Help me seal the deal

I'm hoping some members may have replaced their fork seals and I can pick your brain.

The original fork seals went at 80000 and I went with aftermarket replacements. Lo and behold they immediately showed light weeping.
Light weeping was not enough to spur me into replacing straight away but after 15000 it became bed enough to replace

I replaced with OEM seals but after 5000 they were leaking more fluid than my urinary sphincter.

On disassembly I found a possible problem.

I installed the seals with the manufacturers markings up/out. This is the normal method for seals and the tensioning spring will normally be on the other side (facing into the shock)

On inspecting the OEM seal the manufacturers markings and the tensioning spring are on the same side of the seal. (I didn't see the spring on installation cause it is well hidden, I just automatically installed markings up.

Of course, here's a picha:
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I have a PDF service manual but even at maximum zoom it is still not clear which way is up and the text instructions do not detail this.

Anyone have any experience here?

PS Dave, the seals aren't removed to do an oil change so you're safe.

Whew for that - I'll give you a call. Interesting question though (which I can't answer). I had a similar issue with the PTO seal on the MF135 (that's a real tractor, not a HD!).

About 12:40 into this he takes the seal off:

Thanks for the replies,

Ewok, you forgot to say which side of the seal faced the tractor.

Mick,  the only mention he made of the seal was "two days ago, when you removed the seal, mark it so you know which way is up.
         Problem is , I installed the two replacement sets with markings up but I still can't confirm if this is correct.

!Tag wrote:Thanks for the replies,

Ewok, you forgot to say which side of the seal faced the tractor.

Because I don't remember either!  But I'll bet it was easier to do than a set of front fork seals.  I just needed to get the tractor facing down a steep slope so I didn't have to drain the oil - worked a treat.  

Now i've never done fork seals. But looking at that photo you posted !tag I would have thought I was looking at the inside of the seal. Every seal I've ever dealt with has the spring on the inside.

!Tag wrote:....  the only mention he made of the seal was "two days ago, when you removed the seal, mark it so you know which way is up.
         Problem is , I installed the two replacement sets with markings up but I still can't confirm if this is correct.

I think I can see the circular spring is on the top side in a couple of the shots especially when he is reinstalling it.  Also when he is seating the seal he mentions something about staying to the outside not the soft inner part, if it wasn't spring side up you would only have one flat surface.  Also that split poly-pipe tool seems to be working on the outer edge, otherwise why bother changing it from when the race was pressed home.

And to top it all off, I also just checked the Haynes manual, it says "markings up" and it appears that the spring is up in the grainy photo (page 5.12 photo 8.25).

Spring side up is what I saw.  

madmax wrote:Now i've never done fork seals. But looking at that photo you posted !tag I would have thought I was looking at the inside of the seal. Every seal I've ever dealt with has the spring on the inside.

Hence my confusion.

Barry, The underside (or topside?) of the seal also has a thick circumferential groove so his pvc driver would be used the same if the seal was flipped.
I seat the new seals with the old removed seals.

I have just thought about this...sorry for the laps. I have a friend who is a Suzuki mechanic, have sent him an email with a link to your question. Will post a reply as soon as I hear from him.

Mechanic's reply:


Most fork seals have a slightly raised part on the side - this goes into the casing first - so the edge sitting on the bench in the pic should go in first. Fast seal leak is usually caused by damage on install, pitting (stone chips/rust) or excessive clearance between fork & bush.
There will also be a dark coloured spring on the other side of the seal

The film clip shows a neat tip to get the seal past the pits and burrs, a strip of plastic milk bottle wrapped round the shaft then slide the seal on, looks like that would solve any problems with getting the seal knicked.

Cal wrote:Mechanic's reply:


Most fork seals have a slightly raised part on the side - this goes into the casing first - so the edge sitting on the bench in the pic should go in first. Fast seal leak is usually caused by damage on install, pitting (stone chips/rust) or excessive clearance between fork & bush.
There will also be a dark coloured spring on the other side of the seal

Cal,  Thank you, I really appreciate your efforts.

And that reply is a bastard because it means I have been installing them correctly oriented so I have a much worse problem causing my fluids to piss out.
Out of interest when the aftermarket seals were in I took my rear shock to Greg at ASR Suspension in Melbourne for servicing. I also took my fork sliders along because they have developed barely discernible pitting in the swept area of one leg. He burnished them on his lathe and had a good look and said they have plenty of life left in them.
So that leaves something along the lines of  "or excessive clearance between fork & bush". I'll guess this will be a painful diagnose and repair.



Barry, I use surgical gloves to protect the seal from the top of the slider cos I have boxes of them in the shed.

Faulty seals?..................I had some fitted once ..............looked ok.........seemed to fit ok , but they wept/ changed them over & problem solved . It doesn't take much.

I hope so Paul but I've now had two sets of seals - one aftermarket and one OEM which both have leaked immediately.

Doesn't sound good does it  

Maybe time for re chroming.  Not too expensive. Just time consuming.

That would have been my next step in the process too Hammy but a guy who knows his shit says the sliders are fine. So I continue to get more worrieder.

Did you clean the tubes with very fine wet & dry?

2wheelsagain wrote:Did you clean the tubes with very fine wet & dry?

You don't even have to be that harsh 2W.  My suspension Guru here in Brissy told me that you only have to use a "green" ( in colour )  pot scrub. And another tip. Always wipe over your fork tubes with some WD40 after you have washed your bike. Any water drops will cause pitting.

Hammy got it there, Chris.
A suspension tech burnished them on a lathe - no difference. He also likes the GREEN pot scrubs for home use in the privacy of your own bedroom.
Be gentle and loving though. You shouldn't go thrusting your throbbing love scrub at the delicate slider bits.

!Tag wrote:Hammy got it there, Chris.
A suspension tech burnished them on a lathe - no difference. He also likes the GREEN pot scrubs for home use in the privacy of your own bedroom.
Be gentle and loving though. You shouldn't go thrusting your throbbing love scrub at the delicate slider bits.

Hang on ! !     Where are we going ?    

Yes that was a bit harsh   
It doesnt really matter what you clean the tubes with
I was just making sure you rubbed them with something.
I usually pay someone to clean my tubes

2wheelsagain wrote:Yes that was a bit harsh   
It doesnt really matter what you clean the tubes with
I was just making sure you rubbed them with something.
I usually pay someone to clean my tubes

That's a bit of an enema....umm......enema......er; I mean....enigmatic statement  

You have to be very carefully with seals. I found out the hard way too when rebuilding my wife's rm80 forks. There was a very minor pit in one of the tubes that nicked the new seal and it was as bad as the previous leaking seal. Run your finger nail up and down the fork tube, if you can feel an imperfection it needs fixing prior to a new seal. Since my job was on the cheap light emery and some superglue fixed the problem. If its a road bike I'd look for a new tube or rechrome as oil on the front brakes is a big deal. 

FYI I used electrical tape on the top of the tubes coated with some oil to slip the new seals over without any damage. Old seals were used to drive the new ones home without damage too.