Warranty issue with new Fox Mega Shock

[BIG BLACK WARRIOR]

I bought a 2011 Apex ER late in January. After two weeks riding the rear suspension felt a little soft, so I checked the air pressure, and it had lost about 5 lbs. Pumped it back up to 175 lbs, and about 2 weeks later it had lost 5 or 6 lbs again. Told my dealer and he said no big deal, that the change in air temperature could cause it. Well over the 7 summer months, it dropped from 170 lbs, down to 52 lbs. Took it to the dealer last week and they checked for air leaks by putting it under water, and also just keeping it for a few days, and said they could not find any leaks. I think the air just escapes too slow to be detected. Just called up Yamaha customer service, and they keep saying nothing is wrong with the shock, because the dealer could not detect a leak. Well, the 118 lbs. of air escaped somehow over the last 7 months. Now what do I do because YAMAHA NO SERVICE doesn't want to correct the problem. Anybody have any ideas? Guess I could just pay myself to have Pioneer rebuild the shock. Anybody else with the Mega shock have this problem? Thanks for any feedback.

 

[NY AttakGT]

Gord, see these posts regarding the MegaFloat. Apparently they are prone to possible damage due to rocks and ice that could damage the shock body. Not saying this is your issue, but could be.

Best i see it is a chuck of ice or stone hits lower shock body...shock then compresses and damaged/chipped lower shock body slides into upper shock body damaging the seal.

I remember this a topic of discussion last riding season with some people. i remember reading these when I was investigating if I wanted to add the MegaFloat to my mono suspension.

http://www.ty4stroke.com/viewtopic.php? ... ht=#857705
http://www.ty4stroke.com/viewtopic.php? ... ht=#864787
http://www.ty4stroke.com/viewtopic.php? ... ht=#865681

 

[ecopter]

Damage is possible from debris. But temp. changes will alter the air pressure within the shock. Last season, I always checked the pressure prior to riding in the morning (coldest outside) and it was always different than later in the day (warmer). Also, when adjusting it prior to a trip (coming from the south), I would sometimes have to adjust it by 10 psi or more.

Since you've taken it to the dealer and no leaks were noted, I would ride it as is. A good thing to do is to keep a journal of the psi with relation to the temps and see if you can get a benchmark from which to compare. I'll be sure to check my Mega tomorrow as I set it on 150 psi at the beginning of summer. I'm curious as to what it's reading now.

jf

 

[blueironranger]

Really doesn't seem like an excessive amount of air loss to me. Floats will always loose some air over time. Mine on my phazer loose about 10-15psi over the summer and I'm only at 70psi to begin with. With a 175psi starting pressure it's gunna loose more air. Even loosing 110psi over 7 months probibly wouldn't show up in a water test, that's probibly 1 small bubble every hour. If you start loosing 10psi during one ride I'd start to worry.

 

[ecopter]

I checked the Mega pressure tonight and it's sitting on 165psi. I set it somewhere around there, so mine is not changing significantly. But it does require some adjustments during the colder mornings.

jf

 

[Mad Russian]

All my sleds with fox floats lost air. Thats normal. Just set them in the bigining of the season and check them once a month. No big deal.

 

[LJ 452]

I think if you run pressures on the high side of 100 you will see losses over time, think about tires, they do the same thing, not all but most and some worse than others. I first would maybe try pulling the shock out, and cleaning the air sleeve, seals and servicing that area, there is a Fox Float oil that your dealer should have, this will lubricate the air seals after cleaning. This process should be in your float manual.

 

[dansranger]

I had the same problem with my evols. I put 175psi in the shock and placed it in my kitchen sink filled with water. After a couple of days I noticed bubbles around the seal. I sat and watched the bubble get bigger and eventually surface after around 20 minutes.
Carver fixed the seal and no leaks. My shocks do not leak any air during the summer now.

 

[AKrider]

I was under the impression that all air shocks lost air over time as that has been my experience with mountain bike air shock. Kinda figured it was the same deal as tires. Everytime I switch out our summer tires for winter and then back in the spring the tires that have been sitting in storage have lost some pressure.

 

[09nytro]

Yes my fox shocks always loose air ...I just had them done too and they still loose air ....only about 10 psi over the summer i thought that was the norm...