Sucking sounds

[catskillclimber]

My Rochshox Tora makes a sucking sound when rebounding. Should I be concerned?

[rockyrider]

Sounds like you have a fair bit of rebound damping cranked in. The typical starting point for rebound damping is just enough that the fork won't let the handlebars smack you in the palms when you compress the fork all the way and then let it go.

If you start to lose rebound damping while noticing the sucking noise, you may getting low on oil.

[tryandgetme]

you sure it's not just me trying to climb a hill you're hearing?

[catskillclimber]

Thanks Rocky. I'll adjust the rebound damping and give it another shot. It's a new fork only used twice so it should not be low on oil.

[catskillclimber]

you sure it's not just me trying to climb a hill you're hearing?

Could be I guess:D . The only other person I saw on the trails was this guy who had the best crash ever. No injury but he bit it on a small technical section right in front of these stoner kids who hiked up to burn one. I knew the guy was in back of me so I looked back when I heard this "ughh" sound and some crashing. He was laying face down on a pile of rocks with his bike somehow suspended above him (I think cause he endo'd and was laying on the bars w/ the frame resting against his side. The funniest part was he must not have had the quick release on his back wheel tight because the wheel totally came off. Friggen priceless humor. To my surprise the stoner kids looked really concerned for him until they noticed he was OK and then laughed their arses off. :p

[poison idea]

my Tora does that too and i find it distracting.
have you monkied with the rebound yet?
i got mine tuned all the way to the rabbit icon, maybe i gotta switch that up.

[catskillclimber]

Hey PI,
I haven't adjusted the rebound yet but will mess with it when I get home from work tonight and let you know if I have any luck. I have a pretty bad memory but think that I set it right between the turtle and rabbit although I hope I am remembering this wrong as that would mean something else is probably happening there. I suppose I can live with the sound although I also find it distracting. I just hope that it isn't a signal of something else wrong because it is a new fork and although I have started working on my own bike a bit I have no desire to tear the fork apart. I'll post tonight.

[cMc]

My lungs were making a sucking sound on Saturday morning's SS ride. If I had a squishy fork on that bike, any sucking sound coming from it would have been mightily drowned out.

:D

[catskillclimber]

PoisonIdea,
I messed with the rebound and get the sucking sound no matter what. Actually, it is much less noticeable when I increase the rebound speed (all the way to the rabbit where you have it). Sorry, wish I had better news. I checked MTBR and no one else mentions it. Maybe our forks came low on oil? That would suck. My Tora is the 289.

[rockyrider]

Could just be a noisy rebound damper (small holes). If you can't dial in any rebound damping then you're likely low on oil.

The early Fox 80RLT's made all sorts of whooshing and squooshing noises on compression, it just seemed to be what they did. And then when they begin running out of oil they whoosh and clunk.

[catskillclimber]

Probably just the way the fork is. I can feel the difference in rebound when I turn the knob but it still makes noise. Guess it's just a sucky fork:o

[poison idea]

i got the 318. in all honesty, besides the sucking sounds i haven't had any real complaints about the forks performance yet. Conversely, i'v only had it on the trails <10 times and no longer than 90 minutes at a shot. some of the trails were moderately difficult but i haven't really gotten the chance to see what kind of beating it can handle. i think im gonna stop by the lbs and see what their prognosis is.

regardless, i found a way to fix the sound -listen to Coliseum really loud on the ipod.

[leebo]

I have a RS tora as well. Did you get the COIL? It works well for me.

[poison idea]

i got the coil
the lbs said its just loud, but they had a Tora in there and when i jumped on it, it was much quieter.
oh well.
forks were made to be broken

[catskillclimber]

My LBS had a couple of bikes with the Tora ( a 26 with the 100 mm and a 29er with an 80mm) and both made similar sounds, one a little louder and one not as loud as mine so I'm gonna forget about it. If it breaks I'll send in the warranty. I still like the way the fork feels.

[poison idea]

mine seems to have quieted down a bit. been hitting the trails pretty good and the fork rides great. self healing forks?

anyone else have this happen?