Suspension Forks

[Anio58]

Is it safe to widen suspension forks ?

 

[e-beach]

It depends on what they are made of. If they are made of aluminum alloy, then the answer is probably not. If they crack open during usage, and your front wheel locks up, you will be flying over the handlebars.

If they are being spread just a little, maybe you can get away with it.

So how does one know what they are made of. Use a magnet to see where it sticks.

Also, post a picture or two of what you are doing so we can see if we have any other ideas.

 

[E-HP]

Is it safe to widen suspension forks ?

Do you still need the suspension to work afterwards?

You are asking the cast aluminum arch, between the stanchions, that is designed specifically not to flex, to flex. Because most suspension forks are only suspended in one leg, once the arch snaps, good luck. Hopefully you're wearing the sufficient protective gear.

 

[amberwolf]

Is it safe to widen suspension forks ?

How do you intend to widen them? If by bending the legs apart, it's going to increase friction within the suspension and it probably won't work as designed (if at all).

If it's a cheap single-crown alloy fork, and being spread far enough, it could put enough stress on parts to fracture things and eventually fail, if the tension is high enough from bending forces. If you're only spreading the fork tips away from each other a few millimeters, it probably won't cause a failure, but the suspension still probably won't work correctly.

If it's a reverse fork, with the clamps and arch and whatnot all above the suspended legs, then the spreading will put more stress on the suspension itself; even if the suspension still works it will be wearing bushings and whatnot more (probalby much more) than normal.



If you are instead replacing the clamps and crown with wider versions to match the axle shoulder width of a wheel, simply clamping the stanchions into the clamps and crown as normal, then the suspension would operate as normal as well.

 

[Chalo]

Is it safe to widen suspension forks ?

Amberwolf got this one right. I'm going to take your question at its most literal, though. And I'm going to assume that by "suspension forks" you mean telescopic suspension forks, not girder, leading link, or other exotic linkage-based designs.

A telescopic fork with cast aluminum or magnesium sliders can't be safely widened, full stop. Don't even try.

A telescopic fork with welded steel sliders (which is to say, the cheap and horrible kind) can be widened safely, but only if you don't care about what happens to the suspension action. When you bend the stanchions out of parallel with each other, the fork will tend to stick-- compressed or extended, some movement or no movement, you don't get to choose. Since suspension isn't strictly a safety issue, it's not strictly unsafe to bend a steel suspension fork to a wider spacing. It just sucks.

Because of the geometry of telescopic fork sliders and arches, it also might be rather difficult to widen them without screwing up the alignment of the fork tips. They'll have a strong tendency to toe in when you spread the legs apart.