Suspension lockout not engaging
 

Hi Everyone,
I hope everyone has a great trials this new years.

I have a Suntour XCR-LO suspension fork that has failed to engage the lockout. It seems that the internal engaging is rotating along with the external knob, it is unlocked about half way and not moving either to full unlock or lock. Anyone has arise to this same problem and been able to fix it with only basic bike mechanic skills? Can this side of the fork be taken apart without making serious damages, I have heard that some have compress air, but not sure if mine is a case.

Thanks in advance.

"Suntour" (really Sunrace, who acquired the once great Suntour name for a song) are cheap disposable forks. if/when you disassemble it, you'll probably find the "lock" is a little finger of plastic or soft metal thats gotten mangled.

I did disassemble a low end Manitou fork once to replace the springs with heavier ones. IIRC, I had to remove the knobs from the top of both sides, and unscrew whatever cap was under them, then the forks came apart. had to clean everything inside then reassemble with my new springs and fresh grease. IIRC, on those forks one side had the spring, and the other side had the damper ('shock absorber').

there's no compressed air in your shock. You find that in shocks like Fox Float's, which cost more than the whole bike a suntour fork came on. any air shock will have an air valve for pumping them up, they typically need 150-200PSI (you have to use a special high pressure fork pump for this, not a regular tire pump).

IDK, I don't own one.. It may not be a lockout, just a preload adjustment..

sort of like the Above..


I have a Spinner , thats all they have..

You can find the service instructions here http://www.srsuntour-cycling.com/dstore/service.html

Being realistic, these forks are normally disposable if broken, service parts are generally unavailable whatever country your are in, and if you can't fix them yourself, the cost of getting them serviced will be the same or greater than just replacing them with a new set.

For compressed air, these shocks are coil shock, not air shocks.

I know it's a cheap for, itself is only around 130 dollars, however for what I use it; it has been great so far since a bought, 3 years ago, and came in with an avalanche 2.0 2009. I live in Mexico and I cannot afford mor than that, lol.
Anyhow, the problem was the lockout not locking out, I will try to take apart as pierce as described he did on his, if too much of a problem I probably look for a better one.
Thanks jimc101 I found a couple of good tech videos on the site suggested.
I;ll update later to tell how it went.

thanks all

I've had mixed success rebuilding forks. When a fork already works, I've had luck rebuilding them with fresh grease and oil. But when it's already broken, you will likely need new parts, which are probably not available.

On a fork like that I would leave it alone and live without the lockout. If you can live with a rigid fork (most can) that's a cheaper option if your fork finally goes. I really don't like cheap suspension forks, I've used enough of them and to be honest most of them suck. I'd rather have a rigid fork than a cheap suspension fork.

If you search for suntour xcr on eBay, there are some parts. I don't know if it's the parts you need though.

Odd to read all these comments like: "OMG, I like this fork" then "that fork suxxor".

Can the damper tower be removed at all? there is a 5mm inner bolt inside that may be able to loosen up to remove the tower, is this even possible or I should not mess with this, the problem for not locking is inside there because the inside lock is slipping, maybe a stripped thread.
The suspension is free, it's not riggid, the problem is that I cannot lock it rigid.

There are bolts at the bottom , that on most forks, take them apart.

more straightforward, get a rigid 'suspension corrected' fork and hang the one that you have on the wall .

bolts on the bottom remove the lowers usually. the top caps either pull the cartridge out or the damper. depends on the construction. the bolts on the bottom releases the rebound damper rod. i would not bother taking apart a suntour fork

Out of curiosity, can you still adjust the Speedlock button at various settings? Does that function still work?

I note lockout forks start coming on bikes (Trek, for 013 an example) at about $1K ..

No, the suspension is unlocked at all the way. When I put a Allen key to rotate inside the tower I feel it rotating and if I turn it harder toward locking position it actually locks rigid, but when I turn back to unlock position it keeps locked until a push real hard on it.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=291729
there is the tower of the damper, this is the one I wonder I can be removed without messing with the inside of damper which contains nitrogen, oil, etc

I tried to reply your message but i got error, I think I cannot send private messages.
Anyway, I quit with this suspension and I just orderer a new Manitou Minute Expert 100mm
it this a good suspension, I got it for a little over 300 dollars

lol, if I had the money right now, I'd ask for your old fork. I haven't determined for sure if my frame needs 80mm or 100mm.

haha, I think will be more expensive the shipping from Mexico for wherever you are, lol. I think I will upgrade wife's bike. xD