Airshox bladders

[mainline]

I'm in the process of replacing a bladder due to a leak, which turned out to be a decent sized split (20mm) rather than the pinhole I thought it might be. The bladder was new when installed last year, and I was surprised today to see how stiff it was compared to new.

I'm wondering whether the Castrol fork oil I'm using has some additive that has caused a problem, or whether the rubber compound was defective?

Has anyone else had issues with repro airshox bladders?
 

[crs-and-rms]

fork oil can not handle the heat that shocks generate the viscosity index is to low id be using  shock oil with the highest viscosity you can find

[motomaniac]

there was a batch of dodgy bladders coming from the US a few years ago that didnt last long .Maybe you ended up with a pair.

[mainline]

Interesting about the dodgy batch? I'll see how the other shock holds up.
Is there a difference between shock and fork oil? Thor's site mention's both as suitable.

[JohnnyO]

Fork oil isn't good enough, I tried it in a modern shock when i ran out of shock oil, a couple of rides later i pulled the shock apart and the oil was black, burnt and it stunk.

[mainline]

Any brand/type to look for?

[motomaniac]

Fork oil isn't good enough, I tried it in a modern shock when i ran out of shock oil, a couple of rides later i pulled the shock apart and the oil was black, burnt and it stunk.

Agreed , its amazing how many times I had a someone tell me in a shop , when they had no shock oil to sell me , that its the same stuff ."Mate we use it in shocks for guys who do the Aussie SX series" yer right!
It shouldn't  wreck fox bladders though.

[motomaniac]

Any brand/type to look for?

I use Racetech because I can buy it by the drum , its cheaper that way, and because the distributor is local to me , although I order it through a shop its makes it quicker.

[JohnnyO]

I use Motorex shock oil in a 5 litre container. If you can find a shop that sells Showa or Honda Shock oil it's also very good and is available in a 1L tin. I was using Motul but had a couple of bad bottles that went lumpy when the shock got hot.

[mainline]

Cool, thanks guys