# shock bushing grease?



## dwyooaj (Dec 14, 2006)

hey all-
when putting new bushings and reducers in a shock am i supposed to apply grease:
a: between bushing outer surface and shock eyelet;

b. between bushing inner surface and reducers;

c. between reducers and frame?

If it matters, its a fox dhx coil in a santa cruz heckler.

 Thanks!


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## mtnbiker72 (Jan 22, 2007)

a. might help in installing bushing into eyelet, but not a necessity
b. no
c. a little won't hurt, but also not a necessity


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## RockyRider (Nov 21, 2004)

dwyooaj said:


> hey all-
> when putting new bushings and reducers in a shock am i supposed to apply grease:
> a: between bushing outer surface and shock eyelet;
> 
> ...


It is spendy stuff but I always put a tiny bit of Dupont Krytox GPL 226 on the eyelet and bushings when putting them in. It doesn't reallly attract dust, doesn't wash out, and has more than tripled the life of my bushings so far. But again- a 1 ounce tube will probably run you about $30. I only use it in head set races and places that usually don't get much attention.


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## tscheezy (Dec 19, 2003)

The DU bushings (the metal sleeves) should be pressed into the shock body eyelets dry. They should never move during normal operation and will go in fine with the correct pressing tools with no help from grease.

Never grease the inside of said bushings where they touch the aluminum reducers, unless you have some special dry lube like RR mentioned.

The frame/reducer interface should also not move, so greasing this is not really helpful in anyway that I can see.


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## Jamie @ WickedAdrenaline (Aug 14, 2006)

Most DU bushings (in fact, all factory stock versions that I know of) are made of soft lead and teflon infiltrated brass or bronze, which makes them self lubricating, but also causes them to wear out fast in a mountain bike application. It only make sense to lubricate surfaces which have relative motion (surface between bushing ID and reducer OD) but then you run the risk of just attracting more dust and sand to increase wear of the soft bushing and reducer. Unless you use the $30 NASA grade stuff.  

It makes sense to me to use harder, more wear resistant materials and not have to replace them every year or so. Just say no to the same old throw away stuff from Fox.


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## dwyooaj (Dec 14, 2006)

Jamie @ WickedAdrenaline said:


> . It only make sense to lubricate surfaces which have relative motion (surface between bushing ID and reducer OD) but then you run the risk of just attracting more dust and sand to increase wear of the soft bushing and reducer. Unless you use the $30 NASA grade stuff.
> It makes sense to me to use harder, more wear resistant materials and not have to replace them every year or so. Just say no to the same old throw away stuff from Fox.


Jamie, thanks for the info. Where do i get the harder, more wear resistant bushings
and reducers?


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## Jamie @ WickedAdrenaline (Aug 14, 2006)

I actually have a design and prototype on my bike now. If you are interested, tell me your bike and shock (make, model, and year) and if you know, the dimensions of your bushing (diameters and length) and reducer length.

The design takes advantage of a very hard yet inherenlty lubricious bronze bushing and a very hard wear resistant chrome plated steel reducer. Sorry, it will add a few grams weight..........


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