On Friday, 9 March 2018 10:39:51 UTC, newshound wrote:
On 08/03/2018 18:29, Bill Wright wrote:
On 08/03/2018 13:59, Tim+ wrote:
Bill Wright wrote:
This is a Pride Gogo traveller.The ride was very hard, It turned out
that the buggy was fitted with seat suspension (the instructions said
'where fitted', but it was completely seized up. One tube was meant to
slide inside another but it was rigidly stuck. It took a big hammer to
free it. The grease had solidified into a waxy substance. I cleaned it
all up and adjusted the suspension to 'softest'. The spring appears to
be a valve spring out of a big diesel or something similar; a very very
strong compression spring. The suspension now works but it is still
quite hard.

Bill


I wonder whether someone has been using a volatile lubricant like WD40
that
washed out the original lube and then evaporated?

Tim

Possibly. The machine was bought new by us though and has never had any
maintenance. I wondered if the factory had used the wrong sort of grease.

Bill

Most greases will "dry out" over time, but I'm inclined to agree with
you that it sounds like a poor choice (too hard, rather than too soft).
You don't say whether there was much dirt or wear debris present. Sounds
like they may have gone for something waxy to avoid oil bleeding out on
to the stem (sounds like there is no seal). Any sign of "scoring" on the
sliding parts? That could also cause them to seize.

Waxy grease would add damping to springing, much improving the suspension, as long as not too hard of course.


NT