Pro Front Shock options

[BBRC]

I am going to narrow my SBA to 39 inches in the front end. What shock options are out there? I was looking at Zbroz arms and seen there shock package. I also see a lot of guys with Floats. What are a lot of you guys happy with? I will be doing mostly bush riding with some jumping in upper Michigan.
Thanks Chris

 

[WHEREDAFUGAWEE]

Z broz X1 shocks matched up with Holz A arms installed on my 12 Poo Pro RMK. On a side note scored on a Timbersled 163 skid also with Zbroz X1 shocks with black Ice Age rails.

 

[sledheadd]

Elka stage 5 shock.

 

[richracer1]

Raptor shocks!!!!

 

[mountainhorse]

ELKA for me.

I'll be running the Elka Stage 5 shocks on my 2013 here in the next week.

I've had them on UTV's and was super impressed with the quality of build and materials and the control that you have over the shock.

Triple rate Cromoly springs (Eibach), Hi speed and Lo speed compression adjustment, rebound adjustment, 5/8" shafts.

They built them just for me... springs and valving.

 

[BBRC]

Ask and you shall receive. I now have a lot of shocks to look at.

 

[Kcjepperson]

My next shock/ a arm / spindle will be cmx's front end.
Raptor shocks, chrome moly a arms( i believe), and a more upright spindle. If you want to go with z bros a arms and exit shocks I will sell you mine.

 

[revrider07]

Raptors

 

[HenkeEdge]

Fox Evol R are nice shocks, look at thoose also.

 

[mountainhorse]

I've had the FOX R-EVOL AND X-EVOL's on Pro Chassis sleds.. happy with them...Very happy, right out of the box The R's were incredible... took the time to learn the adjustment and... bang... awesome. The X's are great as well.

I had the Float2's... and too tell the truth, those were a HUGE improvement over stock.... and most of the way to the R-EVOLS.

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[Jigga99]

Mountainhorse, Im looking at the fox floats or evols, I'm light at 150lbs, when i loosen stock front coils too where the trail ride is good and i can easily throw on its side for side hilling, the bottom spacer falls out, so on to fox fronts, my worry is only putting in 50psi will the shocks sag and will i loose clearance in the front? snow checked a pro rmk 800 155 thanks

 

[mountainhorse]

You are correct... ride height on these sleds is a critical part of how the sled handles.

I weigh the same as you... have not had that issue with the stock springs... If I loosen them that much the shock collapses when I pull it onto edge.

I've had Floats, Float2's, R-EVOLS and X-EVOLS... the least I went with is 70psi in the main chamber....and the ride was fantastic.

Not doubting your issue though... can you describe this more?
What are you looking to do with your sled characteristics?

From another Post I made in another thread. Something to ponder.

Roly,

If you back off the spring pre-load to the point where it is easier to "pull over".. you are actually compressing the shock and and using up valuable suspension travel.

When you are riding, and you have the sled "pulled over" with a compressed shock... and you encounter an obstacle (bump, ice chunk, track-rutt, tree, rock... etc) you will have no available travel to absorb the impact and have to work harder to control the sled.

Getting the sled on edge... and collapsing one side to do this are two different things.

I spoke with Jake about this at the SLC show last fall.

The Raptor shocks are top notch... but if you are relying on collapsing the shock the "get it on edge" then the shock properties pretty much become a moot point.

From a previous post of mine... AGAIN>>> IMO...

Have a look at this video...

​

Rasmussen at :50 and Whelpton at 1:39

You can see that the sled is on edge as compared to having the shock compressed on that side... This allows the shock to still have travel to do work if you hit irregularities in the snow.

It is more work to learn it... but worth it IMO.

Have a look at this one...

​

at :28 , :48 1:13, 1:18 ... you will see that on the extreme side-hill... the uphill front suspension is basically still fully extended... the sled is on Edge... not "squatted" on that side.

THEN, FINALLY HAVE A LOOK AT THIS ONE...

Bret, at 1:54 seconds... "bumps" the tree on an extreme side-hill... the shock/suspension absorb the impact and then extends agian... If the shock was "squatted" on that side.. there would have been effectively no travel left to deal with that obstacle and he would have been bucked down the hill.... Pretty amazing move!!

​

,

 

[adamg]

MH where's the Elka review? Forthcoming?

 

[mountainhorse]

Had to work all weekend... I'll have it soon.

 

[Jigga99]

The issue with the stockers is when you loosen the coil to get it softer for more of our weight, the coil is not long enough in my pro 800 12 that is, when i have it set soft i can throw the sled around on its side no problem and less fatigue, but when you pull the ski too full extension the bottom sleeve falls out. theres lots of threads on stock shock body but you can't use them with stock coil, i think stock coil was rated to 175-220lbs, as we are lighter fix would be longer coil lower weight rating 140-170 or something which i havnt found from WE

 

[adamg]

Jigga that is true, the springs are not sized properly on the Polaris front shocks. No reason to have inches of thread on the adjustment that you can't use because the springs are too short.

 

[mountainhorse]

Try a set of Triple rates from Raptor for the Stock shocks... it's a good spring.

BUT...Regardless of spring length, on a single rate spring, if you soften up the preload, you will still have a sled that "squats" in front.

The reason to have a shorter spring is simple... for the travel lenght, lighter weight.
Also, if you have a longer spring, at the same spring-force... it will still have the same preload character and will still lift off the adjuster if you back the spring off to that extent.



My 2cents.
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[Jigga99]

i was looking at those raptor ones for new sled on route, the fox evol x seems to heavy technical for what I'm doing no cliff drops, the fox evol r should be the key for our weight and adjust the sag to best we can?

i understand the weight savings for the coil, but like a dirt bike rear shock you think they would offer springs in diff weight rates because we know a rider is only good as his suspension.

 

[ak]

The issue with the stockers is when you loosen the coil to get it softer for more of our weight, the coil is not long enough in my pro 800 12 that is, when i have it set soft i can throw the sled around on its side no problem and less fatigue, but when you pull the ski too full extension the bottom sleeve falls out. theres lots of threads on stock shock body but you can't use them with stock coil, i think stock coil was rated to 175-220lbs, as we are lighter fix would be longer coil lower weight rating 140-170 or something which i havnt found from WE

Weighing in the 150 range myself, I run the float 2 shock, I was having the same issue to run the stock shocks loose the spring cup falls off. If your going to spend the money find a used set of evol r there worth the money and vs the 2.

 

[mountainhorse]

The EVOL chamber does not come into play at the initial part of the stroke... It was developed to eliminate the harshness at the end-of-stroke when pressures in the main chamber really start to ramp up.. and still allow higher pressures to be used in the main chamber. The EVOL chamber does not allow you to soften up the initial part of the stroke.

A multi rate spring CAN help with this if that is the route you want to take.

The "R" give you some control over BOTH rebound and compression damping... the knob allows you to bypass the valve stack in both directions of travel. The valve stack still has a lot to do with the character of your ride. The "R" adjustment should be re-labeled... they should call it a compliance adjuster... only a rebound adustment with a check valve in it would control only the rebound side of things. I think that Ohlins has this feature.





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