Pitted Fork Tube Repairs

I am prepared to take some flack for this, so I would like to know if anyone here has ever successfully filled pits in fork tubes. i have had a difficult time trying to buy forks with non rusted fork tubes. The few I do have are being migrated to the Husqvarnas that I intend to put up for sale later this year.

As I do not have a large fund set aside for my restoration, I have decided to try to find a compound or process that will level the pits, but not tear or drag on the fork seals. If I had the money I would readily send out the 4 sets of tubes needing rechroming. Since that is not an option, I am looking to do this for the bikes I chose to retain for developement projects. I plan to use vintage fork boots to protect the repaired tubes. Any suggestions would be appreciated

good luck! the best I have done is sand down with 1500 wet and dry to remove the rust and sharp edges of the rust pits on mildly pitted forks. this has worked effectively in the short term, I haven't seen long term effects on the seals etc as I tend not to see the bikes again.

Degrease really well and use a carbody filler, profile to match radius and get smooth as possible, this will deal with pits well enough but not the general wear.

I have used 3m epoxy 5 min cure time in grey I did it 2 yrs ago and put them on the bike last yr they work just fine no problem.I used a rust remover jelly to get the rust out of the pits cleaned it with acetone wiped the epoxy on with a plastic body filler pad,Spread it thin so you don't have to sand as much I started out with 600 grt and finnished with 1500 grt If it came in chrome or silver it would be perfect.I tried to take a pic but the flash just washes out on the chrome.maybe i'll wheel it outside and try w/out the flash.Hope it helps.

That sounds good to me. I was thinking along the lines of using something catalyzed as I repair many things Husqvarna with JB Weld. I wanted something that would flow out somewhat and something about JB made me think otherwise about using there. Mostly because once I sand it to blend, it seems to become porous once you cut through the outer skin. When I used it on my 499WRX clutch cover, I used it to repair the corroded impellor floor. I had to fill and machine a seal pocket into it. I flowed it into the inside behind the repair to reinforce and seal it from the engine oil

looked into this when i did my fork change but the pitts were too low in the stroke to warrant the repair so i cleaned them up and lube them with lanolin to stop and further damage.one guy on a forum mentioned cleaning with naval jelly and silver solder repair then sand and buff.

Kind of strange all my pits were up between the clamps and when I fell over and hit a rock that is where it would hit the forks as well.

That chrome, which is hard chrome not show chrome, does the opposite of what zinc in galvanized metal does. It makes the defect corrode rapidly.

If there is an oil film it shouldn't corrode any more. It takes ionic transfer in an electrolite (may well be just a little drop of water) to corrode. The tubes can be rotated so the defect doesn't really go across the bushing in a way there is a lot of load on it. Probably need to find fork tubes from parts bikes that went down years ago as opposed to those which were stored where condensation occured many times often daily. I have seen some hydraulic cylinders with a lot of missing chrome that didn't really leak after smoothing and new sealing components.

you can have them ground and re hard chromed

I am very well aware of that but as I mentioned in my first post I do not have money available to even send out one set let alone four. I have purchased 3 sets of forks just to get tubes out of them. I always ask if there are any defects with the travel area on the tubes, I am told they are fine, then when I receive I find some are severely pitted in that area. By the time I buy enough forks to just get 2 tubes, I could send out one set to get ground, plated, and ground in to finish OD

Last place I called out in California, they wanted close to $300, to rechrome and grind not including shipping. Cheaper to find something on eBay for a third of that. I couldn't find any place here in oklahoma. Called one guy and he said changes in environmental laws in the state shut down hard-chroming.

theres a place called franks forks or forks by frank in Chicago dont know if he can help but you mite hunt him down

I will have tubes rechromed after thinning out the herd. Then I will have the money to cherry out my own personal projects. Right now I just need to get my concepts into rolling chassis form so I have the incentive to assemble their engines. In my world, no point of building an engine before you have a home for it. I have to keep components in ziplock bags to keep from losing the benefits of my cleaning/refurb work

just give em a sand down so they don't damage the seals and make sure they are lightly oiled to prevent corrosion till you can go the whole hog! whats an old husky without weeping seals??

This weekend I prepped and painted the sliders for the 1978 WR I am building. I will be working on those tubes first. I have 2 sets of 35mm forks to work on but one set of tubes between them. I had to toss the tubes from the 2nd set because they were severely rusted

I feel for ya, lots of rust in the air down here too. I find that people dont clean the parts they are selling because then they will actually see the rust or bad spots on the parts and maybe have a guilty conscience . just my 2 cents. I also heard the same about having shafts rechromed when you call a place here they make you feel like your 2 feet tall for asking .

I'm curious what bike these are for that it is so hard to buy used forks for ? I recently had a rust free pair for a 1980 YZ I put on e-bay for $50 with no reserve and free shipping just to get rid of them. It took 3 weeks for anybody to bid. It cost me $48 to ship them. Just my $2 worth.

When I put the rolling chassis together for the 1984 250WR, I took the tubes out of those forks because of pitting and rust and replaced with a set from a set of 1985 250 XC forks I had gotten off this forum about 3 years ago.I am left with those removed tubes that are not that bad, but that is another I intend to sell this year. I put the best tubes on what I sell because pitted tubes are something of a deal breaker. I will repair what I can and use on one of the 82 or 83 bikes I want to build for myself.

Here's a solution for addressing pitting in you fork tubes. Fill the pits with thick set super glue, then polish the tube with a piece of roll emery cloth.... Bingo! Works like a charm....

Desmo