Posts
117
Joined
12/1/2022
Location
Vancouver, BC
CA
Hey all,
Just went to service my new RS Zeb after the first 40 hours and have found that the airspring seems to be bent or crushed somehow. I am %99 sure it wasn't due to me taking apart (I used the proper blocks and have performed plenty of suspension services) but about halfway up the shaft seems to be a kink that inhibits the air spring from sliding up and down freely. The fork is a MY23 that is 6 months old, has 40 hours on it, and has never been opened up before. My intuition says manufacturing defect but I'd be interested to hear if anyone else has had a similar experiece.
Just to clarify, you're getting this hang in the air spring when moving the sealhead on the airshaft when it is either removed from the fork entirely, or when it is installed in the CSU/Uppers and no air spring cap is installed?
When it's removed entirely from the fork, I actually set it up on a micrometer and found it has a 3 thou wiggle at about halfway down the shaft
I'd say either damaged during factory assembly (though you'd likely have felt it hang up a long time ago) or when you hit the loosened bottom bolt to dislodge the shaft/drop the lowers.
Not sure if it’s coincidence but when I was servicing my airspring I slightly crushed the shaft in my shaft clamp. Same ones I’ve been using for years on all my suspension, I thought it was user error but could just be a soft thin material they used. I bought a new one.
Hey I actually had a very similar thing occur on my Zeb during its first full rebuild. Mine was a MY22 Zeb Ultimate at 170mm. I always struggled to get full travel on the fork, which I had attributed to the ramp up in the air chamber. I got a full service from a very good local suspension shop and he informed me that my air spring was slightly bent about 2/3 of the way up the shaft. Similar to you, when sliding the seal head up the shaft it would hangup on a spot that had a small but visable bend to it. I bought the fork new and had only opened it up once to replace the lowers oil, so I'm farily certain that I didn't cause the damage. Seemed to me, to be a from the facotry problem aswell.
Since it was such a cheap part, I didn't bother with a warranty and just bought a new airspring. Turns out its way easier to use my last 1/3 of travel now hahaha
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