K2 / Proflex Riders Group
General => Tech Forum => Topic started by: Blackjoy on June 24, 2015, 03:13:01 pm
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Back in 1994-5, the CPSC issued a recall on the 554 front shock.
http://www.cpsc.gov/en/Recalls/1995/CPSC--Bike-Companies-Recall-Suspension-Forks/ (http://www.cpsc.gov/en/Recalls/1995/CPSC--Bike-Companies-Recall-Suspension-Forks/)
Does anyone know what Girvin did to repair the fork? Were there instructions on how to repair the front fork or determine if one's fork was prone to failure?
Any help would be appreciated. Please email me if possible.
Thanks.
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They replaced them. The bottom end of the steer tube was glued to the fork crown and had a pin inserted in one side. My own inspection revealed that the adhesive wasn't applied all the way around the joint either.
Later on they drilled all the way through both sides and inserted a pin all the way through with 360 degrees of adhesive.
I tested two of these to failure on a flight of stairs.
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I tested two of these to failure on a flight of stairs.
I'd have been quite happy to have achieved the proof the first time down;................ surviving and doing it again for reproducibility shows true scientific dedication..................and a certain degree of insanity...................
<GRIN>
Col.
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First test ride was discussed by the shop owner and mechanics and determined (not by me) as a mumble mumble production problem of unknown origin. The second one, I carried the bike back to the shop and tore it apart myself. I test a prospective bike hard.
My own 855 has done many many flights of stairs since. My favorite has been the East 34th st stairs in Tacoma. Twelve flights of twelve steps, rail on the right and blackberry vines on the left. There's a church at the bottom if you don't make it.
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They replaced them. The bottom end of the steer tube was glued to the fork crown and had a pin inserted in one side. My own inspection revealed that the adhesive wasn't applied all the way around the joint either.
Later on they drilled all the way through both sides and inserted a pin all the way through with 360 degrees of adhesive.
I tested two of these to failure on a flight of stairs.
Thank you so much for the feedback.
So is it possible to identify a replaced fork if the bottom end of the fork crown has a pin through both sides? Kind of surprised that adhesive was used. I used my 554 for about four years and never had any issues with the fork and I did a lot of down hill bombing.
Were the replaced forks externally/visually different?
I just called the bike shop where my bike is at and the technician said that there is no pin in that area. Not on one side or both sides. Did Proflex use a completely different fork at a later date? I've noticed that my Fastrax looks different than ones I'd seen in adds for the bike.
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Oops! My tiny brain was locked into the early link forks. Those did use methacrylate adhesive and a single steel pin in one side of the early ones. My accidental testing was followed shortly after with more adhesive and a longer pin that penetrated both sides of the fork crown and steer tube. They may have also increased the length of the fork crown that extended up into the steer tube too. At any rate, there is a single steel roll-pin about an inch and a quarter up the steer tube that penetrates the steer tube and the fork crown to hold it together.
That said, since the CPSC mentioned a failure of the earlier non link fork and the presence of adhesive, the 544 fork may well have used the same construction.
My memory is pretty vague but it seems like the earlier link fork crown did not extend as far up the inside of the steer tub as the later revised ones.
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Remove the front wheel and look up inside the fork from the bottom. The mention of adhesive by the CPSC and later use of industrial adhesives by Girvin would suggest that the steer tube is glued in. Looking up inside the steer tube from the bottom will indicate if they ever pinned later models or swedged the steer tube or whatever.
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Once again, thank you for taking the time to respond. I called the bike tech back and he said one of the shock tubes is loose and the shock is beyond repair. Do you have any suggestions or recommendations on where I can get a replacement fork?