Adjusting 450R Shocks

[Ridiculous]

ok i got my 450 shocks installed last night and i want to play around with the adjustability but i don't get what everything does. can someone clarify this for me.

there's the screw at the bottom with a H and S?

a screw that appears to be inside a jam nut or something with a H and S?

and then there's the two notched collar deals where the coil is, what are those all about?

thanks for any help

[triple b]

I will give it a shot.......
The jamb nuts at the top of the spring is what you use to adjust the ride height. Just bolting on the 450R shock will raise the front of your 400ex about 1" so start by lowering the front of the quad with the jamb nuts........Now the front of your 400ex is about 1/2" higher than stock. No go the the back and raise the rear 1/2" by doing the same thing to the rear shock.
The top screw H S if for the shock damping adjustment H=Harder (Slower the shock will compress) & S=Softer (Faster the shock will compress)
The bottom screw H S if for the shock rebound adjustment H=Harder (Slower the shock will return to full extension) & S=Softer (Faster the shock will return to full extension)
On our 400ex with 450R shock I went full hard on the rebound screw due the the heavy 450R spring rate and compression I went almost full soft.
I hope that helps

Here is a pic of our quad.... Notice the jambnut location
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x181/Triple_B_21/ThanksDesert042.jpg

[Pipeless416]

i think the jam nuts, or the collars are the preload.. which yes, will adjust ride height too. i unscrewed mine so that no threads are showing above the top collar. i was also curious about the adjustments, however im running mine on +2s. triple b- first, very nice 400. second, can you explain in further detail as to why you went to fully hard on the rebound? last, did changing the compression make that much of a difference? these shocks do not like small bumps, even on extended a arms.

[08400EX]

Rear this article, it will explain it all...

http://atv.off-road.com/atv/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=192286

[Ridiculous]

ok, thanks for the help guys but i have some more questions, and great article by the way!
and triple b, i'm borrowing you pic

1: ok this was the locking collars i was talking about, i understand what they do but how do you guys turn them? did you make a tool or buy one from your dealer?

2: ok and this was the jam nut with the screw inside it i was talking about. there a flat sided nut that you can turn with a 14 mm wrench and a screw inside it you can turn with a flat blade screw driver, what do each of those do? this part is really confusing me so please help me out!

3: and three is a no brainer i got that part.

thanks for the help guys!

[triple b]

Originally posted by Pipeless416
triple b- first, very nice 400. second, can you explain in further detail as to why you went to fully hard on the rebound? last, did changing the compression make that much of a difference? these shocks do not like small bumps, even on extended a arms.

I went full hard on the rebound because of the heave 450R spring rate was causing the front bounce ....... Buy slowing down the rebound it kept the front end bouncing in the whoops.

Yes I did notice difference by softening the compression. It also helped with the above mentioned "bouncing in the whoops"

Now I also must say these shock are far from perfect but they are way better that shock for a 200 lb rider. If you are less than 200lbs these shock are way to stiff.

I am planning on gettin a set of +3 arms and then we will send all three shocks to GT Thunder or C&D Racing for the magic touch.

Thanks for the complement.......she is a great desert quad and getting better all the time.

[triple b]

Originally posted by Ridiculous
ok, thanks for the help guys but i have some more questions, and great article by the way!
and triple b, i'm borrowing you pic

1: ok this was the locking collars i was talking about, i understand what they do but how do you guys turn them? did you make a tool or buy one from your dealer?

2: ok and this was the jam nut with the screw inside it i was talking about. there a flat sided nut that you can turn with a 14 mm wrench and a screw inside it you can turn with a flat blade screw driver, what do each of those do? this part is really confusing me so please help me out!

3: and three is a no brainer i got that part.

thanks for the help guys!

1) There is a special tool but I used a brass punch and hammer

2) Just use a flat screw driver inside and don't mess with the 14mm jamb nut

3) cool

[Pipeless416]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by triple b
[B]I went full hard on the rebound because of the heave 450R spring rate was causing the front bounce ....... Buy slowing down the rebound it kept the front end bouncing in the whoops.

Yes I did notice difference by softening the compression. It also helped with the above mentioned "bouncing in the whoops"

ok i totally missed where you said harder on the bottom screw will slow down the rebound. it makes sense now. i cant wait to mess with them tomorrow. good thread guys.

[Ridiculous]

Originally posted by triple b
1) There is a special tool but I used a brass punch and hammer

2) Just use a flat screw driver inside and don't mess with the 14mm jamb nut

3) cool
ok but what the deal with it, why is there both of these there must be a reason, and what do i do just turn the 14mm nut all the way in? thanks.

[Ridiculous]

someone's gotta know...

[TheNewn]

The inside gold piece that you turn with the flat head is how you soften or harden the compression. the 14mm nut you don't want to screw with unless you feel like taking the top of the shock apart and dinking with oil all over you.

i'm pretty sure its whats holding the whole 'compression adjustment' thing at the top together. that has no adjustment to how the shock acts. its just what the comp adjuster is housed in. if you loosened it, go back and make sure its tight. although im not sure how tight it should be.

[Ridiculous]

awesome, thanks