Need help with Rocksock seals

[mondueo]

While riding the left hand side seal will pop off releasing air.  Seal seems to ride up against the shock and when the shock goes down and back up the seal comes up with the shock. I put the seal back on snugly but eventually it pops off again a few minutes later.  I put lube on the shocks to prevent the seal from being popped off while riding, that’s helps.  But it happens so frequently.  What would cause this to happen?

[Sam James]

Is it an air fork? If so, it’s likely that the seal on the air piston is compromised, meaning air has snuck past it into the lowers, pressurising the lowers and blowing the dust seal out. You should check the air pressure in your fork- if the pressure is dropping this is for sure what’s happening.

Best thing to do is get it serviced. Best case it just needs some new seals. Worst case, the inner stanchion is also damaged and it needs a new CSU too.

[mondueo]

This is the air side.  There is fluid coming out as well which i am guessing is hydraulic oil.  This morning the seal was popped off again.  whatever that foam layer is underneath, it’s completely saturated in oil.  What does this confirm?  Picture below.  Also is it repairable or not?

[FrankS29]

That foam ring should be soaked in suspension fluid, so that’s good.

As Sam said, it sounds like air is leaking into areas it’s not supposed to be, forcing the seal to pop out.

If you don’t know your way around suspension, bring it in for service.

[xbd]

Get that nail away from your stanchion.. Take off the lowers and investigate for damage. Take out the air spring and see what’s happening. Get yourself a full rebuild kit and clean/service the whole thing.

Or based on this thread, bring it to a local bike shop and have it professionally serviced.

[Sam James]

I’d recommend taking it to a shop for a service – the seals shouldn’t easily pop out. The foam rings should be soaked in suspension oil so that’s fine.

[mondueo]

Thanks, I’ll take a look at it.  Never worked on the suspension system.  So I’ll give it a go.  I used the nail to see if it was oil or water, it’s the smallest thing I had in my reach to test.  Thanks for the suggestions.

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