Mountain Biking - rebuildable rear coil over shock? anyone?

Ok, So I just got this thought in my head.... outa all the manufactures out there... no one really builds a re-buildable rear coil over shock (unless you send it to them to have done). All the forks are user friendly enough that if you want you can do it yourself. But with the rear shocks they just aren't made that way. Anyone think that maybe they should start building em like that?

I'd like to be able to rip apart both the rear suspension and front at a race if I wanted to/had to. Change the oil when you want... put new seals in and what not. I mean air shocks are a little more servicable, but not the coil overs...

Just tossing out my ideas and thoughts, who knows maybe there are companies that make em that way, and I just don't know.

Fox isn't friendly enough to let you do it :D...

I think the reason why is liability and ease. I betcha shocks to even a competent home mech would mess with someones head. Just doesn't seem like something I should be touching.

I think the thing is that most are charged with some kind of gas, and you have to have a license to work with hydrogen and stuff like that...so its really not too plausible unless you want a super-basic coil an oil shock with no compression damping.

I think.

Actually I think its Nitrogen, not hydrogen, but yeah, that's the reason as I understand it.

L8R

Actually I think its Nitrogen, not hydrogen, but yeah, that's the reason as I understand it.

L8R
That makes no sense. Nitrogen and compressed air are basicly the same thing. When i was really in to Paintball I used a nitrotank instead of co2. Well you can have it filled with nitrogen or just compressed air kinda like a scuba tank would have. I would take it to the scuba shop to get it filled. If its under extreme pressure then i understand but even then it doesnt matter if its nitrogen or compressed air. Its not like the shock could tell the difference.

As I understand it, the Nitrogen is less reactive to the other suspension components thus more stable in a compressed state. I'm no chemist, so I may be way off base.

However, the pressure is pretty high and thus a rebuild can only be done at the factory.

At least that's what Rock Shox told me when I had to send in my Coupe Deluxe for a rebuild!

I switched to a Fox Vanilla RC and haven't had any problems.

I am considering switching to a Progressive, but have heard about reliability issues.

L8R

Im no chemist either, in fact i would still get "d's" in that class no matter how hard i tried :(. anyhow. I just know we would call paintball tanks HPA or High pressure tanks instead of compressed air or nitro so people wouldnt get confused and ask "which is better a nitro tank or compressed air tank." since they were the same thing. :D

Even if it had to be HP the paintball HPA tanks are filled to around 4000psi. Im sure thats high enough for a shock.

yeah but have you ever tried to rebuild the tank?would you trust its seals if you replaced them yourself with the tools you have at your home and not the stuff they have at the factory?it doesnt matter if its nitrogen,oxygen,water,helium or pepsi,4000psi is gonna spew some stuff pretty hard if it fails and my rear shock is right below some parts of my body Im kind of fond of keeping intact

yeah but have you ever tried to rebuild the tank?would you trust its seals if you replaced them yourself with the tools you have at your home and not the stuff they have at the factory?it doesnt matter if its nitrogen,oxygen,water,helium or pepsi,4000psi is gonna spew some stuff pretty hard if it fails and my rear shock is right below some parts of my body Im kind of fond of keeping intact

Good point. Althought this whole concept seems like a do-able thing. Its not something I'd go messing around with. Especially if shocks are loaded to 4000psi. Because if you working on it and the seal is broken thats a sh*tload compressed air shooting at you. Thats why shooting air out of a paintball gun directly on your skin would hurt you. Just the force of 4000psi could do some nasty damage to your arm or any other body part. Like iamthetas said, i'd like to keep those parts intact. :p

I used to work in a machine shop. I was a die setter and I saw a die repair guy not follow procedures when it came to removing shocks. The thing blew outwards and about 100 yards into a concrete wall :)...

Should have seen the die guys face...I thought he crapped himself...then he was really pissed when he got canned.

yeah but have you ever tried to rebuild the tank?would you trust its seals if you replaced them yourself with the tools you have at your home and not the stuff they have at the factory?it doesnt matter if its nitrogen,oxygen,water,helium or pepsi,4000psi is gonna spew some stuff pretty hard if it fails and my rear shock is right below some parts of my body Im kind of fond of keeping intact

Thats exactly why i stated it doesnt matter what it is, IF its under that much pressure. But i highly doubt its under half that much. Most Scuba tanks hold 3000psi and need to be hydro tested every 5 years and visually inspected every year for dents or weakspots because of the damage they can cause if they rupture.
And as for shooting the air at your skin all pb guns shoot below 900psi approx. Co2 is released at around 850psi and if you use hpa you need to have a regulator to lower the pressure to the the very max 900psi but even that pressure is pretty high.


ok back to the subject. sorry for changing directions.

i've been hit in the nards while playing paintball. it wasn't even all that direct of a hit, and it still hurt a lot. all in all, it's not a good idea to have something explode under you.

Anytime you get hit in the nards it hurts. If it doesn't you got lucky.