Help - where to start with sorting 2009 (ish) RS Revelations

[development_cycle]

Right, so I bought a F&F locally through ebay for a really good price, the forks were listed as pretty much FUBAR, but I wasn't too fussed as the frame alone was worth the price. The forks however seem to work fine, internals all ok as far as I can tell, the stanctions though (or however you spell that ridiculous word) are very very badlly scored, beyond help.

Imagine my surprise when an almost identical fork pops up on ebay with a really good BIN advertised as internals FUBAR but both upper and lower legs in really good cosmetic condition.

I hope you're not bored already, so now I have the question of, can I simply remove the internals from the set that "works" and put them in the forks that are cosmetically sound? To make things more complicated, although both described as RS Revelation U-Turn 2009 forks, they do actually appear from the outside to have different internals :-(

Although I'm not experienced at doing this sort of thing I am capable and am willing to try. Pic's will be added asap to assist. Please start your comments now

 

[jimo746]

Take them both apart and see what you have got.
Get some pics posted up.

Cross your fingers ;-)

 

[mechanical_vandal]

I'm guessing one set are air and one are coil?

Not a clue as to what that means to cross compatability though.

 

[jimo746]

Pic's will be added asap to assist. Please start your comments now

Where are the pics?

 

[ishaw]

Another difference between the forks is the lock out. The damper is different between bar mounted and Crown dial lockout. You should just be able to swap the internals over. It will be a little messy as there will by hydraulic fluid in the lowers and stantions which you will need to replace. You'll need a good set of circlip pliers but the rest is standard tool box stuff (spanners and Allen keys).

I've done a few rebas and it's pretty simple, plenty of online advice and videos to help as well.

Check that the bushings aren't worn when you have them apart, or you'll just wear out the stantions quickly on your newly assembled set.

 

[development_cycle]

Re:

thanks to all those that have replied so far, finally I have some photos although I thought they were better than they actually are.

These ones are of the forks that are currently on the bike that seem to work, but with severe stanction wear.

Not convinced now you can see the tops and the bottoms of the forks to get an idea of what the internals might be and how they differ from the others, let me know if not.

 

[development_cycle]

Re:

Now these pic's are of the "new" forks that don't seem to work but have really almost immaculate stanctions.

The travel adjuster on the top of the left leg looks pretty much the same as the other fork, and the lockout (I assume) at the top of the right leg looks similar but not identical to the other forks. It's at the bottom of the fork legs whee the biggest difference appears, where the working but horrible looking forks just seem to have a simple allen bolt at the bottom of each leg, the nicer looking ones that don't work have a huge red adjuster of some sort at the bottom of the right leg, and what looks like it could be an air valve at the bottom of the left leg?

Again, let me know if more or better pic's are needed, or if you know (and I suspect some of you do) then just let me know what I'm looking at and if the internals can be removed from the working ones, and put inside the ones that don't seem to work. Alternatively of course if you know of a really simple and affordable fix for the ones that don't work without swapping the internals, that may just be quicker and easier Thanks guys, always appreciated

 

[Dickyboy]

I would hazard a guess that the first photos are of a lower spec set of forks with solo air & no rebound damping adjustment (I had a pair of Recons like this but without the U turn) whereas the second set of forks are dual air with rebound damping adjustment (red knob at bottom of right leg). My money would be on stripping & rebuilding the second set of forks, although it looks like part of the compression damper motion control is missing (top of right hand leg) - if the stanchions are in good nick just giving them a service & setting the air pressures correctly may well do the job. The compression dampers are easily swapped over, although (I can't see in first set of photos) you may be putting a lower spec of damper in, I have found the motion control dampers prone to leaking anyway.

 

[Dickyboy]

1. Give forks a really thorough clean.
2. Remove valve cap from top & bottom of left hand fork leg, depress needle valve of both, compress forks if possible to make sure all the air is removed before doing anything else - 100+ psi in an air fork can do some damage.
3. Sharp tug will remove red adjuster knob at bottom of right leg & then undo the allen key that is revealed a few turns before giving it a sharp tap with hammer to release, then completely undo & remove allen key - hopefully some oil will now drip out of the hole it leaves.
4. At bottom of left leg undo the aluminium nut on the air valve shaft when nearly off give it a sharp tap to release before undoing nut completely (this saves damaging aluminium thread).
5. You can now pull the fork lowers off & cover yourself in oil (hopefully assuming there is some in the right leg). And at least have a proper look at the stanchions before going any further.

Seriously though, these forks are pretty simple to work on with plenty of good info on the web, but from your posts above you don't sound too confident with sorting them - perhaps putting a call out to a local retrobiker who can help you would be a good start.

 

[development_cycle]

Re:

Excellent responses guys, give me an elastomer manitou or rockshox fork and I'm totally at home, but having never dabbled with oil, air a little, I'm not within my comfort zone for sure