Junior T Questions

[ummbikes]

I'm trying to figure out why I'm only getting 4" of travel...The spring that is in the fork is not the same length as the spring in my z1 (2001 mcr). Shouldn't all 130mm Marz. forks use the same spring?

In addition all 99, 00 Junior T forks were 130mm right?

Thanks

Rob

[eric strt6]

what's the oil level w/o the springs [legs compressed] ? stock is 100mm from the top

and how much do you weigh? 2000 came stock with stiff springs for big riders

[amateur]

hmmm...how soft is it setup in those 4 inches? i'm tihnkinh too much oil.

[ummbikes]

No oil in the fork at all...

The thing can physically only get 100mm of travel, before the stantions hit bottom in the lowers.

As I dig into it more, it seems like thats all the fork can get.

Which confuses me as the JR T, which came out in 99, has 130mm of travel, same for 2000, 130mm of travel. Then in 01 it went to 6", and 02 has 7"...

Is it possible the bottom spring is installed incorrectly?

If anyone has one and has taken one apart, and put it back together, how did you arrange the spring?

Heck, I'm ready to just take pictures of the guts of the fork, and post so someone can tell me if something is missing...

:angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry: :angry:

Oh I just purchased this fork from a :monkey: who is off racing this weekend so i can't get a hold of him to ask wtf is up :eek:

Okay I'm going nite nite.

Thanks for the advise so far.:cool:

[amateur]

does it have the right look amount of travel? can you pull it up anymore than the fork sags? might only have 1 spring in there, which means it is sitting probly 5" closer to the bottom of the fork.
i doubt this, but its worth checking into...

[MikeD]

The Jr came out in 98...it had 100mm. Mine sits proudly up front on my Surly Instigator.

It's possible yours was modified to get only 4"; say for slalom or whatnot.

When I got mine, the goofball who'd put it together last completely dorked up the reassembly. I had to tear it down completely, including the valving, etc. It was my 1st time, but the Marz. downloadable literature was a ton of help. You'll need snap-ring pliers; you may not have a pair.

Tear it down and check it vs. the literature. If your plastic preload spacers look like they were hacksawed down, that's a sure sign yours has been modified. Or PM Brian Peterson for some more tips. Good luck...

Mike

PS www.marzocchimtb.com

[sub6]

If the fork is supposed to get 5" and it only gets 4" (bottoms out)when there's no oil in it, that undoubtedly means that it has 4" main springs and 50mm negative springs in it. A 5" upgrade kit is easy enough (and cheap enough) to come by - it has the 5" springs and 20mm negative springs.

If the preload spacers are hacksawed down, that would indicate that somebody tried to make it into a LONGER travel fork. You'd take a 4" '98 fork, and put 5" springs in it, cutting 1" off the preload spacers to compensate.

[MikeD]

Thanks for the catch, sub6. One cylinder wasn't firing when I wrote that.

[ummbikes]

Hmm, it turns out this is a '98 fork...

So if I get 20mm bottom springs, and a 130mm springs it should get ~130mm travel?

I have springs from a 130mm Z1 and two of the standard 10mm bottom springs, I'll try that and see whats what...

Thank You, Thank You

[sub6]

Originally posted by ummbikes
So if I get 20mm bottom springs, and a 130mm springs it should get ~130mm travel?

Eeehhhhhh, not really.

'98 Marz. are 4" forks. 20mm neg. and 100mm pos. springs.

'99 Marz. are 5" forks. 20mm neg. and 130mm pos. springs, with a LONGER pumping rod, and deeper lower legs. IF you want to cut down a 5"er, you use longer (50mm) neg. and shorter (100mm) pos. springs.

The problem is that a '98 doesn't have a 50mm neg to replace with something shorter. If you want to replace it/convert to 130mm travel, you need to replace the existing 20mm with something like a 3mm, then use 130mm main springs. You also have to cut 1" off the preload spacers, as described above, to fit the longer 130mm springs in.

Here's the problem: a 3mm preload spring doesn't really exist. You'd have to use a rubber washer or some such thing, to prevent a metal-on-metal topout. Even then, you'd only end up with max 119mm travel, if you used a 1mm "neg. spring" - 20mm neg. minus 1mm neg is 19mm extra travel, add it to 100 for total travel.


Are you sure you have 10mm neg. springs? I think they may be 20s, but I have been known to be wrong now and then...:D
IF you have 10mm neg. springs, put those in, with the 130mm pos. springs, and cut about 20mm off your preload spacers. You'll probably get 110mm travel.

Marzocchi says you should NOT do this rubber-washer thing. They claim people have ruined their internals this way. I'm not sure that this is too likely. The valve on a '98 JrT is pretty damn simple. As long as you have no metal on metal contact at top-out, a simple valve like that SEEMS TO ME like it ought to hold up.

If you use 10mm neg. springs, I don't think that will be any problem whatsoever, but it won't give you 130mm travel, that's for sure.


note- this is not an uncommon mod. I've heard a lot about it, esp. on mtbr, and have even done it myself. It worked quite well. I got rid of the fork after a while, so I can't speak for the longevity, but it held up fine for me for a bit.






Brian P. would sh!t himself if he saw this.......

[KonaDude]

Originally posted by sub6


Eeehhhhhh, not really.

'98 Marz. are 4" forks. 20mm neg. and 100mm pos. springs.

'99 Marz. are 5" forks. 20mm neg. and 130mm pos. springs, with a LONGER pumping rod, and deeper lower legs. IF you want to cut down a 5"er, you use longer (50mm) neg. and shorter (100mm) pos. springs.

The problem is that a '98 doesn't have a 50mm neg to replace with something shorter. If you want to replace it/convert to 130mm travel, you need to replace the existing 20mm with something like a 3mm, then use 130mm main springs. You also have to cut 1" off the preload spacers, as described above, to fit the longer 130mm springs in.

Here's the problem: a 3mm preload spring doesn't really exist. You'd have to use a rubber washer or some such thing, to prevent a metal-on-metal topout. Even then, you'd only end up with max 119mm travel, if you used a 1mm "neg. spring" - 20mm neg. minus 1mm neg is 19mm extra travel, add it to 100 for total travel.


Are you sure you have 10mm neg. springs? I think they may be 20s, but I have been known to be wrong now and then...:D
IF you have 10mm neg. springs, put those in, with the 130mm pos. springs, and cut about 20mm off your preload spacers. You'll probably get 110mm travel.

Marzocchi says you should NOT do this rubber-washer thing. They claim people have ruined their internals this way. I'm not sure that this is too likely. The valve on a '98 JrT is pretty damn simple. As long as you have no metal on metal contact at top-out, a simple valve like that SEEMS TO ME like it ought to hold up.

If you use 10mm neg. springs, I don't think that will be any problem whatsoever, but it won't give you 130mm travel, that's for sure.


note- this is not an uncommon mod. I've heard a lot about it, esp. on mtbr, and have even done it myself. It worked quite well. I got rid of the fork after a while, so I can't speak for the longevity, but it held up fine for me for a bit.






Brian P. would sh!t himself if he saw this.......

Marzocchi only makes 20mm and 50mm negative springs, so where would he get a 10mm negative spring? Would he have to make one?

Pretty much, you'd have to REALLY want that extra 10mm or so of travel, since this is going to be MORE LIKELY to cause problems with your fork. I'm not saying it ever will, but often when something's modified it increases the chances of something going wrong.

If you REALLY want 130mm of travel, save up a bit of cash, sell thel '98 Jr. T and look for a '99 or '00 Jr. T or Mr. T. They'll have 130mm of travel the right way, and will be noticeably longer travel than your 100mm Jr. T.

[MikeD]

SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM

Ok, well, this is shameless, but since this MIGHT help a brutha out, I don't feel guilty...

You could buy my 01 Jr T (flat blue) and reduce the travel to 5". I just bought BMXman's Super T, so I'm looking for a good home for my Jr.

I also have a Stratos FR-4 for chhhhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeap.

PM me if interested.

:oink: :oink: :oink: :oink: :oink: :oink: :oink:

(Spammidy-spam!)

-Mike

[sub6]

Originally posted by KonaDude


Marzocchi only makes 20mm and 50mm negative springs, so where would he get a 10mm negative spring? Would he have to make one?



I only mentioned 10mm neg. springs b/c he said he had 'em. I also pointed out that they were probably 20s :D

I got mine to 115mm travel. Not a big deal, but it's halfway to 130!!:rolleyes: