What kind of fastener is this?

['03KDX200]

I am completely disassembling the forks for the first time. On the end of the piston rod, there is a valve assembly with a basket and shims. I think this the rebound damping valve assembly. The compression valve assembly I already sanded away the end of the peened nut, removed and cleaned it. But I have a question about the damping assembly: What the hell type of three-sided head and screw is this? It makes me nervous that the corners of the triangular hole are split right to the outside of the threads. Is this another type of peening so that the nut can't move? If so, do I sand off the end of the screw to get the nut off, just like I did on the compression valve stack assembly?

Another big question is, see how that nut is recessed all the way down into the valve assembly? It's a 10mm nut but a standard 10mm socket won't fit down onto it because there's not enough clearance around the nut to fit down inside there. What do y'all do about that?

Also, when putting the compression and rebound valve assemblies back together, would I use red loctite or blue loctite on the shimstack nut to ensure that the nut doesn't back off?

[KDXGarage]

I am completely disassembling the forks for the first time. On the end of the piston rod, there is a valve assembly with a basket and shims. I think this the rebound damping valve assembly.

It is.

The compression valve assembly I already sanded away the end of the peened nut, removed and cleaned it. But I have a question about the damping assembly: What the hell type of three-sided head and screw is this? It makes me nervous that the corners of the triangular hole are split right to the outside of the threads. Is this another type of peening so that the nut can't move?

It is.

If so, do I sand off the end of the screw to get the nut off, just like I did on the compression valve stack assembly?

One could.

Another big question is, see how that nut is recessed all the way down into the valve assembly? It's a 10mm nut but a standard 10mm socket won't fit down onto it because there's not enough clearance around the nut to fit down inside there. What do y'all do about that?

What drive size are you using? 3/8" might be too thick, but 1/4" drive might.

Also, when putting the compression and rebound valve assemblies back together, would I use red loctite or blue loctite on the shimstack nut to ensure that the nut doesn't back off?

How bad do you want it to not fall off and come apart. JUST KIDDING! red

Unless you feel you absolutely MUST take it apart, I would leave it alone. If you have new reverse bend shims to revalve, then OK. Otherwise, there is little to gain by cleaning vs. the risk of disassembly.

['03KDX200]

Thank you KDXGarage! Well I was motivated to take the whole shim stack apart just to see if there was any sludge that might have been getting in between the shims, but when I got the compression damping valve assembly all completely disassembled, it was pretty clean and sludge-free, I have to say. Maybe I don't want to get the rebound damping assembly apart that bad after all. Like I was expecting to find thick, black deposits like an oily black muddy goop, coating everything. Nope, just fork oil with quite a bit of finely-powdered metal mixed into it. No larger pieces of metal though, nor concentrations of sludge. The oil seals/bushings all look fantastic to me too, none are worn smooth anywhere, maybe these forks were actually gone through a couple times in the last 20 years after all ;)

Would you leave the rebound damping assembly all together just like it is and just try to blow out the whole assembly with a generous amount of brake cleaner in a can, and call it good?

[kdxdazz]

I would use blue loctite. There's no telling how many times you will want to pull it apart again

[KDXGarage]

I would use the brake cleaner, but then hit it with air or a wet paper towel or something on the band. I am not a fan of letting those bands air dry with harsh cleaners on them. Not sure if it is bad or not, but I don't care for it drying on there.

If you do it again in the future, check into Maxima Suspension Clean. I think it is great. I use brake cleaner to get the bad stuff, then Suspension Clean for a quick final rinse. It ain't cheap!

If you slide hammered the tubes apart without heat, I would re-check those bushings. The edges usually get damaged. Post some pics, if you can.

That nut and the seal circlip is all that keeps the forks from coming apart. Red Loc-tite for me. It does not need to be a "high heat" version, like the shock nut.

['03KDX200]

I would use the brake cleaner, but then hit it with air or a wet paper towel or something on the band. I am not a fan of letting those bands air dry with harsh cleaners on them. Not sure if it is bad or not, but I don't care for it drying on there.

If you do it again in the future, check into Maxima Suspension Clean. I think it is great. I use brake cleaner to get the bad stuff, then Suspension Clean for a quick final rinse. It ain't cheap!

If you slide hammered the tubes apart without heat, I would re-check those bushings. The edges usually get damaged. Post some pics, if you can.

That nut and the seal circlip is all that keeps the forks from coming apart. Red Loc-tite for me. It does not need to be a "high heat" version, like the shock nut.

Great info thanks. I'll check those bushings again later and take a few pics of the edges. I hope I don't have to replace them because that would mean all these fork parts laying all over my garage for another couple weeks while the parts get here :(

Question on loctite (red or blue): when you use a fresh application of loctite on a fastener, does it need to be allowed to set overnight before it gets immersed in fork oil, or can you dunk it in oil right away? Since the nut that the loctite is going to be holding lives submerged in fork oil it's whole life.

Also, these shims. They look pretty clean to me, but they do have some slight darkening on their surfaces. Plus I don't know if this is how they're supposed to be or not, but they are so flat they stick together quite a bit, even moving them side-to-side across each other, they like to stay stuck just because they're so flat and smooth. I can pull them apart and feel them in my fingers and they're not sticky or gunky, they just like to sit so flat they end up sticking. Know what I mean? Is that normal behavior for shims? It's just that if they're so stuck together like that how is oil supposed to be squeezed through them?

['03KDX200]

Also KDXGarage, I got home and took some pics of all the fork bushings. I think they look fantastic but tell me what you think. If, like you say, they get damaged most of the time in the disassembly of the fork, should one just do a whole fork rebuild kit every time they want to do a disassembly for a deep clean?

Look at that one bushing that has that crazy little code and symbol on it. I wonder what the hell that means? Looks like:

DD3C
2G

and I don't recognize that symbol. Kawasaki symbol? Batman?

And as to slamming all this back together with my janky home-made tool approach: From watching videos online, it looks like you can make your own seal driving tools out of split PVC pipe held semi-tight around the fork slider with a metal hose clamp. Do you think that'll work? Any special considerations or Tales From The Darkside?

['03KDX200]

['03KDX200]

[KDXGarage]

loctite in oil... I wait 24 hours

shims DO stick together...oil doesn't really go between them, oil pressure flexes the stack

pic 3 bushing = trash...imbedded metal flakes, plus edge pushed up from slide hammering them apart

The outer bushings inner surfaces are not shown.

no clue what the numbers mean

yes, many have used PVC, probably more than people who bought a real driver. :-)

I never could find a replacement bushing for the one in the bottom pics. GOOD LUCK if anyone damages one of those

rebound piston bands look good, can't remember if I ever found bands for those, might have at Race Tech

['03KDX200]

loctite in oil... I wait 24 hours

shims DO stick together...oil doesn't really go between them, oil pressure flexes the stack

pic 3 bushing = trash...imbedded metal flakes, plus edge pushed up from slide hammering them apart

The outer bushings inner surfaces are not shown.

no clue what the numbers mean

yes, many have used PVC, probably more than people who bought a real driver. :-)

I never could find a replacement bushing for the one in the bottom pics. GOOD LUCK if anyone damages one of those

rebound piston bands look good, can't remember if I ever found bands for those, might have at Race Tech

Thanks for your input on all this.

Is there a better way to get the forks apart than "slide hammering" them apart so that I can't damage anything? I thought that was the only way to get the slider out of the fork tube.

[KDXGarage]

I heat up the seal area so it is a little easier to separate. Boilng water or a heat gun, etc.

You can use a flat screwdriver to pry open the inner bushings to get them off, then slide off the outer bushings to check them.

['03KDX200]

I heat up the seal area so it is a little easier to separate. Boilng water or a heat gun, etc.

You can use a flat screwdriver to pry open the inner bushings to get them off, then slide off the outer bushings to check them.

Can you tell just by the pictures that the valve assemblies aren't that gunky and screwed up? Like, do they ever look super horrible with gobs of grey or black bullshit smeared all over them? On a scale of 1 to 10, how gunked-up do my forks look?

[KDXGarage]

Looks fine to me. Jab a wooden toothpick in there to pry it open and spray some cleaner in there.