Clicking Fork!?

I have a RockShox Sektor fork and it suddenly has developed a clicking noise. It usually clicks once about halfway through the travel. I have also looked for loose bolts but I don’t think that’s the issue. Any input would be appreciated Thanks,Victor

Have you checked the headset?

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  • Bar and stem
  • Headset bearing(s)
  • Steerer tube/fork crown

I’ve had both the bar/stem interface full of gunk and cause creaking/clicking, as well as a lower headset bearing go bad and cause a similar noise.

Rockshox did have an issue before with the steerer tube creaking in the crown. I don’t believe it would out right fail, but it certainly makes an irritating sound.

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I checked the headset and it seems fine. also if I engage the fork by pushing on the steerer it makes the noise so obviously its in the fork somewhere.

Sounds like a CSU (Crown Steerer Unit) issue, it is a common cause of clicking and creaking in forks. If you’re lucky you’re within a warranty period, but it can be hard to get warrantied none the less.

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Ya I now am assuming the same but the fork is a 2014 model so I’m not sure how easy or at all possible of getting warranty.

2014…zero

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As @bent6543 says it could be a warn CSU (Crown Steerer Upper).

Put the fork upside down in a vice with the lowers pointing up. Grip the lowers and move them back and forth. Can you replicate the noise or feel it clicking? If you don’t have a vise, turn the bike upside down, take off the front wheel. Stand on the handlebars and try and move the lowers. If you can hear or feel it, it will likely be a worn CSU. Expensive to replace. I had the problem on my last bike. There is a lock tite fix that works for some. For some it does nothing. It worked perfectly for me. You have to make sure you get the right version of lock tite. I had to get it at Acklands Grainger in Burnside. Not hard to do. There is video on Youtube.

It is an annoying problem and I couldn’t stand the noise.

Is this a coil spring fork? Might be the spring binding/rubbing.

Or, yeah, the fork is wore out and pretty much forked and unsafe to ride. The above vise test is a good idea. I sent back soooo many bombers years ago because of this. Brings back the memories.

If anyone is interested that clicking sound was not actually the crown steerer unit. There was a little play in the air spring side due to maybe a disintegrated washer/o-ring!? So I just added a small rubber o-ring and now it doesn’t click. I’m not sure if I’ve ever heard of this problem but hopefully this DIY fix works.

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I’m seeing a similar issue in my budget fork (Suntour XCR34 Air). Its only 4 months old so maybe I should take mine in to get looked at and hopefully should be a warranty fix. For me, if I hold the front brake and rock the bike forward and back I can feel a knock in the fork when I put my hand over the top of the lowers.

Probably bushing slop, but hard to say for sure. Hate to say it but this is very typical for Suntour forks (except for the 2 highest end models), especially if they are ridden proper mountain biking to any degree. Hopefully that warranty works out for you but I wouldn’t count on it.

Are you sure your headset isn’t loose?

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Thanks @bent6543 for the input :+1:. I went for an hour ride today over some logging roads that were pretty rocky and the fork didn’t really knock/creak today. The only thing I did differently before today’s ride was I wiped some stanchion lube around the dust seals to clean the gunk out of them. That seemed to help.

Not gonna lie, the fork is the next thing on my list to upgrade. The XCR fork is better than the basic coil forks I’ve used previously but still not great by any stretch.

Yep, just recently retightened it. Checked for play/knocking and everything seems tight. Even purposefully slackened off the preload to see exactly how headset knock “should” feel (good learning experience) just to be sure.

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So turns out my clicking fork (or so I thought) may have actually been a dirty headset. The clicking/creaking came back pretty badly during my last ride, despite having cleaned the fork’s wiper seals. I pulled apart the headset today only to find a bunch of dirt and grit around the crown race and around the bearings. Upon inspection I noticed there wasn’t much in the way of grease anywhere either. The surfaces of the upper and lower bearings were also starting to show signs of rust.

I cleaned everything off, coated the crown race and headset cups with some grease before reinstalling, and now the clicking seems to be gone. Fingers crossed this was all I needed to do. Yet another home mechanic learning experience in the books.

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Back to my clicking :confused: the fix with putting the rubber o ring was temporary. I’m still confused on exactly what’s happening. It’s an old fork so it hardly pays for me to send it in to a suspension shop.

https://share.icloud.com/photos/06heMRsVVqNQcqA2plM6bgGCQ#Kings,_Subd._A

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If that works to view you can see there is slop in the air spring chamber