Shock bushings - lube?

I have a Fox rear shock - should I be lubing the eyes at each end? They are lined with a red material but seem to accumulate "stuff" and were seized up fairly solid last time I pulled them off. I have given them a wipe of teflon grease but don't want to ruin them.

Thanks, Ben

The red stuff is PTFE (teflon), it's a lube. You shouldn't be able to move the reducers by hand, if you can, then they are too worn. Grease will attract dirt, which will cause premature wear.

The red stuff is PTFE (teflon), it's a lube. You shouldn't be able to move the reducers by hand, if you can, then they are too worn. Grease will attract dirt, which will cause premature wear.

I use dry graphite spray on mine,but then again i machined my own inserts out of 4120 and made bronze bushings about 1.5 times thicker than the stock ones.

I use dry graphite spray on mine,but then again i machined my own inserts out of 4120 and made bronze bushings about 1.5 times thicker than the stock ones.

Thicker bushings would have the opposite effect of what you are looking for, since you have a smaller surface area. The bronze should last a lot longer though

u shouldnt be lubing the bushings at all.. all it does is attract grime and wear them even faster..

they are designed to be used dry.

if you need grease of some kind to have smooth shock action you have some other issues going on.

u shouldnt be lubing the bushings at all.. all it does is attract grime and wear them even faster..

they are designed to be used dry.

if you need grease of some kind to have smooth shock action you have some other issues going on.

^^ this

problems with shock bushings often exposes underlying issues like poor frame alignment, or even excessive leverage ratios and poor structural design (excessive flexure) on particular frame designs

about the only "lube" I would put anywhere near a bushing would be Finish Line's "Dry" Teflon spray chain lube which has a rich mix of Teflon and solvent carrier, it will not easily attract dirt like a wet lube, but its still not good practise and its used as a "quick fix" in certain situations

^^ this

problems with shock bushings often exposes underlying issues like poor frame alignment, or even excessive leverage ratios and poor structural design (excessive flexure) on particular frame designs

about the only "lube" I would put anywhere near a bushing would be Finish Line's "Dry" Teflon spray chain lube which has a rich mix of Teflon and solvent carrier, it will not easily attract dirt like a wet lube, but its still not good practise and its used as a "quick fix" in certain situations

Explain why construction equipment has grease points at the DU bushing or bronze bushing and pin joints. Lube is ok if maintained. I would suspect that the ony reason frame producers don't make greaseable joints is to keep costs down and low expectations of the end user to preoperly maintain the joints. I'd be interested in what the designers on this board have to say.

Explain why construction equipment has grease points at the DU bushing or bronze bushing and pin joints. Lube is ok if maintained. I would suspect that the ony reason frame producers don't make greaseable joints is to keep costs down and low expectations of the end user to preoperly maintain the joints. I'd be interested in what the designers on this board have to say.

you raise an interesting point.

but bicycle suspension is optimised for light weight, compared to construction equipment

the DU bush in a shock eyelet is very different in terms of its material thickness and the limited physical packaging within the shock (an extremely restricted space)

compared to the grease-ported joints on heavy-duty construction equipment (I have spent enough time greasing this machine..)

for an interesting example of grease points in bicycle suspension; Turner, Devinci and Banshee amongst others, use or used different styles of grease ports.

Banshee had a lot of problems associated with their grease ports and IGUS polymer bushing pivot systems

Devinci's did not seem to make any real difference (just made a big mess), whilst Turner's was reported to work very well.

going back some years, WTB (grease guard) and even Shimano had hubs and headset with grease ports, but these were phased out

Explain why construction equipment has grease points at the DU bushing or bronze bushing and pin joints. Lube is ok if maintained. I would suspect that the ony reason frame producers don't make greaseable joints is to keep costs down and low expectations of the end user to preoperly maintain the joints. I'd be interested in what the designers on this board have to say.

Some bushings are designed to be greased, some come pre-lubed. Banshee experimented with custom bushings that would allow you to flush out the grease with a gun. DU bushings come with a PTFE coating, which is the lubricant, because it's small, precise and has no lateral load, it's ideal to make a sacrificial bushing. To make a grease ported fitting would add cost, bulk and weight to the assembly.

Another option for frames that do go through the du bushings faster is the enduro needle bearing kit. Totally overkill for most frames but some frames iys a smart idea. Look at the angular movement when you cycle through the travel, most modern frames try to minimize it.

Another option for frames that do go through the du bushings faster is the enduro needle bearing kit. Totally overkill for most frames but some frames iys a smart idea. Look at the angular movement when you cycle through the travel, most modern frames try to minimize it.

except the needles are very small, and prone to contamination. Ride reports on them are really mixed.

I had to buy needle bearings by the 6 pack for the wife's turner dhr.