt, extreme heat killing seals.

 

[Bedhead]

So, nothing bent or broken. Almost no pressure in nitrogen side. But after I bled the oil side of pressure I could compress the shock. Is it possible I blew the nitrogen past the IFP? That at least would explain some things. This is my first time doing a diagnosis of shocks. I fix cars, you just replace shocks/struts.

 

[kidwoo]

Is it possible I blew the nitrogen past the IFP?

I guess it's possible. Fluid replacing the nitrogen would make the IFP not want to compress but then it seems like you would get at least a little compression from the gas that would then be in the damper fluid.

That's a weird one man. But yeah if you're into the shock already, Just check over seals, reassemble and see if it works.

 

[Bedhead]

Well, I ordered kits for my front floats and rebuilt them. The right one had a small amount of oil on the nitrogen side of IFP so some leakage has happened. So they were do for a rebuild. All charged up again and they work great.

So what I learned from rebuilding them and talking with the Fox guys in Baxter MN is during my hard landing I either blew nitrogen into the oil or air from the spring into the oil. To much pressure in the oil (trying to push the shaft out the top of the shock) is why I could not move the shocks. This is a first for me and that landing hurt so I hope its the last! Thanks guys!