Fork drain screws

Tornado said:

I used a rubber strap wrench to good effect on these. Wasn't zero cost, more like $5 at a dollar store....but hey, I'm worth it ;-)

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Ive had those and they always eventually slipped and are too elastic to shock a nut to break free when it's stuck because the strap has an elastic quality to it... I'm going with one of the metal alternatives above and am going to buy a new set of nuts so I can use the old ones to experiment with and not worry about "Effing things up" that I can't replace instantly or fix...

Thanks all

o0norton0o said:

Ive had those and they always eventually slipped and are too elastic to shock a nut to break free when it's stuck because the strap has an elastic quality to it... I'm going with one of the metal alternatives above and am going to buy a new set of nuts so I can use the old ones to experiment with and not worry about "Effing things up" that I can't replace instantly or fix...

Thanks all

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I have this set: https://a.co/d/5mmrOGa

I have never failed to get a Norton or Triumph fork nut loose. I do clean the nut and strap with denatured alcohol first, and I loosen the nuts before I remove the forks from the bike so the bike holds them. I have on occasion heated the Norton slider before loosening a stubborn one.

jseng1 said:

Yes, drill holes in the OD and use one of these tools (ebay).

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The hinged variety work barely OK on stuff that isn't tight. Dedicated size (range) works great when you need to develop torque.
35 years of millwright work using all the different varieties.

If you do not want to purchase a spanner for a dedicated size group, then this Japanese made adjustable one has proven itself over & over to be strong, and not slip out of the hole.


Again, much better results than the hinged type.

Available in pin or hook type.

concours said:

The hinged variety work barely OK on stuff that isn't tight. Dedicated size (range) works great when you need to develop torque.
35 years of millwright work using all the different varieties.

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IIRC, the nuts always came loose by screwing on an ordinary hose clamp, and giving the clamp bolt a whack or two...

o0norton0o said:

I've ordered some low profile hex head screws to replace the slotted fork slider drain plug screws... I've been testing different dampers lately so I've drained my forks 5 times in the last month and those flat blade screw heads are pretty mangled now. One didn't even want to come out today, so I just drained the fork by removing the bottom bolt.. I searched the site to see if anyone has done this yet and couldn't find any results saying this.... so, Anyone here replace those slotted screws with hex head or Torx ??

The other issue is that when I tighten the base screw sometimes the whole damper turns with the screw inside the slider. I was thinking of making a longer screw to go into the drain plug hole to wedge against the body of the damper to keep it from spinning... Anyone try that ?? Did it work?

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for removing the bolt under the fork leg I often use a lightweight impact wrench. HF has a good model and has three settings for how hard you want it to hammer. The first setting is very light duty. It always works. For installation I rarely have trouble with it spinning but if it refuses to stop spinning then a quick zap with the impact wrench at the lowest setting and that does the job. It's a bolt going into a steel damper tube so I don't see the problem.

jseng1 said:

I prefer a reasonably small hole to grab with the wrench. The 1/8" pin wrench I use works well. Most wrenches for the 57mm dia fork seal nut usually have 5mm and larger pins (too big) or square tips that mark up the hole and they can be expensive.

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I drilled 6mm holes. Can't see any down side.
The spanner with square hook you mentioned is to be used on a castellated nut, not suitable for round holes type nuts.

seattle##gs said:

for removing the bolt under the fork leg I often use a lightweight impact wrench. HF has a good model and has three settings for how hard you want it to hammer. The first setting is very light duty. It always works. For installation I rarely have trouble with it spinning but if it refuses to stop spinning then a quick zap with the impact wrench at the lowest setting and that does the job. It's a bolt going into a steel damper tube so I don't see the problem.

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No the bolt is going into a 20mm showa valve body,.... the damper could spin in the base adaptor, or the valve could spin inside the damper tube too.... I've adapted showa dampers to my commando forks similar to the cosentino cartridges.... so the issue of spinning is a little more complex,.... but not much more.

I did try a portable 18volt impact gun with a clutch to prevent stripping anything. In one case it worked. In another It didn't stop spinning so I am thinking about Ludwig's trick with the drain bolt to help the cartridge stay fixed... I think it's going to be fine... or I'll just be ocassionally turning 2 hours work into 4 hours work..... It wouldn't be the first time,...

o0norton0o said:

No the bolt is going into a 20mm showa valve body,.... the damper could spin in the base adaptor, or the valve could spin inside the damper tube too.... I've adapted showa dampers to my commando forks similar to the cosentino cartridges.... so the issue of spinning is a little more complex,.... but not much more.

I did try a portable 18volt impact gun with a clutch to prevent stripping anything. In one case it worked. In another It didn't stop spinning so I am thinking about Ludwig's trick with the drain bolt to help the cartridge stay fixed... I think it's going to be fine... or I'll just be ocassionally turning 2 hours work into 4 hours work..... It wouldn't be the first time,...

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I use the impact on Japanese shocks as well.

Using a slow/weak/turned down impact gun is one way to ensure it won't work.

Inertia.

Hit it hard & fast. Quick burst.

DO NOT hold the trigger down and let it spin.

I use my I.R. 650 Ft. Lb. 1/2" drive.

The hinged type I use (of the appropriate size) work great and never slip out no matter how much torque you put on them by hand (but I haven't tried a hammer or a cheater extension).

concours said:

I use the impact on Japanese shocks as well.

Using a slow/weak/turned down impact gun is one way to ensure it won't work.

Inertia.

Hit it hard & fast. Quick burst.

DO NOT hold the trigger down and let it spin.

I use my I.R. 650 Ft. Lb. 1/2" drive.

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If you've ever seen this particular showa cartridge, you might not use a powerful impact gun because the valve slides in from the bottom of the damper tube, past this tiny groove in the tube and a very thin wire is inserted into the groove to keep the valve in place. It looks pretty weak to me, but it holds up under the force of the hydraulic action of the damper so maybe it's stronger than it looks...

I've already made a hollow fork slider drain bolt out of a hex head bolt to protect the drain threads and allow me to use the drain opening to put pressure on the damper tube so it won't spin when I tighten the base bolt. (a ludwig idea) LIke I said, It saves me a lot of time if I can tighten (or loosen) the damper base bolt sucessfully without disassembling the whole fork slider. It's a job that should take a minute, but takes an hour when the damper spins....

.... which leads to the slider fork seal retaining nut issue that should already be a pin wrench design, but isn't. (another poor design that I'm going to change) Thanks again for the pin wrench info... that will end that farking headache...