What year 450r shocks for a 99'-01' 400ex?

[reptikes]

Im looking to put stock 450r shocks on a 400ex biult im doing. what year 450r shocks would i use on a 99'-01' 400ex?

And will it change the width or ground clearence?

[mjc400ex]

I believe you can use any year 450r shocks for any year 400ex.
They are slightly longer than the stock 400ex shock so I believe the ride height will get a little higher and that should make the front end slightly narrower.
You prob wont be able to see the difference when you look at the front of the quad.
The shocks are a major improvement though.

[reptikes]

Originally posted by mjc400ex
I believe you can use any year 450r shocks for any year 400ex.
They are slightly longer than the stock 400ex shock so I believe the ride height will get a little higher and that should make the front end slightly narrower.
You prob wont be able to see the difference when you look at the front of the quad.
The shocks are a major improvement though.

I'll probably add front wheel spacers, to widen it back up a little.
It's going to be the other halfs quad (so the wider the better)

Thanks.

[PaRedneckRiders]

Originally posted by reptikes
I'll probably add front wheel spacers, to widen it back up a little.
It's going to be the other halfs quad (so the wider the better)

Thanks.
Personally i would stay away from wheel spacers, ive had them before and they broke in half, but then again i am a pretty aggressive rider dont know how you guys ride
If your just like going slow throw the woods then open it up it the straight stretches then yes wheel spacers would be ok but if she is jumping and flying over stumps and rocks what whatever else i would not even consider wheel spacers, i would spend the extra cash and get a set of extended arms just for safety reasons

[400exrider69]

any year 450r shocks were there has to be some slight grinding on eyelets if i rember right. they are a huge improvement imo
i've got some in for sale section for $125 plus shipping

[PaRedneckRiders]

Originally posted by 400exrider69
any year 450r shocks were there has to be some slight grinding on eyelets if i rember right. they are a huge improvement imo
i've got some in for sale section for $125 plus shipping

Nope pretty sure the 450r shocks are bolt on and go althought the yfz shock has to have the top mount ground down so it will fit the EX top shock mount

[mjc400ex]

I just installed 450r shocks the other day.
I used a carriage bolt instead of the welded in nut for the front plastics mount.
I needed to file a little bit off of the back of the upper shock eye to clear the mounts on the frame.
They went on pretty easy though overall.

[CJM]

Originally posted by PaRedneckRiders
Nope pretty sure the 450r shocks are bolt on and go althought the yfz shock has to have the top mount ground down so it will fit the EX top shock mount

Like I keep saying, over and over and over again:

you dont have to grind the 450R shocks. You must cut out a small portion of the top shock mount itself for the shocks to properly move and fit in there and simply knock off the welded nut ont hat same mount and put a 1/4" x 1.5: long carriage bolt flipped up for the plastics.

2 quads done this way and they have no issues.

[beags86]

Originally posted by CJM
put a 1/4" x 1.5: long carriage bolt flipped up for the plastics.


carriage bolt?
what the he*l are you doing? building a deck?

lol make me laugh when people do redneck stuff...and i'm as red as they get!

go down to ace hardware and spend the whole 40 cents a screw for a allen head metric machine screw.

oh yeah don't for get .08 cents for a lock washer and 20 cents for a nut.

i am sure that the 1.36 will break the bank for you

cjm- nothing personal just makes me laugh...
to me it worth spend the 2 bucks to make my quad the best i can. and that means when i put my 450r shocks on this is the way i did it. having built a show car and a show truck in my life i am telling you that the little details is what wins shows. and no my 400 isn't perfect and prob never will be. but carriage bolts are for construction not guad building. it's things like this that make your quad look, feel, and to some degree ride, like a pro build quad not a pile a part some guy put together in the backwoods.
it things like that makes me laugh when i see quads around, and also make me steer clear of quad i am looking to buy.

i don't want people to know everything i did to my 400, i like the "sleeper effect" meaning i don't want a non 400ex guy to know i have 450r shocks, and if he doesn't see a shiney carriage bolt hanging down he wouldn't think they have been changed.

just my opinion

[CJM]

FWIW my main thing is why people grind the shocks. Imho it compromises the integrity of the shock eye b/c you have less material. I might be unfounded but it dont sit well with me.

no disrespect beags, but its a bolt holding the plastic on-if it were more critical i would use a better bolt. I used carriage bolts b/c they have the square seat to them and thus I forced them up thru the hole I made and they wont fall out to easy. I also locked them down with a nut too.

But I understand what your getting at.

lol you would cry if you saw the bolts im using to hold some of the plastics on-just generic metric hex bolts, some are even to long lol. hell my friends valve cover was totally fubar and i had to retap and put stuff in there thats rigged-but it works. sometimes professional just aint something you can accomplish.

[mjc400ex]

I used a 1/4-20 x 3/4" long truss head screw with a locknut & washer. It's like a carriage bolt but it has a slot for a flat head screwdriver. I figured it would be easier to tighten and I couldn't find a shorter carriage bolt than 1" at ace hardware. I think it looks pretty good, and I didn't destroy $200 shocks making them fit.

[inv3ctiv3]

Originally posted by mjc400ex
I used a 1/4-20 x 3/4" long truss head screw with a locknut & washer. It's like a carriage bolt but it has a slot for a flat head screwdriver. I figured it would be easier to tighten and I couldn't find a shorter carriage bolt than 1" at ace hardware. I think it looks pretty good, and I didn't destroy $200 shocks making them fit.

DESTROY $200 shocks :rolleyes:

You're grinding off a little bit of metal, that isn't going to do anything to them, I am about to grind off metal off some brand new take off 450R shocks, I'm not worried about it.

[CJM]

You do realize it aint a little bit of metal you grind off the shock right?

Its like a good 1/4 inch of metal..vs 1/8 off the shock mount.

[beags86]

Originally posted by CJM
sometimes professional just aint something you can accomplish.


i understand this, i have done some things that are questionable at best, but i always do the best i can when i can.

also i know they are just plastics, but later on when i do a complete rebuild on my 400 it just one less thing to change and to make right.

i guess a carriage bolt would be ok if you stuffed the square part up in the hole where you couldn't see it, it wouldn't be so bad. i was thinking you could see that part and hence why i thought it would look bad.

[beags86]

Originally posted by mjc400ex
I used a 1/4-20 x 3/4" long truss head screw with a locknut & washer. It's like a carriage bolt but it has a slot for a flat head screwdriver. I figured it would be easier to tighten and I couldn't find a shorter carriage bolt than 1" at ace hardware. I think it looks pretty good, and I didn't destroy $200 shocks making them fit.

i thought of it the same way, i just payed 175 bucks for some shocks i am not grinding nothing on them if i don't have to.



Originally posted by inv3ctiv3
DESTROY $200 shocks

You're grinding off a little bit of metal, that isn't going to do anything to them, I am about to grind off metal off some brand new take off 450R shocks, I'm not worried about it

to anyone else but a 400ex rider that KNOWS about the 450r shock upgrade they would be destroyed. grind them to fit and try to sell them back to a 450r rider and see how far you get.

[CJM]

Originally posted by beags86
i understand this, i have done some things that are questionable at best, but i always do the best i can when i can.

also i know they are just plastics, but later on when i do a complete rebuild on my 400 it just one less thing to change and to make right.

i guess a carriage bolt would be ok if you stuffed the square part up in the hole where you couldn't see it, it wouldn't be so bad. i was thinking you could see that part and hence why i thought it would look bad.

Nah you cant see any of it really. The square part fits snugly into the hole and I put a nut onto it with a lock washer to make sure it wasnt going anywhere-then another nut and washer for theplastic mount.

[inv3ctiv3]

Originally posted by beags86
i thought of it the same way, i just payed 175 bucks for some shocks i am not grinding nothing on them if i don't have to.




to anyone else but a 400ex rider that KNOWS about the 450r shock upgrade they would be destroyed. grind them to fit and try to sell them back to a 450r rider and see how far you get.

First off I don't plan on selling them and secondly why would I try and sell stock 450R shocks to a person with a 450R? I would obviously market my 450R shocks that have been modified to fit a 400EX to a person with a 400EX. And to be honest I bet the market for 450R shocks is largely dominated by 400EX owners.

[beags86]

Originally posted by inv3ctiv3
First off I don't plan on selling them and secondly why would I try and sell stock 450R shocks to a person with a 450R? I would obviously market my 450R shocks that have been modified to fit a 400EX to a person with a 400EX. And to be honest I bet the market for 450R shocks is largely dominated by 400EX owners.

i completely understand that, but i am saying if you were to put a post up in the parts for sale section, and a 450 guy asked to to see a pic he prob would say what the f*ck why did you grind on the eye. now granted if i were to sell mine i would try to dump them off on a 400 guy, they would sell faster.

and not everyone with a 450 has aftermarket shocks, some people have stock stuff that they crash or break.

[CJM]

I find cutting the bracket is ALOT less work than grinding the shock too.

different strokes for different folks tho..

[inv3ctiv3]

Take some pics of how you guys installed your shocks, I'd like to see because so far there are only pics of the typical grinding method.

[CJM]

I dont have any pics of my exact install, but I found a pic of the mount and circled what you gotta cut out.

Cut it out, knock the nut off and bolt the plastics onhow you like and no grinding the shocks. Like I said ive done 2 of them this way with NO issues. It took 5 mins with a dremel and you can clearly see where they would rub when you go to put them on.

[inv3ctiv3]

That does seem easier to remove then grinding the shocks, my only concern is that the 400EX's are known for cracking on the top shock mount right? This only weakens it that much more....I would definitely be interested in just doing it this way but do a lot of MXing.

[inv3ctiv3]

I installed mine tonight and it only took about 30 minutes! I just used a dremel and cut away a bit on the top/side of the eyelet and a little at the bottom where it hits the frame.