84 front forks

i have 3 pairs of forks for my husky ...now i'm trying to sort them out to work better but have just noticed i have 2 different sorts !!
2 pairs have the part number 1512393 which according to manual are used on the ae,which is what it started as.
the other pair have the part number 1512358,which according to manual are used on the cr/xc.
so the question is ...what are the differnce's between them !!! and should i use the ae sort or the cr/xc type !!!
seems to be a wealth of info on here so hoping somebody can help.
many thanks
graham

I might guess that the ae and wr had less travel. That is the case with the 85-88 models. All the earlier ones I have are cr or xc or the 35mm tubes. I would think you ought to use what matches up with what sort of swingarm and shock set up you have on the rear of it. You ought to put in new top out washers, that and seals is pretty much the only thing to replace. You take them apart and clean the insides out don't just drain the oil out of the drains at the bottom. Well I suppose the rubber wipers or whatever you call them are pretty shot by now.

Fran

thanks for that,sort of what i had thought .
but i decided to take them apart and see what differences inside there was .
right the cr/xc one's:: the damper rod is 30mm longer and the springs are only 5mm longer and the bottom part of the fork (outer) is slightly longer. but the top half of the fork (chrome) is the same length.
basically the idea i have had is to fit the race tech gold emmulators.
any thoughts now...

I have just striped a pair of 83 cr forks and notice there is a lot of wear on the damper rod were it has contacted as it slides into the tube , anybody have any veiws on if they are still good.

surely dave the only bit contacting is the rubber/plastic washer that does the damping.
graham

That rubber plastic thing is commonly called the top out washer. That aluminum spindle thing and the part it goes through is likely where the real dampening occurs. I have seen extra holes drilled in the spindle and it may well have different tapers and diameters for different part numbers. There is generally a lot of aluminum in the oil of those forks and it could be from that spindle. I have seen some quite polished from rubbing though I doubt it was many thousands of an inch. If I recall you are supposed to tighten things up with no spring and the fork fully compressed to hopefully center things. Those forks flex around quite a bit, enough to damage magnetic sensors for ico computer thing which is long obsolete.

that there top out washer as you call it has been removed from one set i have and been replaced with a new disc with holes in it . will take some pics sometime soon and show you what i mean .

Graham,

I am 99% sure this is the difference: there were two versions of forks for the '84 model year; one for the CR/XC and a second for the WR/AE.

The fork bottoms (the white outer tube with cast-in numbers) are longer below the axle mount for the CR/XC and shorter for the WR/AE (so they don't hang up on roots, rocks, ruts that enduro bikes would be used in). The CR/XC bottom tube will also have "K1" cast into the vertical front rib. The WR/AE will have "K2" in the same place.

The damping rods are different for each version as well but I cannot tell you in what way.

The upper fork tubes, springs, caps and all other internals should be identical.

To properly disassemble and reassemble you may need a special tool which prevents the damping rod from spinning when you loosen or tighten the bolt on the bottom of the bottom fork tube. Use red Locktite when reassembling that same bolt and let it cure for a day before adding oil. Also, the two fork seals can be replaced with one "conventional" fork seal. I have a seal number, just not handy at the moment.

I hope this is helpful.

Tom

Dave, I had that too, but maybe not as bad. It's from bottoming out the fork; the hard steel collar in the bottom of the internal fork tube causes it. I gently filed off the burrs/mashed part on the damper rod and am hoping for the best. When you reassemble to whole thing, the trick is to have the internal tube bottomed all the way down in the outer tube so that the hard steel collar is centered around the base of the damper rod as much as possible.

Thanks luvwoods, I think they must have been assembled uncentralised in the past, I will put them back together and see what they are like I read in a dirt bike test 15wt oil 6ins from the top is that good

many thanks for that tom , think i will get the fork legs re-chromed and rebuild them with race tech bits inside and try that.
many thanks
graham

Graham what is the race tech bits you mention

have a look on here http://www.racetech.com/page.aspx?id=64&menuid=50 the uk dealer is pdq1 ,am waiting for them to get back to me with details of what i need and price etc oh its the emmulator and spring bit . also here ..http://www.husqvarna-parts.com/catalog/item/3736872/7305876.htm

hope that doesnt offend anyone with the links
will try and give you a bell tomorrow dave .
graham

Dave,

I like 15wt in my WR forks. 10wt seems too light but I know some folks mix 10wt and 15wt to get 12.5wt. Seems crazy but I ran that in my Suzi PE years ago and it worked perfect. I haven't tried 20wt so can't comment on that. As for the 6 inch from top thing, that seems to be what I hear and read from others too. Measure it with springs out and inner tube in full down position. For my WR, 550ml per fork leg is almost exactly 6 inches. I believe Husky was specifying 400ml per leg. Can't tell you what the ml's would be on the CR/XC forks; that you'll have to measure from the top.

Yikes! I just did my 84 WR250's and I put 430cc's in them. Thats what the spec sheet I have-well from 84! said to put in them. CR/XC was 450cc's. My WR has the longer lower legs also. If 6 inches from the top is the desired spec. I'll redo it. Just did my 82-CR250 the next evening, better check it also. Thanks Scott

I've herd 6" from the top for every bike known to man. I say BS to the old magazine myth. I always start with the Mfg's recommended amount then adjust from there to what works best for me. Same with fork oil wt. I use three different oil wt's in my Husky's. I use 20wt. in my 72-76 forks. 15 wt. works best for me in my 77-84 forks, and in my 87 forks I have 10wt.

My point is, make your forks work for you.
Make sure they have the correct springs for your weight. Add oil then spend the better part of the weekend testing and adjusting. In no time you will have a better handling bike that works for you.

Hard chrome equals not show chrome even if you know this perhaps others don't. Generally hard chrome parts are ground to dimension after plating at least that is my experience on a shaft in a hydraulic pump and after all of that the chrome came off and went into the fluid.

Fran

sorry ,will try to be more precise with info and yes did know it was hard chrome had a set done last year.

Guys, I made a mistake. Use the blue Locktite instead as its not as securing as red - easier to remove that bolt for the next time you disassemble everything.

Agreed. But I've heard it so many times from husky people that I think they're mostly correct. I was using 500ml before and it was still kind of squishy for me so I'm going with 550ml this time which just coincidently works out to 6 inches on the WR forks (for '84 anyway). We shall see.....

I wonder if that 6 inch theory has anything to do with reducing the amount of compressable air volume to a known "sweet-spot" regardless of fork's overall oil volume??