Bicycle Mechanics - Any 26" suspension forks with hollow legs for choppin'?

Hey, does anyone know if there's a suspension fork out there that has plain hollow, straight fork legs, and a bit of un-used space? I'm trying to find a 20" suspension fork and having no luck (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?626810-Any-new-20-suspension-forks-in-the-works).

Now I'm remembering my old Marzocchi Bomber Z2 and thinking about 1990s forks that only used the top half of the fork legs and left a lot of empty space down below. If i can chop 54mm off each leg, that would convert from 26" to 20" wheels.

Ideal fork would be coil/oil, disc mount, 80mm travel, and tough as nails for tandem use.

I know this sounds pretty dodgy, but anything's better than riding a Spinner Grind.

http://www.shoprans.com/proddetail.asp?prod=BSFK0003

designed for a dual-20" (406) recumbent single bike.

[QUOTE=antonyfhilliard;10501472]tough as nails for tandem use.QUOTE]

Careful here. There is only one that I am aware of that is rated for tandem use. The White Brothers is quite pricey though. The market for 20" tandem suspension forks is almost non-existent which is why you don't see many offerings. I would HIGHLY recommend that you do not modify any fork and that goes especially for one not specifically rated for the weight of a tandem team.

Maybe you could tell us what problem you are trying to solve and folks here could offer suggestions.

The problem I'm trying to solve is that my Pino tandem came from the factory with a Spinner GRIND fork (http://www.pinoforum.de/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=486#p2715), which cannot possibly be as strong as an off-road MTB fork. It's a piece of crap, same as the 20" RST forks (sorry JanMM). I'm not going to throw it out, but I know it will not last more than a few years. The bushings are already starting to wear.

I'd love to use a MEKS Carbon (http://www.hpvelotechnik.com/produkte/federgabeln/meks_carbon_ac_e.html) fork, but its huge fork crown is known to have frame interference problems on recumbents. Basically, at full compression the crown crashes into the recumbent tube, with associated cracking not to mention steering disasters.

The White Bros. has a recommended maintenance interval of 30 hours (http://ekosport.com/wb_manuals/03AirRC.8.pdf) between dissassembly, cleaning, and re-greasing. Every 100 hours it needs complete service of all seals. Sounds like maintenance hell for a touring bike that's used 7 hours a day for two weeks - that's three teardowns and a seal service right there.

I agree that the caution is warranted. Chopping and re-welding fork legs at a qualified shop is probably less of a concern than the toughness of the fork crown. The good news is that shortening the fork for 20" wheel use will reduce the torque stresses on the fork, and I suspect that fork crowns designed for off-road hits on 26" wheels will see lower stresses from on-road tandem use on 20" wheels.