altenwrencher

One of the legs of the fork has an oil leak and has much less resistance to compression than the other. I've used one of those plastic things to wipe the seal and pull up any debris, but no debris came up. It looks like a new seal is the way to go, but:

1. The seal says 24/34. 24mm is the inner diameter. A web search has not found this anywhere. Any ideas on what/where to get?
2. How do I remove the seal? I get the C-clip off OK, and remove the Schrader valve on the top of the fork, but can't figure out what next. Pulling the lower leg off and even hammering does not budge it.
3. If I find a new seal, can it just be pressed or tapped into place?
4. Etc.... this is my first suspension fork, so my learning curve is still on the uphill. Any other ideas on how to proceed?

Crankycrank

Try and find the Year/Model of your forks. Should be marked somewhere. If no luck, look up your bike and see if you can find out what forks came on it if these are the original forks. Also check out the SKF site and see if any of their seals match since they make the best seals available. Possibly contacting SKF or Marzocchi can help you find an answer. SKF | BICYCLE FORK SEALS KITS | INNTECK / SKF

altenwrencher

It's not the original fork, from what I can surmise from the Kona website. It's a Marzocchi, gold, while the bike is grey. Its left leg has 755A and the right 754A in raised relief. Both legs have what seems to be a date: 96 inside a clockface circle.

The bike is a grey Kona Fire Mountain, made in Taiwan, serial # H6H0 7212. The Kona website does not seem to go far enough back in time to include this version of the Fire Mountain.

Thanks, Crankycrank, but the SKF site does not show this 24mm ID seal. Ideas, anyone?

Dan Burkhart 

Parts support for most if not all suspension forks only extends three years from end of model run. There was a company called Hippietech or something like that which used to buy up surplus parts to repair them past the usual support window, but I don't know if they are still around.

wesmamyke

Marzocchi fork with a 24mm seal would be an XC 500 most likely. That is one of the harder seals to find. I don't recall if it's like later Marzocchi forks and actually has four seals. Most have dust seals, and separate oil seals below that. That is a very early fork, they made a much more recent fork with the same name just to confuse things.

I should add that you might be able to find some from a guy called Marzocchi Mark, just google that name. I think he had some of those seal kits listed on ebay awhile back. Don't think they sold out as his prices are kinda bonkers, but he is probably the last place in the US that might have some.

https://marzocchiworkshop.blogspot.c...600-xc700.html

cpach

https://www.mtbforksbymark.com/ is your best bet. Marzocchi was purchased by Fox and anything older than 2016 basically has no official company support.

I'd give Marzocchi Mark a call, but likely the best call is likely a complete fork replacement.

Also your description of the problem doesn't really make sense to me. What do you mean that one leg moves with less resistance to compression? The lowers should move in tandem on both stanchions. Also, each leg has a different function, with one side containing the spring and the other the damper, so they should behave differently.

jimc101

If it's a XC500 as suggested, and it sounds like it is, would look at selling it on the retro market and getting a more modern fork as soon as possible.

The early Marzocchi forks (pre-Bomber) were very poor vs their competition BITD.

If your bike is from 1996, which from the color it sounds like it is, the steerer will be 1 1/8" for which you can still get current forks with rim brake mounts, which will give you a far better/more enjoyable ride than trying to get an old super flexy leaking fork to work.


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