Bottoming out?

[yamaha1470]

I am interested in putting 18 inch tires in the rear of my 400EX and 19's up front but i have heard that when you land from a jump that the bottom of the frame hits the ground because the tires are smaller. Is that true?

[exriderdude]

:huh :huh the top pros run that setup and i dont see them having that problem

[ESR250R]

its true i use to do it all the time when i had my stock front suspension. it would leave marks in the ground just like the bottom of my frame. but since i have my new suspension i havent bottomed my front once. its not all that bad when u bottom the front it is near the end of the travel of the shocks anyway.

[PoopOna400EX]

I bottomed out with my stock tires until I upgraded my suspension to Elka's, now no more bottoming out. Plus, the Elka suspension drops the frame like 2". I think the key is in the suspension.

~Jason

it shouldnt hit the floor off a jump.

[Striker49]

Cant you adjust the preload on the 400 shocks though? I know ya can on the back, that should help some. Aftermarket shocks should solve the problem if the stock ones cant be adjusted.

Like Striker said, you just have to adjust the preload on your shocks. If it's not enough, you'll have to get aftermarket fronts, but the rear Stock shock has plenty of preload adjustment.

Bert (Alaska):cool:

[Atomic83]

I thought a while back we decided that preload didn't help bottoming?

[400exBro]

preload is an adjustment that makes the spring either softer or harder.....
if you turn the nut down towards the springs it will be harder(spring tension) but you lose travel due to the fact the spring is already comparsed..
if you turn the nut out away from the spring you are softning the spring allowing more trave but it will be too soft, there is a balance some where, where there is perfect tension and travel.....;.
lata
Bro

[trx400ex]

preload only helps a teeny tiny bit..hardly any at all, but if your jumping big enough to bottom them anyway, you are actual hurting your self because you loose the ability to soak up small bumps as well