front preload - need help quick

[RMX500]

alright my predator is up on a jack i nthe garage now..

i was going to take off about 90% of the preload but ..

the spring is so short! i can't even come close to the result I want before I run out of spring. when the preload is minimal.. there's like 5 or 6 inches of space that the spring can just slide around in and i doubt that's healthy.

what the hell gives? shouldn't the spring me touching the bottom of the adjuster bolt AND the base of the shock?

[boogiechile]

What is the result you want? to sit lower?

With the quad jacked up and the shock fully extended like it sounds like you have it, adjusting the preload to where it just barely holds the spring in place on its seats is the ZERO PRELOAD point. The spring can be loose enough to spin around but should not be able to move up and down. With the spring set this way if the quad still sits too high and you want it lower there is nothing you can do except to add a zps spring. The zps spring is a soft spring that does nothing when the weight is on the shock, but when the shock extends it will extend and take up the space you have now when you back off on the preload until the spring is flopping around. Zero preload is a confusion term when it comes to shocks because they do not actually set you at zero preload, they allow you to actually run less than the normal zero preload with respect to ride height.

Try letting the quad back down off the jack with the preload just securing the spring in place and see if it is near what you want.

[RMX500]

if i hit a jump though couldn't the shock extend and cause the spring to come loose?

[boogiechile]

If you have it jacked up by the frame then the shock should be fully extended when you set the preload adjuster to just hold the spring in place without compressing it at all. When you jump and get in the air it will then stay in place just like it did jacked up.

you still have not said what the result you want is.