How to disassemble low end fork

[Higgins617]

Hi everyone, New member here with a question that has left me scratching my head for quite a bit now. I fixed up a low end Diamondback Outlook for a friend who wants to try mountain biking with me. I've gotten everything working pretty well considering the fact that it was destined for the junkpile, but I cannot get the fork to smooth out. I can't figure out how to disassemble it to try cleaning up the internals. It is one of those very low end ones with dropouts that basically look like the tubes were just squeezed at the ends to close them off. I know the fork is next to useless, but does anyone know how to disassemble these? Thank you very much!

[cny-man]

What you need is the procedure to disassemble/overhaul a headset. The Outlook model name has apparently been used for many years and for different styles, so a pic of the headset area would help, but I suspect it's a threaded headset. If so try "Overhaul Threaded Headset" in the videos here or just Google the same, and look first at the Parktool.com and sheldonbwrown.com results for the best info. I always recommend that one consult videos only after thoroughly understanding a text and picture tutorial. In-person help is best of course - check to see if there's a bike co-op or store that offers instruction locally.

[nfmisso]

Yes; many of us know how to disassemble and re-assemble any bicycle headset, but without pictures we have no idea of what you have, so can not provide any advice.

[Higgins617]

Thanks for the responses guys, I think I may have misspoken. The headset isn't the problem, its the suspension fork itself. I'm not sure how to remove the lowers of the fork from the stanchions. I've worked on upper end forks that all had bolts at the bottom of the fork legs holding it together, these on the other hand do not. That is my issue, I'm not sure how to take the fork itself apart. I hope that helps a bit, I don't have the bike with me so I can't post any photos at the moment:/. Thanks for the help guys.

[nfmisso]

Ah; low end forks..... scrap. Replace with a rigid fork. The low end ones are not intended to be serviceable, they are welded, crimped, press fit or glued together (various by manufacturer).

[Higgins617]

(05-04-2014, 10:57 PM)nfmisso Wrote:  Ah; low end forks..... scrap. Replace with a rigid fork. The low end ones are not intended to be serviceable, they are welded, crimped, press fit or glued together (various by manufacturer).

That was basically what I thought. I'm looking around for an older Rockshox or something else half decent. I don't want to go rigid for it since it will definitely see some trail use, but I agree that it is scrap. I just didn't know if there was atleast a way to get them apart and clean up a bit.

Thank you!