HOW TO CHANGE THE FEEL OF YOUR FOX AIR FORK
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Swapping Volume Spacers in Your Fox Fork
Dialing in the air volume on your suspension can make a big difference in the ride. Air volume has a big effect on the progressiveness of your suspension, so adding or removing spacers will change how your suspension feels throughout its travel. By adding these volume reducers, you can force your fork or shock to resist bottoming out. Or if you are not able to achieve full travel even with proper sag settings, you can remove or reduce the size of the spacers. For all riders, this is a valuable tuning option. Fortunately, Fox offers some of the most tunable pieces of suspension on the market. In this “Garage Files” we will show you how to install volume reducers in your fork.
TOOLS NEEDED
Dialing in your air volume is one of the easier procedures with your suspension, but you do need a few tools. For this you will need a ratchet, correct size and type socket fittings for the air cap, suspension specific air pump, and of course, volume spacers for your model fork.
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CLEAN START
Start by spraying isopropyl alcohol around the air-spring cap to make sure the area is clean from any contaminants.
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TAKE NOTE
Unthread the air-spring cap and attach a shock pump to release all of the air pressure in the fork. Before releasing the air, record your current air pressures so you can duplicate them after the volume spacers are installed.
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RIGHT TOOL
Fox offers air cap socket fittings in a few different sizes. For the Float 34 we will need the 28-millimeter non-chamfered fitting. While you can technically use a standard 28mm socket, most have a chamfered outer edge that does not allow full contact with the soft and easily damaged aluminum air cap so it is not recommended.
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LOOSEN
Carefully align the socket on the air-spring cap and begin to unthread it. It will take a little force to break the threads loose.
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SPACE OUT
Once the air spring is unthreaded, pull the cap off. Most bikes come with reducers installed from the factory.
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MORE BETTER
In this case we want to make our fork more progressive (resist bottoming out). To achieve this, we will add one volume reducer. One spacer makes a big difference in the progressiveness.
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BACK TOGETHER
Reinstall the air-spring cover and begin tightening it down by hand before using the 28-millimeter socket fitting.
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TORQUE RIGHT
Use the ratchet to tighten the top cap down all the way. The top cap should be torqued to 24.8 newton meters, which is tighter than you can get with your fingers, but not as tight as you could go with a ratchet.
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AIR UP
With the air spring threaded properly and back into place, put the desired air pressure back into the fork and reinstall the valve cover. We like to start with the exact same pressure and adjust it from there. Reinstall the valve cover and go hit the trails.
