Inner fork bushes.

[Grunter215]

Pulled apart YZ125D fork.What is the chrome leg guided by? Leg goes thru seal,then bushing at top below seal then up/down on damper rod...so no bush at bottom.Is damper rod the only thing guiding at bottom of chrome slider?Surely it dont ride on inner wall.?? If there is no bottom bush and thats how it works then here is my question?? Can 35mm chrome leg work in a 36mm (yz125d) lower with correct size seals/new correct size upper bush and damper bolted in . Been asked the question so  people with more savvy...will it work

[Gippslander]

Hi grunter, not sure that would work, I'm not the oldest most experienced mechanic around here but one of the things I always do when I'm rebuilding front forks is when ever the is cleaned up and ready for reassembly but before the seals are fitted to check that the lower legs slide up and down easily for their full travel on the fork tube's, to make sure everything is smooth, and there shouldn't be any perceptible side play, and if you were to put a 35 mill fork tube into a 36 mil leg there would certainly be one mil of sideways movement which is one mil too much, and I don't think you could rely on the damper rod holding everything straight and true, would come to grief pretty easy

[TT5 Matt]

old forks only have a bush just below the seal and yes the legs do  just ride in the sliders or alloy bottoms but they do have plenty of overlap to carry the load, they do wear out as well as most bike owners don't change the fork oil too often    most only when the seals are stuffed but they do a lot of kays before the forks are completely stuffed, my sr500e has got 145,000 clicks on it so far and the forks are still ok