Manitou expert - help with M2 crown identification please?

[Silverfish]

I have a pair of M2 forks.
Crown looks like pic 1
I also have 2 pairs M3 forks.
One has the crown in pic 2
And the other has the crown in pic 3
Is pic 3 an M2 crown? Note the bolts are smaller - and the crown is actually smaller (thinner) than the crown on the M2 In pic 1

 

[elite504]

Darren,
looking at the pictures above, the first crown is an M3. The slots in the clamps should align with the vent holes in the stanchions. (IIRC M5 bolts).
The second crown you show is strictly speaking an M4 crown, but still very much available on the marketplace at a time when M2's were in service, but strictly speaking, it's a 2-year later crown.

The M2 crown is the third one, the crown is actually ever so slightly taller. (and IIRC M6 bolts)
The difference between M2 and M3 is very subtle and in all honesty missed by most.
I think if you ordered a factory M2 crown from ATB Sales in the M3 era, you'd get the later crown and it was considered interchangeable.
I might have to do a dig and see if they were actually the same part numbers. I think they were.

 

[elite504]

Follow up= they were different part numbers.
M2 crowns 85-33** part number
M3 crowns 85-34** part numbers

One part that is different but with the same part number, is the arch.
The M2 had a welded on cable stop. The M3 was a one-piece machined part. However they both have the same p/n, just the manufacturing method changed.

 

[Silverfish]

The 3rd pic has a slightly shorter crown and smaller bolts
Are you sure the 1st pic isn’t the M2?

But either way, I can sub the crown in pic 1 and use the crown in pic 3 instead yes? And only you and I will notice

Reason I ask
Pic 1 is theeaded
Pic 3 is ahead
And my Mani FS needs an ahead

 

[elite504]

Ah, that's my eyes being a little bent. From the pics I thought that the 1st pic had the shallower crown.
Absolutely, you can sub one for the other and basically no one will notice.

I wonder if the height of the M2 crown was a little conservative, and they were worried about a heavy rider buzzing a tyre on the crown (what with elastomers having no hard bottom-out). When it wasn't a problem, the M3 got a little lower profile.