Rear Shock Travel 400ex?

[Tofu.Man]

What is the stock rear shock travel? The factory Honda manual references rear axle travel as 230mm (9.1 in). I am assuming that this is referring to the rear shock travel. ?

I also made a post in Suspension and Handling forum on how to accurately measure shock travel if you did not know what it was. Lot's of lookers but no takers on the subject. Anyone here have some insight?

[2007TRX400EX]

stock is 9.1, but dont really know what your asking.

[Tofu.Man]

I am asking two questions. My apologies if I was to vague in my original post.

#1. What is the stock rear shock travel on the 400ex?

Thanks for the quick confirmation on 9.1"

#2 If you do not know what the rear shock travel is, how do you go about measuring the rear shock travel.

[2007TRX400EX]

you know know, but i would mesure from the stoppers,to the top of the sping or mesure how wide the coil is verticly then count the coils then mulitply it by that number.

[dustin_j]

I believe you're asking about wheel travel (which was given to you previously) not shock travel. To find wheel travel, you will first need shock travel. Remove the rear shock, and measure overall length from eye to eye; call this extended shock length. Now move up your bump stop and measure from the bottom of the shock body to the top of the lower nut (metal to metal); call this shock travel. Compressed shock length = extended shock length - shock travel. Now, raise your frame until the distance between the rear shock mounts is the same as the extended shock length, and your rear tires are just touching the floor. This is the frame height at full extension. Now raise your axle until the distance between rear shock mounts is the same as the compressed shock length. The distance your rear tires raised is your rear wheel travel. This can be done similarly for the front wheel travel. Hope this helps.

Dustin

[Tofu.Man]

Thank you! Dustin that makes perfect sense. :D Could you go into a little more detail with the second measurement, the one when the bump stop is moved.

[bigbad400]

yes the rod in the shock only travels about 4 inches the tires however travel 9.1 inches. your shock could only give 1/4 inch and the tires still move 10 if your angles are set up that way. im sure it would be a pain to do that thow. lol

[Tofu.Man]

Originally posted by bigbad400
yes the rod in the shock only travels about 4 inches the tires however travel 9.1 inches. your shock could only give 1/4 inch and the tires still move 10 if your angles are set up that way. im sure it would be a pain to do that thow. lol


That would be one extended swing arm!

[dustin_j]

Originally posted by Tofu.Man
Thank you! Dustin that makes perfect sense. :D Could you go into a little more detail with the second measurement, the one when the bump stop is moved.

If you have the shock removed, stick your finger between the spring coils to slide the bump stop up (toward the shock body). This will reveal a nut that is at the base of the shock shaft. Measure shock travel from the top of this nut to the bottom of the shock body. This is the most the shock can travel since it is metal-to-metal contact. The bump stop will hit before this, but it deforms when compressed. Does this clear it up?

Dustin

[Tofu.Man]

Yes, yes it does. Thank you very much for all your help.

So when people are referring to rear shock travel when setting up your free and race sag they are not referring to the actual rear shock travel but better the rear wheel travel.

[dustin_j]

Correct. We only care about what the wheel does since it connects the quad to the ground. The suspension geometry (as a whole) will determine how shock travel correlates to wheel travel; or in other words, how well the shock manages the wheel travel. Have you read any of the setup tips on GT Thunder's website? They are pretty helpful as well.

Dustin

[Tofu.Man]

Yes I did and that's what began this game of curiosity. The more reading I did the more interesting this became and the more questions came to mind.

[dustin_j]

Haha, so you have been bitten with the bug too? :D . It only gets worse. Just wait until you start getting into spring rates and shock rebuilding and revalving. It is very interesting and beneficial!