Servicing and possibly upgrading RS Judy DH 95's

[Tsundere]

The forks seem to be absolutely fine, no play or sticking, but my experience with them is zero so maybe they aren't fine at all. I plan to strip them down with a view to replacing any damaged or perished parts, and maybe even upgrading them with some SRP goodies.

I've watched a couple of videos which have been quite helpful, although I can't find any dealing with DH specifically, and would love to hear directly from anyone who has done this.

Any tips or advice, do's and don'ts etc you might have would be much appreciated.

 

[d8mok]

Every pair I’ve had are the same as a Judy SL but with a proper cartridge in the RH leg too

 

[Tsundere]

Every pair I’ve had are the same as a Judy SL but with a proper cartridge in the RH leg too

Yeah, the vids said that too, so basically I just need to do the cartridge leg bit twice and ignore what they do with the 'dummy' leg.

 

[d8mok]

Yeh so normal SL or XC have a dummy leg but DH have the cartridge in both.

Be aware that they could be blown as many are.

 

[FluffyChicken]

As above, though oddly your 'DH' look more like red pained SLs, the crown is an SL/XC crown but with a steel steerer, not a DH one and the bolts and studs are way to nice looking.

Check you have both dampers.

There isn't much to the fork, hopefully the sanctions and bushings are good.
You cans witch to spring if you want, just need to watch out for one that can fit the top caps (many would use a shorter spring and an elastomer or white 'block' at the top)

 

[Tsundere]

As above, though oddly your 'DH' look more like red pained SLs, the crown is an SL crown but with a steel steerer, not a DH one and the bolts and studs are way to nice looking.

Check you have both dampers.

There isn't much to the fork, hopefully the sanctions and bushings are good.
You cans witch to spring if you want, just need to watch out for one that can fit the top caps (many would use a shorter spring and an elastomer or white 'block' at the top)

That pic is one I found online, mine are still on the bike and muddy from the last ride, will post pics when removed and clean.

I'm interested to see what's inside, and I quite like the idea of getting the SRP cartridges and springs.

 

[FluffyChicken]

There are quite a few build threads, one showing the indies, maybe of a later fork etc.
Go for it, the main part is good bushings, if they are blown or warn you need to replace them. A but more of a pain than say bombers or mag21s.

 

[mk one]

Helpful -

https://www.retrobike.co.uk/archive/1996-rock-shox-judy-service-manual.454/

 

[ishaw]

The dh versions should have a damper in both legs. The ones I've had were metal bodies, not plastic so less prone to blowing. Iirc one was red anno, the other silver.

Things to check are stanchion wear, oil and wiper seals and of course elastomers if they have them, though probably have springs. If all these items are good, then you may not need any srp goodies, but ti bolts are a nice upgrade for both the crown, brake mounts and lower legs.

Servicing is easy, alien keys, circlip pliers and a rubber mallet are all you need really, though a plastic tool to remove wiper seals is handy, though you can use a spanner to lever them off.

To take apart, you just need to:

Loosen crown bolts, unscrew adjusters.
Compress forks to expose elastomer stack or springs and pull out.

Remove lower leg adjusters (pull them out).
Undo lower leg bolts but don't remove. Leave about half in, then use rubber mallet to hit them and break taper seal on lower leg/damper interface. You should be able to separate uppers and lowers.

Remove circlip at bottom of stanchion, you can then pull out a damper. Note colour/side and repeat on the other.

Lever out wiper seals and remove foam rings.

That's pretty much it unless you want to change the damper oil.

Clean the lower leg internals, same for uppers in and out, and everything else too.

Before putting it all back together, I'd use some suspension fluid like RSP slick kick on the moving damper parts.

Clean or replace foam rings, give them a soak in suspension oil before refitting. Clean or replace wiper seals and refit them. Fill the void between them and the foam rings with Judy butter or similar.

Refit dampers in the correct legs, fit circlips. Add some suspension grease after doing this so there's a supply there for the damper rods.

I tend to add some Judy butter to the bushings using a clean socket on an extender rod to reach the bottom ones.

Remove the wiper seal springs if they have them, slide them up the stanchions.

Slot uppers and lowers together, bolt them in, though not too tight as can crack the lowers if you go too hulk. Torque wrench is better if you have one.

Refit springs to wipers.

Fit springs or elastomer back in and put adjuster's back on.

Tighten crown bolts.

All done.

 

[stingray230sx]

here is what the oem insides look like .....