Suspension question

[leasureryan]

Alright.....I just got a set of Burgard +3+1 a arms....I currently have a set of 450R shocks that I am using untill I get my Elkas back from C&D. My question is....this thing sits up so damn high....How can I make it sit a little lower? In about a week, I am getting a GT Thunder rear suspension link....and that really makes the quad ride alot lower in the rear....so how the heck do I match the ride height....I read all this stuff about race sag, etc etc.....I just don't understand it. Also....I need to stiffen them up because they are bottoming out when I hit big triples and huge 60 ft tables tops that I sometims don't clear...and land on all 4's....hell....my rear shock even bottomed out a couple times

[Off-Road Maniac]

First adjust your preload. if that doesn't get your ride height where it needs to be then your shocks are tooooo long.

[leasureryan]

Seriously man.....I have no idea how to even do that.....I can jet, do internal work, everything but suspension. I've just never had the know-how, or anyone to show me. Only thing I know how to adjust is the H-S on the resivore. I would think that if I lowered the front by using those "nuts" the hold the springs, I think you guys are calling this the "preload" .....that it would make them even softer, and bottom out even worse.....or am I completely wrong about this. I thought that was to stiffen up your springs

[ohsobad_chevy]

Adjusting your preload has little no affect on bottoming resistance. Do you have the preload rings at the top (lowest)?

[leasureryan]

no....they are 3/4 way from the top. Almost all the way at bottom of threads

[ohsobad_chevy]

Adjust the preload rings up to lower your ride height.

[leasureryan]

and you say that wont effect anything at all as far as ride goes? What do I lose from doing this? Any negitive effects from having the preload all the way out?

My shock bottom out sometimes, this won't make it worse?

[ohsobad_chevy]

If the quad is setting really high, then you will not loose anything, the quad will handle better with the appropriate ride height.
Ride height does not affect your bottoming resistance, just how the quad sets when your on it. The quad should set a little bit higher in the front than in the rear.

Here is some nice reading material:
http://www.atvrideronline.com/tech/100_0508_set_up_suspension/index.html

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

http://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-371856.html

;)

[lifeinthesouth]

you need to adjust your compression damping to help eliminate bottoming out. You will bottom out occasionally... no way around it.

we all take suspension for granted. Just thinking of the older quads haing maybe 2-3 inches of travel and almost like struts lol now we have quads from the factory with like 11 inches of travel and suspension that rides incredibly plush in comparisson. Just funny thinking about it.

[A A R O N]

If you take all the pre load out of your springs like mentioned, your bike will bottom out more. You need to start out with about 3 turns of preload on the springs. (the collars that look like huge nuts....take those all the way loose so the springs can flop around. then tighten them down until they touch the spring. tighten 3 full times around past that point.) That is a good starting point. At this point, measure your ride height front and rear and do some fine tuning with the pre load until you have your ride height where you want it. Try not so stray too far away from the 3 turns, give or take, cause having too much pre load on the springs will not yield a very good ride. IF YOU ARE BOTTOMING OUT, the answer is not just to crank more pre load into it. You need to work with different spring rates at that point. Fine tuning also needs to be done with crossover gaps on the front.

[A A R O N]

....and you can't just turn your compression settings all the way stiff to stop bottoming out either, because of how your shocks work, if you do that you will be putting a lot of strain on the shocks during riding. They will heat up fast and quite possibly will fade to the point that the ride is affected severely.