Fox Floats keep freezing up!

[High Life]

Has anybody else had any problems with the wipers on their Fox Floats freezing up and losing all the oil out of the shock? Since having a dealer service them, I have had one Float on the front of my M7 lose all the oil and collapse on two different occasions. The last time it happened I was riding in temperatures anywhere from 0 to -25*F. After my shock collapsed, I pumped my air pressure back up to 70 psi and rode the 70 miles out the truck.

Does anybody know how to prevent this or what to do that would help?

 

[Demon]

I have had the same problem.. When temps drop to -10 and below my floats freeze up and basically have no movement.. Had the dealer service my shocks and said there was nothing wrong w them.. 1 theroy is that when it gets that cold w the air being compressed in the shock it starts to freeze. I have notice that when i set my shocks up in the garage and then pull the sled outside and let it set, the shocks will go down and i will have to had more pressure. expansion and contraction.. I guess.

 

[diggerdown]

I think Pol. use nitrogen in theirs, just to avoid the air freeze-up problem.

 

[BigRed118]

There should be a little oil in the air chamber to keep the seal working properly. I have not looked into this but does this have an opperating temp? Is there different oils for colder weather?

 

[arcticridr]

Just figure out a way to go with a charge of nitrogen this will get rid of the moisture and you will have less pressure/temp issues!!!!! Can usually get a small bottle and cheep regulator from ur local welding supply house!!!

 

[backcountryislife]

I've got a set of nitrogen shocks on our 08 now, very happy with the consistency of them, no fade at all in COLD weather. The floats on the other hand seem to get pissy, but we're not losing oil on ours.

 

[High Life]

By nitrogen shocks, you mean the stock coil-overs I take it?

My dealer has thought of trying a lighter oil in them to keep it from getting to thick....

 

[CATSLEDMAN1]

Interesting issue with the Floats in real cold weather, I service a lot of them but here in West Mt I don't know of anybody that's ridden them in real cold weather. I do know on my own M8 with floats on al the corner, the colder and drier the snow the more issues with lots of stiction, they always want to stay squatted down, fronts and rear. Wouldn't be hard to throw some real light oil in the air cavity, the 5 wt synthetic I use for all the late model shock rebuilds is about as light as your going to get. There is the potential for getting water in the air chamber is your little pump is used on a real humid day.

Got to find a real small scrader valve air filler nozzle if you go with nitrogen as filler stem doesn't give you much room to screw on a good filler setup.

 

[BigRed118]

The new Ryde FX 2.0 is filled with nitrogen. They also are like having a dual spring rate with the dual chambers.

 

[CATSLEDMAN1]

When the new Ryde FX came out , I tried to buy a set this early fall for a project so I'd be familiar with them when they come along for service and repair. No dice, back ordered in the length I needed . So far , following the posts in the mod and deep snow and POlaris forum, complaints on bottoming, ride, etc. Anybody out there used them with good results?

 

[High Life]

CATSLEDMAN- I rode the sled in SW Montana for two seasons before moving to Alaska last summer and never had ANY problems with floats down there. I think you are on to something with the colder temperatures and the dryer snow.....Maybe I will try to find some 5W synthetic oil.....

 

[AK737]

I have fox floats on a M8 Sno Pro and have not had a problem.
I think this is caused is from water vapor condensing out of the air and freezing (especially when it gets cold). Try draining your fox floats and filling them with "medical oxygen" or possibly from an aircraft oxygen bottle. (there is no water content). No water, no frozen fox floats. Worth a try???

 

[firecat99]

ive had mine out in -52 for a month in yellowknife, NWT check the weather station from last month and mine dont have a problem at all and i usually ride in -25 to -30 because at this time in the season thats all we get not a problem, the only thing i can say is i run my psi at 115 dont know if that makes a differents but i have checked pressure in super cold and warm no differents, and up her we have some of the dryist conditions around, and im running a fx nytro with them as well no problems and everyone up her just about runs them so i dont see where this freezing is coming from?? or how its happening but high life said it only happen after the dealer touched them well i kinda see a problem there?? me personally i dont like dealing with someone after they fix something and soon after no longer works right, dealers arnt always right i find some of them have machanics that dont have a clue. just my .02

 

[backcountryislife]

By nitrogen shocks, you mean the stock coil-overs I take it?

My dealer has thought of trying a lighter oil in them to keep it from getting to thick....

No, they're sold by a guy in swapmeet, hillshooter air shocks (1 lb lighter than floats) They seem to be a strong shock, well built & easy fix if they get slammed. They're very similar to the air 2.0's feel the same also, but the price is $449 new, no comparison there.

 

[backcountryislife]

You know, another thing I'm curious about with the floats, those of you with problems, are you mostly in higher humidity climates? In CO, the air is very dry, never had a real problem, sounds similar in NWT, I wonder if that's part of the problem like ak737 was saying?

 

[High Life]

Yeah I think the humidity probably has something to do with it being in Alaska and close to the coast.

As far as having them serviced, the dealer that I had do them may have caused something but I honestly doubt it since I was never riding in real cold temps until after I had them serviced. The dealer is more knowledgable than any other dealer I have been around and is willing to help me, often free of charge. He admits that the Fox Floats just don't seem to do very well in the cold and when one freezes up, it seems prone to freeze up again no matter what you do differently.

 

[oldtrucks]

I've been having problems with my rear suspension on my 06 M7 with Fox Zero Pro's. After a few hours of riding the rear shock doesn't rebound enough to hold the rear of the sled up. After it sits overnight the suspension is fine again. The first time it happened the rear was completely compressed, and even lifting the rear of the sled up didn't do anything to it, just collapsed when released. The next morning it had rebounded and seemed to be fixed.

I had a similar problem with a Fox shock on a Mtn Bike, they shop said there was a valve that was plugged, and didn't allow the pressure in the shock to release once compressed. The only difference is the sled recovers after a few hours, the one on the bike remained compressed.

 

[Speeedracer]

Not to hijack your thread, but as long as we're shock tuning; Buddy's M1000 seems to sit lower on left front. After sitting in shop for a 2 weeks, the air psi doesn't leak out. Seems like the shock just doesn't rebound when compressed like right side. Didn't ever seem to leak any oil out of it. Could a valve be bad or plugged to cause this?

 

[prairieguy]

every left hand side shock (fox float) seems bagged out i've changed lots from guys coming in saying the shock is not working right but it must just be extra weight from the engine is the only thing our shop could think of.

 

[markowinnipeg]

Having the same problem out west here with the fox float sagging, it does seem related to temp as it only happens on days colder than -15. One good thing is once you start to ride the shock comes back but it is annoying when you get off the seld and the snow flap is touching. Dealer here says this is a common problem with Fox air shocks but no recall as of yet.