need help w/ 66 light

[kotajack]

I have had no luck doing searches and as of now marzocchi tech has not been too helpfull.

I have an 05 66 light 170mm version with the eta. At 170 lbs I figure the fork should sag some when I sit on the bike- it does not. I figured it was just stiction but I now have at least 10 good rides on it and its still the same. The manual says you should run it with 30 lbs of air preload but with 0lbs the fork still doesn't sag. I opened up the stancions thinking the oil height was too high, the right stancion was 60mm from the top when compressed and I couldn't tell about the left cause of the eta spring. ( wasn't sure to take it out and measure or leave it in) The stancions are not bent and are in excellent shape. Should I just give it more time or what? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Bicyclist]

Yeah, they take a LONG time to break in. Keep riding it (my MX Comp and Z1 both took 2 months to break in).

[Jm_]

The manual is way off in it's suggested air pressures. At about 200lb riding weight, I use about 8-12psi to get the right sag.

[bikenweed]

Is this fork the 66SL, the air fork?

[bjanga]

Looks like it might have two springs in it, from the website. Unscrew one of the top caps and remove a spring and see how that works.

[kotajack]

I only saw one spring in the left eta leg, but I didn't take the spring out. IT would seem that if I took the spring out the eta wouldn't work properly, unless there is another one under the long blue one. I will check out the spring situation

I have been running 5lbs of pressure in the right leg during rides, I just did not want to damage it by running so little pressure

If the lack of sag is caused by stiction and will go away with time then I will just keep riding it, I just didnot want to damage anything

Finally it is the 05 66 light 170 mm, I don't think they offer a sl version

[vitox]

the 66 light is a 2006 model, it uses air for preload and has a spring in the ETA side.
try running it without or with very little air and add air if you feel the fork has too much sag or is too soft, if you come to the conclusion that the air you added is making it harsh and not work well on small bumps, you should move up to a stiffer spring which i dont think you will need at all.

[Castle]

go by feel....

start with the fork empty, no air. add a few pump strokes at a time, removing the pump every few strokes checking for feel.. add air until you get the feel you want. I think I only have like 5 pump strokes in each leg on my rc2x, It doesn't even register on the guage.

[kotajack]

Thanks for the replys, I have no problem running the fork with different air pressures. I have been running it with 5 lbs in the right leg and on the trail it feels pretty good. I was just a little nervous about riding it with so little air pressure in it.

Even with no air pressure in the fork when I sit on the bike the fork does not compress at all. Maybe this is no big deal. I was just trying to get that 20% sag(or whatever) that the manual suggested

[blue]

Your lowers might be twisted...a friend (mousemonkey on here) had that happen with his 66RC2X on his 7 Point. Do you have any problems with putting the axle in?

[kotajack]

Marzocchi tech suggested this as well, but the axel slides in perfectly. There doesnt seem to be any problems there

[Jm_]

And a good way to check your sliders is to unbolt the axle, then unscrew the top caps (uses a cassette tool, great idea by marz), then cycle the fork all the way to bottom-out, then tighten the axle, then cycle the fork up and down and feel for any serious "stiction", if none is noted, you're fork is probably fine, but as others are saying, you have to give it time. It seriously took a good 20-40 hours before mine really started to break in and feel plusher, but it did happen, and the fork is pretty darn good. One of the better ones that I've had.

[Jm_]

Thanks for the replys, I have no problem running the fork with different air pressures. I have been running it with 5 lbs in the right leg and on the trail it feels pretty good. I was just a little nervous about riding it with so little air pressure in it.

Even with no air pressure in the fork when I sit on the bike the fork does not compress at all. Maybe this is no big deal. I was just trying to get that 20% sag(or whatever) that the manual suggested

Yeah, it will take a bit of riding before it sags more IMO. Then set the proper sag, then adjust the oil level to keep it from bottoming.

[bjanga]

adjust the oil level to keep it from bottoming.
How is oil level going to keep the fork from bottoming? If your fork bottoms on the oil inside of the leg, do you not risk blowing out seals?

[Jm_]

How is oil level going to keep the fork from bottoming? If your fork bottoms on the oil inside of the leg, do you not risk blowing out seals?
it creates an air spring in the fork, the less volume, the faster it ramps up, and the metal c-clips hold the seals in, and the harder the oil pushes against the seals, the harder they seal. That's how marzocchi designed it, unlike fox seals that are not held in by a c-clip, they just put the oil seal on the same peice as the dust seal, and hope that it all stays in there, but that's why you can't adjust the oil level on the fox stuff.