Having an issue bleeding new big bore aluminum shocks

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

InTheZone

Active Member
Messages
76
First 3 shocks I built I had no issues. Get to the 4th and the shock shaft wants to spring out on it's on after releasing it. I have all the air bubbles out, fully compress the shock, top off and overflow oil, put the cap on and tighten. Problem is the cap feels tight, but whenever the shock shaft starts to slowly come out I'm able to tighten the cap some more. Only when it's fully extended can I fully tighten the cap. Then what happens is when I compress the shock it feels normal, but near full compression it feels spongy. I got the first 3 shocks done in one try. I've tried bleeding more and topping off several times, but same results. I even took the cap from a different shock to try it and nothing changed, but now I have 2 shocks that are feeling spongy towards full compression. I have no idea what changed, but I have fluid all over the bodies and paper towels from the excess coming out of the cap. And I have maybe a quarter bottle left.

When compressing the shocks without the springs they're supposed to feel the same throughout the motion, so at barely compressed to fully compressed the pressure should feel equal. but this stupid shock I can feel sponginess/resistance near full compression. These are brand new X-Spede aluminum shocks with aluminum caps. And yes the bottom nuts are fully tight, that's the first thing I did prior to topping with shock oil
 
Check your bladder in the cap and make sure it’s not sucking into the shock housing. And make sure it and the cap are dry of oil.
 
Check your bladder in the cap and make sure it’s not sucking into the shock housing. And make sure it and the cap are dry of oil.
the bladder was attached in the the cap. Should I remove it from the cap and set it on the body when I'm ready to attach the cap?
 
the bladder was attached in the the cap. Should I remove it from the cap and set it on the body when I'm ready to attach the cap?
No just make sure everything is dry before putting it together. And if your compressing the shock when you put the cap on that could be your problem try leaving a little space at the top of the shock with no fluid about enough for the bladder to take the space up and leave the shock shaft extended all the way out.
 
Yeah, sounds like oil is under the bladder already before you tighten it. I'd take the bladder out and wipe out the cap/bladder with a towel and put it back in, then try again.
 
thanks for all the feedback. I'll look into this later, make sure the cap and bleeder are dry when I try again. What I did though earlier was just not overflow the fluid where you can't see fluid sitting over the body, it's almost flush, just a tad bit lower. That allowed me to compress them without any issue, but I can see they rebound a little more than the original two I did yesterday so there's still room for improvement which will probably be better with your recommendations.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top