ETZShock Absorbers.....again

[Andy_C]

I have taken the rear shock off my 301 and....no leaks, and both seem to damp about the same as each other.

But.............

The adjuster at the bottom of both shocks are solid - I have removed a lot of corrosion from around each adjuster and applied plenty of WD40, but my question is how on earth do these things work ?

Guessing that they must turn around the body of the shock somehow.

I have no owners manual and cannot find any info on the web that tells me how to adjust them - can anyone help ?

Hopefully the WD40 will free things off, and when it does I need to know how he adjuster should work.

Thanks.

[mr_luke]

You're right - they should turn fairly freely, but they do get corroded solid pretty quickly! There's a round lug welded onto the body of the shock absorber, and the adjuster has a ramp machined into its inside bore, which sits on the lug. There are two positions given. Apart from all the corrosion, there won't be anything stopping the adjuster from sliding all the way up and off the body of the shock. Don't be tempted to use any kind of tool on the bit of the adjuster which sticks out - even a little bit: it will break off! The best way I've found of doing it is to drive the adjuster straight upwards off the shock absorber, and then clean it all up afterwards. In the meantime, keep soaking it all in WD-40. It might be best to turn the whole thing upside down for this, as there will be a lot of cruddy stuff inside the adjuster. Once it's off, clean up all the sliding faces, and reassemble with plenty of grease.

If you ride it all year round, I'm afraid you can probably expect to have to do it all over again after the winter! Everything at the back end of my ETZ seems to be seized solid - it's like it's been soaked in salt water! I tried to adjust the chain last week, and the wheel spindle was so stiff it took the best part of an hour to loosen it off, wind it all the way out, grease it up and put it back in again - should only have been a two minute job! I had to give up on removing the seat yesterday, as the crappy spanners I carry in the toolkit didn't have a hope in hell of loosening the nuts, and I've not been brave enough to try and move the shock absorber adjusters..!

[arry_b]

This works every time and, best of all, involves chemicals and a naked flame!

Remove spring
Wire brush / sand any lumpy rust off of the damper body
Support damper unit upside down in vice by the CAREFULLY WRAPPED damper rod (don't mark it in the vice jaws)
Clean the muck/ corrosion out of the bottom of the adjuster
Fill this with releasing fluid (Plus Gas / diesel / Acetone and ATF mix - insert your magic brew of choice. WD40 ain't much cop.)
Leave to soak overnight or until you get bored.
Pour releasing fluid out of the adjuster
Heat the adjuster with a blowlamp until spit will fizzle on it. (or wimp out and pour a kettle of boiling water over it slowly)
Drift the adjuster off of the shock body - do this while the adjuster is still hot.

Then - to stop this happening again - use a wire brush on a drill to remove all of the corroded aluminium oxide from the inside of the shock adjuster and reassemble with a good slop of copper grease on the adjuster and shock body.

Also - once there free, it makes sense to move the adjusters every month or so to keep them free.

[therealche]

In between the hairy chested blowlamp, and the girlie alternative of boiling water lies the moderately hirsute choice of a hot air paint stripper!

[arry_b]

Pfft, a hot air paint stripper would be the extremely manly option for me - I only have a 5 amp supply to my garage, so it would set the wiring alight!

Gimme a naked flame any day

(Good idea though, rather more controllable than a blowlamp. Especially where there may be leftover releasing fluid around.)

[Andy_C]

2 dasy soaking in WD40, Petrol, Parafin even a little Diesel.

Applied blowlamp.

Still won't budge despite banging it with a rubber mallet and chunk of wood.

Plenty of time so I'll just persevere

[arry_b]

Bigger hammer.
Wide ended steel drift.
Submerge the adjuster end of the shock in a jar of diesel.

Persistence!