Stanchion wear.

I washed my bike today and put it in the sun to dry. I noticed that the stanchions, black anodized 36 in its sixth season, are looking a bit thin just  above the wipers. It ain’t gonna get better. And there are a couple small not too significant scratches that have been there for a while. So the question is, how much longer will I get from the fork? I figure once the anodized surface starts to get thin that they go fast. Serviced annually and lowers serviced more often too. Just age related wear. It is due for its service now but still feels good. Not sure I want to spend money on a service if the fork is not going to  last much longer. Never seen this wear on any of my own forks before.

I just sent my Diamond in for service, got a call re stanchion wear and bushing play. They suggested it wasn't worth throwing money into the CSU or lowers. Ended up building my D1 damper into a new D2 chassis. 

Not what you want to hear, but if you have good internals it might be cheaper than a new fork.

You might be able to squeeze another season out of it with a service, if the scratches aren't blowing seals, and the wear isn't causing bushing slop. The shop should be able to give an opinion on whether you can stretch it another year.

I’m thinking I’ll go visit S4 on Tuesday and ask them. My thinking is that if I can see wear from the wiper, there may be more wear where I can’t see. The nicks on the stanchions have been there a while and don’t seem to be causing obvious problems unless the nicks allow more dust in? Last time I priced a CSU it was around $600. The fork was a take off that I got for $800 so I  have gotten my moneys worth.

The answer may be “Lower it and build a dirt jumper” based on that description.

Your misteak was washing your bike

but you probably got  your moneys worth

I suggest doing nothing

Posted by: mrbrett

The answer may be “Lower it and build a dirt jumper” based on that description.

Good solution.

In my experience, minor scratches do very little in terms of performance. They can also be easily buffed to minimize potential seal/wiper damage. If bushing fit is still good, I say run it.

I've heard of people filling in deep gouges with epoxy or crazy glue back when people would thro themselves off of poorly made features

Posted by: XXX_er

I've heard of people filling in deep gouges with epoxy or crazy glue back when people would thro themselves off of poorly made features

As recently as 6 years ago, I had great success using the fill/sand method with clear nail polish. prep edges of the scratch with very fine grit sand paper, fill with the polish, mask and sand flat, repeat if necessary. That fork is still on my hard tail and it hasn't been an issue at all.

was the seal actualy leaking at the scratch or ?

No the seal isn’t leaking at all. The scratches are minor and have been buffed with a fine fingernail abrasive stick ABAP. Been there a few years. I can see through the black ano though. Very thin now. I should pull the lowers off today as it’s finally raining nicely.  If I can feel the stanchion is thinner in that spot, I think the forks days will be numbered. And at my senior citizen-ness a jump bike is a non starter. Too brittle for that kind of shenanigans.

Posted by: XXX_er

I've heard of people filling in deep gouges with epoxy or crazy glue back when people would thro themselves off of poorly made features

I did exactly that on my Lyric and it's been going strong for 3 years. A bit of epoxy and some fine-grit sandpaper was all it took.

Bet if you pop the lowers off the stanchions will look worse where they overlap with the bushings. With that said might as well just keep running the fork with periodic lower leg service until you have issues with the seals or bushings. I’m guessing (making this up) it’ll be a while given the tolerances involved in the system vs. the thickness of the anodizing, unless it’s bad enough that you’re wearing through the stanchions under the anodized layer fairy quickly. 

If anything the fork might run smoother now that you’ve effectively burnished the stanchion/bushing interface!