I got nuts and now i need your help (with a Slider Plus Fork)

[house]

SO i was playing bike mechanic for a night and went too far. I dont know what i was thinking but i loosened a lot of bolts, tightened a bunch, just went nuts. i guess i was bored. this brings us to the problem: the lower crown on my slider plus fork should not have been touched, b/c now the stanchions do not stick out the same length from the lowers. i pulled them both out as far as possible (by hand) and tightened the crown on the stanchion that didn't stick out as far as the other and then pushed the other one down until they were even and tightened the crown there. just when i thought i had it fixed, i pushed down on the fork and it only moves about an inch. WTF. I dont konw what is going on inside the fork, and want to try fixing it myself before admitting defeat and paying. What yall think i should try?

[Plakespear]

Professional rebuild. And buy the mechanic a sixer.

[mntlion]

maybe 12

[m1e448]

Plakespear and mnt lion are right, but I look at the scimatic? sp?, anyway the drawing of how everything fits together first and see if you really screwed anything major up (without taking it apart, just think back about everything you took apart tightened loosened and see if maybe you completely put it back together wrong or tightened the wrong bolt). These pictures should be availible in the owner's manual or on the Manitou website. I wouldn't try to take it apart and put it back together again though unless you know exactly what you did wrong. Good Luck and hopefully the shop you take it to doesn't have one of those $100/ hour for something you already hamfisted and want us to fix.

[Arty50]

Professional rebuild. And buy the mechanic a sixer.

maybe 12

What they said. It's a shock, not handlebar grips.

Admit defeat before the pipes explode and shit flies out of the toilet.

[phUnk]

I'm with these guys. That's shit'll burst into flames if not reassembled right.

[bagtagley]

It's generally a good idea to have a service manual handy (future reference). It's not rocket science, but it's definitely nice to have a guide. Fortunately, Manitou actually provides very good services manuals (unlike Marzocchi) to the public.

The positioning of the stanchions in the crown should have nothing to do w/ travel, unless you moved them so high that the crown is hitting the tire. The lack of travel sounds like a problem w/ compression. Does it stop suddenly or is it progressive? One of the things you tightened could have been the internal compression adjustment. If you've closed it off, it's possible that you've effectively locked out the fork. You might also have added too much oil.

Looks pretty straighforward to me. I personally would open it back up and take a look after going over the manual. If you're still not sure, take it in and have it looked at.

http://www.answerproducts.com/serviceguides.asp

Schematic

05 Service Manual

[house]

ok, ill clear things up now. the only things i messed with on the fork were the crowns. No internal stuff. thanks for the advice