Questions on Skid Shocks for 13 pro 163

[Randman]

It seems like every PRO I have owned (11,12 & 13) the rear track shock sacks out around 500 to 600 miles and starts to bottom out constantly. I run the spring per the book at 10 & 1/8 but it seems as though the WE shock has lost its compression resistance. Has anyone just replaced the RTS Walker with a Raptor or Exit RTS shock or do you have to replace the FTS & the RTS as a pair? I am 6'2" and 210...230 ish with gear/ avy bag on, mostly boondocking.

What shocks are a better choice, the Raptors or the Exits? Not a fan of the air shocks.

Thanks for any help!

 

[mountainhorse]

How often do you grease your rear suspension and EXACTLY what grease are you using?

Also... What is your riding style... Do you "pound" moguls at high speeds getting to the fresh stuff... any extreme riding... drops etc??

The EXIT and Raptor shocks are super high quality so you won't go wrong there... They offer bettter ride right out of the box!! Unless you are tuning junky I would recommend staying with only shocks that offer basic (or zero) adjustment only.

There is another option that would cost you less... Send in your Rear-Track-Shock alone (RTS) to Carl's cycles... Have them go through it and upgrade the piston and use high quality oil in it.

At your weight... IMO... you should be running the the firm rear spring.

Or better yet... Improve your overall ride and get a FIRM progressive spring set for your sled from Raptor... This in addition to having your RTS gone through and updated will make a HUGE difference on a smaller budget (big bang for your buck)

http://www.raptorshocks.com/store/products/-Triple-Rate-spring-kit-%28Firm%29.html

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[Randman]

After every ride I grease the skid with Red Line grease...I read your thread last year on that!

Thanks for the help MH. I don't jump at all. Mostly boondocking trees, creek bottoms and such. Fairly aggressive rider, just not into jumping. Can I just replace the RTS without changing the FTS? The front suspension is set up sloppy loose for easy side hilling. The stock suspension works fine, after I set it up, when new but the rear shock seems to deteriorate & bottom out pretty quick. I am looking for more compression resistance and don't want to tune the suspension while riding.

Thanks for the help

 

[mountainhorse]

Edited my post above while you were replying... go back up and read it.

Also.. at the 1000 mile mark (mountain riding) I encourage people to actually pull ou the skid... pull all the shafts and clean out the tubes of all the crap in there. In a stock skid, you have a shaft running inside the steel tube with NO bushings, only grease... aluminum on steel... can get a little messy in there.



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[sledheadd]

i had the same problem switched to elka stage 5 shocks they are awesome shocks. Gonna get a set for the front this year.

 

[Randman]

Sledheadd, did you change both shocks in the skid or just the rear? I am interested in trying some new shocks, thanks for the help.

 

[mountainhorse]

I have the Elka's here and will be running them this year.

Your first post only asked about the EXIT's and the Raptors.

All depends on your budget.

You can order just the RTS from any of the companies.. but you would need to call them.



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[mountainhorse]

One thing to mention... when you have your front ski shocks set up "sloppy loose for easy sidehilling" you are collapsing the shock on the uphill side and squatting the front of the sled... when you hit a chunk of ice, a rock, tree, track-rut, or other obstacle... that ski no longer has the ability to absorb the impact from that obstacle which can make for actually more effort in the end and possibly a crash.

 

[sledheadd]

Sledheadd, did you change both shocks in the skid or just the rear? I am interested in trying some new shocks, thanks for the help.

I changed both.
I have ran exit x1's, raptors, fox floats (mind you on a different sled) I feel like the elka's are the best out there, but as mountainhorse has stated they are pricey.
The elka's were nearly spot on from day one I made very little adjustment to dial them in. They offer a very plush ride at low speeds and only get better as you go faster on pounded out trails. I never had a shock that I can't out ride on whooped out trails before. On my last ride this spring on 3'-4' moguls I could easily hit 60 mph and maintain that speed and still be in total control. Their high speed dampening is where they shine .IMHO

 

[Randman]

Forgot about the Elka's, Sounds like they come highly recommended. I run with the sway bar & The ski shocks are loose, MH, just enough spring pressure to hold the keepers in + one turn. I will try tightening them a turn or two.

Going to talk to the shock companys on Monday and try a new RTS.

Thanks for the help

 

[wjl]

Another option if you would like to look at is the Holz rear shock upgrade.
http://www.holzracingproducts.com/s...11-13/walker-evans-rear-shock-2011-13-pro-rmk

 

[Matte Murder]

The stock Pro suspension has a lot of sag designed into it. Set up per the manual(which is pretty good place to start) you will have a little more than a third of the total travel "used up". Lift up on your bumper and you will see how much sag there is. The way the geometry works the travel gets really stiff near the bottom third. So you are really using the middle third for absorbing bumps and drops. The suspension makes great traction, gets on top of the snow really well, side hills really well, transitions really well, keeps the nose down really well, carves really well but it sucks up bumps big and small poorly. I have run revavled shocks and didn't think they really helped much at all. Just always ride in deep pow and be first tracks every where you go.

 

[Randman]

Matte, I read somewhere on SW that you ran Raptors on your Pro. Were you happy with them? What shock did you use?
Thanks for the input

 

[revrider07]

I ran stock shocks on my 13 for 200 miles then went to raptors IMO the best mod for the pro. With the raptors set up for me I can't override them in the rough. Easy to adjust the front end for trails to sidehilling. Four to five clicks from soft to hard on the front.

 

[volcano buster]

Any experience with the tripe rate Raptor spring for the FTS?

I have the W/E piggy back shocks from an Assault and during maintenance cleaning yesterday found the shock spring is broken. I need a replacement, so upgrading to a triple rate is not out of the budget if it is worth the bother.

Thanks

 

[Matte Murder]

Randman I put Raptors on the front(heaven) and ran a full KMOD in the back with Raptors(heaven with violins). I didn't mention that option because it's much more expensive than what you were looking at doing. I don't think shocks will "fix" the rear skid issues. If you can swing that I would highly recommend that. I also see guys doing springs, revavles, revalve with piggy backs(I did this on my 12 and why I don't think shocks will make that much of a diff). My revalve with piggy backs was $1000. I really needed the triple rate springs which is another $350. For $2000 you can have Raptors all around. Call Kevin at KMOD and ask him about shocks. Maybe you could do his "stocker" upgrade on the back and Raptors up front too. Here is another take on it. I ride with several different crews up here in WA. The best rider in all of them rode a 13 Pro last year. The first time I rode with him we had about 10 miles of whooped out trail to get to the goods. He was riding really slow on the trail, just taking his time. I asked him about it and he had the same opinion of the trail ride of the stock Pro. His solution was just to take it really easy on the trail but he was riding that stock machine in the steep and deep to places I couldn't follow all the time. The off trail performance far outweighed the trail ride and I think most Pro riders agree.