Fork seal leak after SM wheels

Hi - any ideas on why my fork seals just started to leak after I put on brand new warp 9 SM wheels for the first time on my 13' wr? Never so much as a drop of fork oil coming out before now they are letting out enough for a small pool to build on the bottom ledge of the fork. It's on both sides to if that means anything? Thanks for any suggestions not sure if it's normal cause of the new sizing and where it's putting the suspension now or more likely is a problem I need to address quickly.

stevieachi wrote:

Hi - any ideas on why my fork seals just started to leak after I put on brand new warp 9 SM wheels for the first time on my 13' wr?  Never so much as a drop of fork oil coming out before now they are letting out enough for a small pool to build on the bottom ledge of the fork.  It's on both sides to if that means anything?  Thanks for any suggestions not sure if it's normal cause of the new sizing and where it's putting the suspension now or more likely is a problem I need to address quickly.

How many miles on the bike?

You didn't put the forks in a bind when you mounted the new wheels did you?

you could give this a try as well:

Miles are mostly 13/48 gearing so not quite accurate but probably only around 2,500 miles - about half off road.

Thanks I just ordered one of those seal tools last night after searching around here about seals. I will try that.

How will I know if my forks are bound? I'm thinking that could be my problem. My first effort at getting the new SM front on resulted in the brake caliper being really tight on the new rotor (like half a wheel spin with a hard attempt). I confirmed spacers on right and loosened everything up and popped the axle almost all the way out then ran it back in and tightened it all down again. Brake was better (more than a full spin) but still much tighter than with the dirt wheel which would spin pretty much freely. I thought maybe it's the new rotor and pads need to seat? I only rode about 30 miles on road - brakes feel good, not like they are overheating and I'm losing them though. Any thoughts or tips on making sure that front wheel is on without binding forks.

This is how I put my front wheel on to avoid binding the forks up.
Get the front wheel off the ground then loosen all the 10mm bolts at the bottom of the forks, spin the wheel and grab the front brake a few times, this will center the wheel up on the brake side. After its centered tighten the 10mm bolts on the brake side only, then put the bike on the ground and bounce it up and down a few times holding the front brake on, this will line up the other fork leg, tighten the right side 10 mm bolts after the bouncing.

You may need new fork seals but try cleaning them first like in the vid.
I make my own seal mate out of a junk piece of paper thin plastic like a old plastic package bike parts come in, some pop or water bottles are thin enough too, I cut them to look like the seal mate that shape seems to pull the dirt out the best.

I cant really explain why but when my fork seals were leaking off and on before I replaced them they only leaked when I rode on the road or easy offroad stuff, hitting lots of bumps while doing rough ofraoding would stop them from leaking.

Thanks. Fixed it! I got the seal mate and did both forks but am not convinced that was the issue. I didn't see any dirt come out on the tool, just some oil.

I also ordered a 14mm Allen so I could get the axle nut to bite without using the pinch bolts early to cheat on the true process instructions like I have been. Actually just the 14 was $15 but a whole 6 piece 8-19mm set was $20 so now I've got some mega allens! Need more large equipment now I guess.

I popped the wheel all the way off with the bike on my stand and put it back in. Tightened axle nut using 22mm with 14mm Allen holding the other side. Wheel spun much easier than before. Used big lakes tip to hit the brake while it was still up a few times then tightened down brake side pinch bolts. Bike down pumped the forks and tightened other side pinch bolts. Then I did the seal mate process. Brake side seemed to take al ong time to reseat like they show in videos with no residue but after a quick ride including some serious suspension bouncing it's leak free!

Thanks for the advice. On another note the warp 9 SM wheels are great! Look awesome (black Hub, gold rim) and bike feels amazing on road. I went 47 tooth since my dirt set up has a 48...13 in front and didn't want to have to switch chains.