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Lefty 2012 PBR 90mm Service Advice

5K views 8 replies 4 participants last post by  jimification 
#1 ·
Hi, firstly, if this should be in the big lefty sticky thread, please let me know and I'll repost it there and delete this. Thanks.

I have a 2012 Lefty PBR 90mm that badly needs a service. It's 2 years old and I've done regular resets, bearing grease and air filter services on it but nothing more. Recently it's gone progressively more "rattly" (for want of a better term) on bumpy downhills you can hear it topping out and it's getting harsh to ride. The bearings seem to be working fine and smoothly, it holds air pressure fine but I think the damping has gradually gone. I'm presuming either the seals have gone and it's losing oil or something else is broken with the damper unit.

I'd be very grateful if anyone could give me advice on A) What tools I need to strip it down and service and B) How to deal with the damper.

If I was in the US I'd just send it to Craig / Mendon but I'm in UK and actually would really like to learn how to look after it myself. I've serviced a few Fox's before and reasonably mechanically competent but never a Lefty.

Many thanks for any help or advice :)

PS: There's one other weird thing it's done from new - if you stop riding and lean on the bars it will gradually sink through all the travel as if there's no air pressure resisting it. I talked to the UK service agent and they said it was some kind of valve moving between positive and negative air chambers. They said it wouldn't ideally do that but it's not a fault either. Is that a problem? / fixable?
 
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#2 ·
The only special tool you need is the castle tool to remove the damper from the shock body. I also find a bench vise really helpful to hold the lefty/damper and to hold the shaft to remove the bottom seal from the damper shaft. There's a special bullet tool/clamp to hold the shaft from rotating while remove that bottom seal, I use a piece of leather(work glove). Just be very certain that glove doesn't slip and let the vice mar the shaft. Sounds like the damper could use a full overhaul. Seal kit and fresh oil. There's a link somewhere in here that shows how to overhaul the damper, it's a cannondale document. It's for an older lefty than yours but it's on one that's close enough and it works. On mine, I find separating the lefty uppers/lowers and removing the races/bearings too time consuming so to service them I just blast them with brake parts cleaner and cycle them a few times. I do the same thing to re-regrease them. Just put a healthy amount of grease on the exposed portion and cycle a few times then repeat. I use Phil's but any smooth bearing grease that's not too heavy will work.
 
#4 ·
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