Fox 34 dust wiper replacement suspension grease or not?

Question

I am working on replacing the dust wipers and foam rings. I’m following this procedure: https://www.ridefox.com/fox17/help.php?m=bike&id=622

My first question is: do I want to use some suspension grease on the inside of the dust wipers? The instructions don’t mention it, but my old dust wipers have some grease on them. Also, some YouTube videos mention using grease.

Second question: in the manual, they mention to soak the foam rings in 20 wt suspension fluid. For my fork, one side gets the 20wt stuff and the other side gets 5wt Teflon. Should I assume that each ring is soaked in their own fluid?

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

The Fox dust wipers come dry out of the package. DO coat the inside of the wipers with suspension grease (Slickoleum or Slick Honey). You'll note the middle of the inside of a wiper is slightly concave. I fill this area with Slick Honey. I also put a thin coating on the stanchions before replacing them into the lowers. Just enough to put a little extra shine on them. Aids the insertion.

The foam ring on the damper side gets soaked in whatever is used as the bath oil on that side. Essentially, only a fork with the fully enclosed FIT4 damper will get 20wt Gold for bath oil/foam ring soak on the damper side.

Answer 2

Yes, you need to match the foam wiper soaking fluid with the corresponding leg fluid.

https://www.worldwidecyclery.com/blogs/worldwide-cyclery-blog/how-to-servicing-fox-suspension-forks

Answer 3

Yeah, applying some grease to the wipers is good practice (assuming it's not already there like with RockShox wipers for example). I like to put a little on the stanchions as well, but that's probably unnecessary.