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the internet misses you, RJ

this fork was an 'object of desire' when it came out, (and still is for me), so beautiful and pretty light. The video is a joy to watch, as always. Thank you.

Thanks for another great, informative video. I started rebuilding ‘70’s era Peugeots during the pandemic and was hooked. I watched all your videos and learned a lot. I’m retired now and am on 40+ bicycles I’ve rebuilt…and still going! Thanks for helping me enjoy my new hobby 🙏

This was the first suspension fork I ever had back in the mid 90s on a Kona Lava Dome in high school. Such a great fork and easy to service. I did alot of trail riding in the winter. So they had a cold weather elastomer kit. They were greenish blue. Literally a 10 minute swap. Thanks for the blast from the past.

Mahalo RJ from Hawaii!! I love your channel! I just followed you on FB. You’re an excellent instructor. Keep up the good work. Aloha

This is so awesome and timely. I have had a 1993 Trek 8000 with these forks on them hanging up in the rafters of my garage that I want to turn into a retro gravel bike with drop bars. This was a bike that I bought and upgraded as a 19 year old XC racer working in a hot kitchen, and it held enough sentimental value for me to haul it along all these years. I just pulled it all apart, and thankfully the elastomers weren't really goopy, except for the bottom-out ones. The compression side was mainly just dried out and squished. The bottom side unfortunately are a little more melted and thus will require some cleaning in the lower tubes (fun). One thing that I found during the tear-down, that I now remember doing back in '94 when I bought these forks: I replaced the top-out elastomers with coil springs that were intended for RC car shocks, that I went and bought from a hobby store. The top-out on these forks was so abrupt and jarring to me that I went a little MacGyver with the springs and it actually worked like a charm to soften up that feeling when you compressed the front end and pulled up off the ground. It was actually quite cool to see this stuff after all these years. Anyway, I just ordered the new elastomers and look forward to turning my old girl into a gravel bike that I can keep up with my wife on. My enduro MTB is my pride and joy but I'm not able to maintain 17 mph on it :D

I just used this as a step by step guide to follow to rebuild a fork. So helpful! Thanks so much for the detailed video!

Acetone is corrosive to regular plastic. Those plastic washers may be very weakened. If they are nylon, then it's fine. Generally, it is not a good idea to clean plastics with acetone. But at a minimum, you should wash well with soap and water when you're done soaking them. The film acetone leaves behind is also corrosive to plastic. I learned this the hard way many years ago with an ink refill kit. It called for acetone to allow the cartridge to be open. It all worked great, but I never washed it off. The next day my printer was destroyed from ink. The cartridge dissolved everywhere the acetone was. It got on my carpet and desk.

that's some dedication. I have had shops tell me forks like this can't be serviced, or decline to do it.

Had a Manitou 4 on my first "real" mtb (Giant ATX890). That brought back a lot of memories rebuilding my fork!

As always, fantastic. Thank you

I'm about to replace the elastomers with some "steed springs" in my Manitou EFC. Dunno how it'll change things, but I figured I'd give it a shot, maybe pogo down some hills. I do love the look of this series of forks. I think it should be built pretty similarly, so thanks for posting this.

Thank you for the helpful video. I found the rubber seals after the split bushings really hard to seat in properly. Luckily I could remove the legs from the crown as they are bolted in so got them to seat that way.

Nice video RJ keep them coming happy holders .

Thank you! Didn't know the details about the snap rings on top of the remove the lowers. Unconventional.

Awesome ! thank you. i'll need this after I get my new Man 3 bumpers

Thank you for uploading videos like this again RJ. Would you consider making a video on how to polish an aluminum bike frame?

going to do the same thing with my Manny 3 and resurrect my full suspension bike from 2000 Noleen shock in the back...looking forward to doing some XC again ! love the video and thanks Bro !! \m/

I can't believe those snap rings don't have holes in them! I've never seen a snap ring without the holes for snap ring pliers.

brilliant video, many thanks

Great video, the only thing I’m wondering is if there should be a bit of loctite on the 2 screws that go into the very bottom of the fork.

Thanks!

This looks more like my Magnum fork which I think is the Manitou 4. Mine has the milleted brake booster. Looking forward to this intimidating project.

Great step by step video! This helps a great deal as i am try to replace the elastomers. question for you....what is the best way to take off the blue caps for the compression rod if they are stuck? i'm trying not to damage them, the metal is so soft.

so much engineering for 3 cm of travel :D

Somehow my SR Suntour is still ok. 1 spring, and elastomers in the other leg.

I'm assuming the elastomers in these old fork were used for rebound instead of springs or air?

I cant get the drive side bolt out from the bottom. seems like the whole plunger is spinning. Any info on how to go about this would be much appreciated. Thank you!

I need to rebuild a Manitou 4 that's on a '95 RTS-3 that my dad bought new and passed down to me. Where did you get the rebuild kit at?

I'd love to buy a bike I lusted after in my teens (very early 90s) but I worry about spare parts for suspension. Are they easy to obtain?

Onde comprar o reparo?

Hi RJ ihave a bridgestone dynamo. Hub there are no electric how can i disassemply it all video dont help me

I really don't understand why they build forks like this. Perhaps weight is the main issue, but it also reeks of cheapness. There is no real dampening going on here. Motorcycles use fluid dampening and it works great. Even very low end motorcycle forks work this way and provide excellent dampening. The main difference is you don't have heavy springs on a bicycle fork providing the downward force like you do on a motorcycle. AND, motorcycle forks have to pass DOT specifications. But it seems to me this could be scaled down to something more appropriate for the lower weight and speed of a bicycle. It is just amazing to me how expensive these things are compared to an automobile shock or strut. Many bike forks cost way more than a shock for a car (not counting installation at a shop). The auto shocks are so much heavier with much more metal and much more robust dampening. Surely an auto shock meant to deal with a 3k pound car costs more to manufacture than a bicycle fork.

23:00 - elastomer kebabs!

How can i send foto to you mr RJ

my guess is that someone used grease/oil not suitable for elastomers - they are very particular about what they like - any petroleum based oil/grease will dissolve them into goo like that

not sure what kind of elastomers are those but if I you put general fork grease on elastomers you are going to end like you started... always use teflon based grease on any elastomers...

Use gloves with acetone, bad health effects long term. I know someone that cleans parts with T-10 cleaner no gloves. She has the shakes in her hands. Probably over 10 years of exposure.

Those elastomas look like they have carcinomas

could you STOP saying elast-Omer???