Rather than cutting it in half, in the past I’ve just ground down the outside and inside. The outside is fairly easy with a bench grinder – just push it against the grinder wheel enough that the seal spins fairly slowly with the grinder wheel still spinning fast. Then use a die grinder on the inside while clamped. Ideally you’ll have used a section with a properly flat bottom, in which case you should be able to just drive straight down with a ‘slide hammer’ action (read wanking ), if it’s not properly flat at the bottom, you’ll need to keep turning the fork after each drive to ensure it stays evenly pushed down.

Make sure the fork is pulled apart ¾ of the way, and wrap the lower fork with the paper, and tape in place. Rough guide is that if you can clearly see the top and bottom of the spring clip recess, then the seal is in. At this point it is important to note / write down how each part fits together – As you will be cleaning them all later on. Our experience is that the syringes with this product don't last forever with the interaction with suspension fluid and we would advise you to clean it out thoroughly after use. The syringe can be exchanged for a vacuum brake bleeding tool. The syringes on the professional version last much longer, so if you are stripping a lot of forks it is a better buy. Make sure that it is slightly less than half of one side (obviously) so that you can easily put it around the fork leg.It will feel as if it is catching on something and is unnerving at first – But this is simply the internal bushes/washer hitting the fork seal. However, in the age of big-box hardware stores, there are definitely opportunities to make your own specialty tool and save yourself some major cash. Then push them to the bottom of the fork and tape in place to stop them sliding down and getting in the way. Remove forks from yokes and loosen the top cap on the forks – Do not actually remove the top cap at this point.

I am sure I am missing something really obvious here and that you will point it out and I will go "doh" ... so let the "silky is a muppet" comments begin Not all upper and lower fork slider tubes are the same diameter, so this is going to take some patience on your part when in your local hardware store. If you can’t find something off the shelf like I did with the PVC coupler above, there is an alternative. Take fork upper and coat the seal mating face with seal grease (not normal grease). This is important as it will prevent the seal degrading and also the aluminium of the fork upper corroding. On UD forks the fork stanchion itself has the aluminium wheel thingy (technical term) at the bottom ... so you cannot just slip over a full seal or pipe.

Fork Seal Driver 49-50mm

Laser Fork Oil Level Setting Tool Setting the fluid level in front forks accurately is critical to the safe handling of your bike and this tool makes it a piece of cake. As you will see in the video – the total time spent actually driving the seal into place is no more than 2 minutes. (Studying the video again and it is actually under 1min 30 seconds per seal) Fork Oil Level Setting Tool Setting the fluid level in front forks accurately is critical to the safe handling of your bike and this tool makes it a piece of cake. First, buy a section of thin walled pipe that is slightly larger than the diameter your need. Next, cut it in half/down the middle (top to bottom in the picture above) – the result should be two C shaped sections. Finally, clam shell them around your upper fork slider and secure them in place with a hose clamp. The hose clamp should be on the end of the fork seal driver furthest from the seal being driven – this will keep it out of the way as you are driving the seal into place. The seal is ‘pressure fitted’ and you are meant to use the correct seal driver or take it to a bike shop.