Saturday, March 9, 2013

How to remove Marzocchi 66 Fork Bushes

I looked on the web, to find some information on reconditioning my 2009 Marzocchi 66 RCVs, that I'd just purchased second hand, and there is very little information available. So I went and did it anyway!I found some instuctions on how to dismantle the forks, which was pretty straight forward, but found no information on bush replacement, and these needed new bushes.
First I had to design and build a bush puller. Here you can see I have some 8mm threaded rod, with some 6mm aluminium plate, that I have cut 30mm wide, then scribed a 40mm circle. I then filed down to the scribe line, drilled an 8mm hole and then tilted the drill to a 45 degree angle, so that it can be tilted on the threaded rod.

Here you can see the washer in the tilted position, with 2 nuts fitted.

I also had to bevel one of the bottom edges, so that it would clear the bush.

I used a piece of 150mm X 50mm wood that I had lying around, which I slotted to accommodate the threaded rod.

Installing the puller.

Pulling the washer up to engage the bush.

You can see that I have the fork lowers locked in the vice, with 2 pieces of wood to prevent any damage. While holding the threaded rod up, I slid the slotted wood into position and tightened down the nut. At this stage, the nut is not over tight.

I then used my wifes hairdryer, to heat the fork leg up, so it is hot to touch.
I could then tighten down the top nut of my puller, which easily removed the bush. Be sure to take a measurement of of the bushes positions in each leg, for when you install the new bushes, there are 2 in each leg.