need help rebuilding Girvin fork

[Charles Harper]

Hi guys -







I have an original Girvin fork with 2 stage elastomer suspension.  Having trouble disassembling the elastomer assembly.  Anyone have some advice?







Also, new elastomers are available from K2 for $20 US each, in all sizes and stiffness.







Thanks

[junkster]

Hi Charles,
             check out the how tos section on this site. there is a pdf I recall.

Or email me on dbaverstock@hotmail.com and I'll see if I can talk you through it.

Looks complicated but really simple once you know.
cheers,
Dan

PS Perhaps you could replace the shock unit with an ODS unit and a coil spring instead of sticking with MCUs?

cheers,
Dan

[kiwi]

i presume you have the shock it self off the bike? You need to have something throught the top mounting eyelet (like the bolt ) and you need a long 4mm allen key to undo the 4mm allen bolt(theres a surprise) deep in the heart.I am pretty sure that is in the "bottom " of the shock but i cant be sure.Any queries post em up thats what we are here and the forum is for.I can drag me old girvin out and give myself a refresher course to morrow!!!!

[Charles Harper]

Thanks, guys.  I'll give it a look....



btw, I came across this researching the fork:  put your old elastomers in the microwave for about 30secs, this will renew them.  I fished my old ones out of the garbage, they were rock hard, and zapped them.  Wow!  They're softer than the new ones now.  Wished I'd known this sooner and saved $80....

[Charles Harper]

I checked the pdf how to file, nothing there on the elastomer fork, good stuff on the frame ('96' 656).  Only thing refering to the elastomer fork is an alignment doc.  Tried K2 also, they pretty much stop at 97'.

[Charles Harper]

The problem is this, I believe:  The bolt that holds the elastomers together is covered by a housing.  This housing  is a long round silver tube that connects to the upper part of the fork near the steerer tube, i.e. it is the top part of the elastomer assembly.  This tube spins but does not come off and there appears to be no way to remove it.  Once removed, I'm sure you can access the bolt holding the elastomers together.  

So, how do you remove this silver tube?  There is no bolt at the top, just a cap, and right beneath that cap is a hole that the connecting rod goes through, so no point removing the cap, its just a dust cover.  Nothing at the bottom of the tube.  Perhaps you just pull the tube off, its just a press fit.  However, I am reluctant to do this until I know for sure.

[kiwi]

its been a while charles but i assure you they come apart and the key is the 4mm allen bolt inside the silver tube.You have to loosen the pinch bolts on the bottom pivot and drive the pin out,the bottom of the shock is now free.once you have removed the top bolt and pulled the shock of the bike look inside and you will see the  4mm allen bolt inside.You may have to remove a leg(from the fork!) but i think you could even do it with the top mount still boltrd up,you need a long 4 mm allen key,i will defininetly pull mine to bits tomoorow and post a step by step how to.

[junkster]

Hi guys,
          just found a minute to dig out my old spare Girvin Vector shock unit. Man those Elastomers are like concrete:





Hope this helps.
cheers,
Dan

[kiwi]

oops i was upside down but there is the 4mm allen bolt! and here is a pdf on the fork but not of the actual mcu shock

[Charles Harper]

SUCCESS!  Thanks, guys.  Especially you, junkster.  A picture is worth a thousand words..... as soon as I saw that the axel hole was part of the dust cap it made sense.  I thought that if you took off the dust cap from the silver tube the axel hole was part of the tube and would block you, so no sense trying to take it off.



Now, the next crisis:  when I took out the pinch bolt and freed up the elastomers the rubber sleeve the pinch bolt rested on crumbled to bits.  Suspect that particular part has not been made since '97...... so will try to find some washers to replace it with.... because if I dont the pinch bolt --- won't pinch....





also, when you take off the dust cap, there is a round rubber ball that presumibly acts as a dust/water seal, inside.  You have to work that out to finally get to the pinch bolt.  Best way to take off the cap is to just put a screw driver in the axel hole and push - pops right out.





I remember now something about the draw back of this fork was that it was too complicated with too many parts.  Now I see what they mean.  I don't think K2 offers a rebuild kit for this anymore, either....





Thanks again, guys....always amazes me how, in things like this, the amatuers are a better source than the pros... actually got the wrong directions from a bike tech reading from a ProFlex manual....thank god for the WWW!

[kiwi]

its not complicated its just different,you will be able to do this now with your eyes closed!.The round ball is called the sad ball(true)and is a bottoming out bumper.The rubber washer inside the silver tube?thats actually part of the friction damping.You can use the rebuild kits for the crosslink for the seals and bearings.but the onlything i can think of for now is a tap washer????I dont think k2 will have one but hey you never know.