With all the engineering that has gone into modern
day mountain bike suspension systems, it's strange that more attention has not been paid to the mounting of the actual
shock.
The next time you service your shock, take a moment
after removing the top of the shock from the linkage to slowly rotate the shock fore and aft on the lower pivot.
Note all the friction taking place. Remove the shock and extract the reducers. Not only will you find
wear inside the DU bushing, but you'll likely find scoring on the outside surfaces of the shock spacers as well, indicating
the hardware is rotating where it's not supposed to.
Our NEEDLE BEARING
CONVERSION KITS are a new, better way of doing things. Our top quality hardened steel needle bearing take the place
of the DU bushing. The needle bearing is matched with a hardened, polished inner ring (axle) that, when used with
the supplied spacers, is a perfect fit between the rocker arms or frame mounts. When the shock hardware is
tightened, the needle bearing axle is locked into place. No side loading is applied to the bearing or
the shock body in any way. Sealed spacers center the shock and protect the bearing.
The DU bushing system has so much friction that it is often
easier for the hardware
to rotate somewhere outside of the bushing! This can cause damage to other parts of your
frame.
This kit includes all the necessary parts
to convert one shock eyelet "DU bushing" to needle bearing.
Needle Bearing (1 pcs)
The needle bearing is manufactured from high-strength chromium steel. The roller elements are full-complement
for "MAX"imum strenth. The OD of the bearing is a perfect press fit in place of the Fox DU bushing (the bearing
will fit any standard 0.50" shock eye).
Inner Ring
The inner
ring, or "axle" is hardened and ground chromium steel, perfectly matched to the roller elements.
Most kits include an aluminum reducing sleeve to allow the axle ID to be stepped down for 6mm bolts (use no sleeves for
8mm bolts). Most kits are now supplied with three (3) inner rings of varying outside diameter tolerances (-, +, and
++) to allow for a perfect fit, regardless of tolerance variations in the shock eyelet bore.
Sealed Spacers (2 pcs)
Anodized aluminum spacers with integral seals keep the shock perfectly centered without imparting friction to the
system. This sealing system prevents any metal-to-metal contact between the shock, spacers, and mounting hardware, as
well as performing the essential function of keeping the grease inside the needle bearing while keeping contamination
out of the system.
