This Proves Why It's Always Best To Have Your Suspension Serviced By A Professional
So, you've blown out your shock. You callously ignored that 100-hour service interval and, low and behold, your shock imploded.
"It can't be too hard to replace a few seals," you think to yourself, "what could possibly go wrong? Mechanics can't be that more skilled than me."
Well, the folks at Trail Labs are here to gently remind you that no, you probably shouldn't tear that shock apart in your garage unless your goal was to home-make a pipe bomb. Take a look at what I mean below.
So, why exactly did this shock explode? We all know to always remove all the air and to take out the valve core before screwing the can off. Surely these guys couldn't have forgotten that crucial step?
No, they did not forget to take all of the air out, but as Trail Labs will explain below, you can only remove air from the positive chamber through that valve.
"The positive air was released by removing the valve core before we unscrewed the can.. This happens when the negative air is too high and trapped, due to not equalizing for some reason."
You also may be thinking that there has to be a better way to equalize that pressure, even in a seized shock, without turning it into a bullet on the stove. You would be right, there are better ways. But, as Trail Labs explains, this video was for educational purposes of what not to do.
This is what they had to say,
"This video is for educational purposes only, we wanted to show how dangerous stuck down shocks can be. No, we are not filming this with a customer’s shock. We normally evacuate the air by forcing it out on a 6’ press with the positive chamber open. That didn’t work with this one. Needles and feeler gauges can damage the body and become projectiles in extreme circumstances like this. The purpose of this video is to show you what not to do in this scenario. If you have a stuck down shock, DO NOT take the air can off without evacuating the negative chamber first!"
So, the moral of this story is that there are plenty of things a competent home mechanic can do, but there are some instances where it is just plain safer to take your components to a professional mechanic. Stay safe out there!
Related: How to Repair Your Bike in the Backcountry
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