Opinions on Best Shock out there

[woodsridn400]

Looking at possibly doing new shocks on the 400 and wanted to get some feel for what ppl thought of who has the best shock for the money. Now i am planning on spending some money not works or just upgraded 450 shocks.

Shocks like Fox evols, Elkas, Axis etc

Do a lot of trail riding and some mx.

[honda400ex2003]

i love elkas but my second choice would be floats. I think floats are probably the best for the adjust ability of them, the elka piggies just look so awesome though i would have to go with them. lol axis are also very nice but i am not a fan of the design of them. really personal preference and $$ makes the call, all are great shocks when buying aftermarket. :D steve

[trailrider894]

Well..... i prefer a good rebuilt 450r shock... i have raced on a 450r with axis and another with gt thunders 450r conversion's... the gt thunders in my mind felt better than the axis did. I am sure somebody will slam me for saying that, but whatever. lol

[honda400ex2003]

agreeable! 450 shocks are pretty great when revalved. steve

[trailrider894]

yeah... lol somebodys has to stand up for the small buisnesses!!! lol

[Pipeless416]

i have elkas in the front and i can't wait to get a set of custom axis on there.. or PEP's FWIW. i lllllllove my GT Thunder fully adjustable rear elka with the xc link though..

[jcs003]

ohlins

[dustin_j]

I don't think you can make Elkas ride as well as other shocks (wihtout a ton of work/rework) due to their piston design. The old style PEP shocks (works bodies and pistons) are a terrible design. The check ball valving is a cavitation nightmare; This is visible on a dyno, and you can even feel it through the body. I would like to ride a set of Fox Evols. They are quite adjustible, but they need to be adjusted/checked before every ride.

Are the shocks going on stock a-arms or aftermarket? If stock arms, then some stock/450r rebuilds are probably your best value.

[woodsridn400]

They are going on plus 2 arms standard travel. What does anyone think about going long travel arms? My think is I priced getting shocks redone ,450rs of course, but for that price a lil more o can get whole new front suspension kits. So just see ing what ppl thought great opinions. I wish more of us has ride on fox shocks lol

[honda400ex2003]

technically speaking, there are only float r series rec front shocks made for the 400. there are no rear shocks that i have found either. so having a full fox setup is not likely without using at least one shock from a 450. to get the evols and such, you would have to run 450 shocks. i dont think this would be a real big deal though since they can be adjusted to any psi. the fox r fronts are 695 from tucker rocky. I think that getting 450 shocks valved for a +2 setup would be the best bang for the buck though still. the complete setups are pretty nice though by the looks of it. stuff like the progressive setup and the roll- elka setup look pretty killer. steve

[dustin_j]

The only time there is a benefit to going "long travel" is when the arm uses a lower leverage ratio (more shock shaft travel for the same wheel travel). The same wheel travel is achieved with both setups, because the ball joint range limits the travel. For your uses, you'd be probably be better off going the cheaper route for standard length shocks; which can be made to work very well also.

Steve, what do you mean by the progressive setup? You have to be careful buying packages. Seems like some shocks are built and sitting on a shelf, waiting for anyone (of any weight and ability) to buy the package; this wouldn't be a very good setup.

If you really want fox, you could have a shock builder order your shocks the right length for your 400 and setup from there. Call Andy M@ul at m@ultechatv . com. Replace @ with a. He is very helpful and able to order directly from fox, axis, whoever.

[woodsridn400]

i really appriciate your all your help dustin. Im just looking at doing a winter rebuild, and looking at what mods i want done and my suspension is a huge part from what i read, ill probably be getting some 450r shocks and have them revalved and resprung. Now do you reconmend any one or unreconmend anyone lol. Im looking at Gtthunder cause i have there link and are only an 1hr away from me. Ive seem to have read good reviews, just curious

[honda400ex2003]

i think progressive suspension products are probably just any size fits all type. I was talking about the company not the actual progressive type springs on a shock. sorry for the misunderstanding. they are most of the kits on ebay that are cheap. they would be alright since you get arms and all but there are some great combos that can be had in suspension. steve

[honda400ex2003]

speaking of which there are no progressive product setups on the bay right now my bad. should have checked before i posted that, usually there is always an 800 dollar set of shocks and arms on there made by them. on the other hand, there are some really nice laeger, fox setups it looks like along with some houser slicast and custom axis setups that are nice too not sure on price though as to if it is worth the package or not. steve

[honda400ex2003]

my ideal setup (cause i like both) would be either roll and or houser and elka quad rates on both. man those quads are awesome. lol sorry. trying to limit these outbursts but it has been a long day. steve

[woodsridn400]

Yea those were the setups i was looking at. They seem to be a decent pric seeing what just shocks or the arms are going price wise by them selves. thats what really got me wondering why buy 450r shocks then pay $xxx to have them redone with the rear or just a lil more and get the whole set up

[honda400ex2003]

im in love, anyone wanna make any donations to send it over. sorry again, steve

[dustin_j]

Elka shocks work much better than stock, but I believe you would get a superior setup going with a different shock or with stock rebuilds. Stock rebuilds are generally more precisely tuned/setup for you and your needs. If Laz (GT Thunder) lives an hour from you I'd go to him; you'd be able to go there and he'd verify you're quad is setup correctly. Definately keep the GT Thunder linkage!!

You can get whichever you like and feel is a good deal. I'm just giving my opinion, so take it for what it's worth.

[IMSROLL450R]

Originally posted by dustin_j
Elka shocks work much better than stock, but I believe you would get a superior setup going with a different shock or with stock rebuilds. Stock rebuilds are generally more precisely tuned/setup for you and your needs. If Laz (GT Thunder) lives an hour from you I'd go to him; you'd be able to go there and he'd verify you're quad is setup correctly. Definately keep the GT Thunder linkage!!

You can get whichever you like and feel is a good deal. I'm just giving my opinion, so take it for what it's worth.

There's the winner post right there. Can't beat Laz's service his revalves rode better than 2 different sets of axis I had.

[MtnEX]

On the Honda forum is about the only place I can find where GT Thunder is getting love... and not to many people anywhere else seem to care much for Laz or GT Thunder's customer service.


Elka's can be made good, but whoever said it is absolutely correct... it takes a lot of work and costs a fortune... but doesn't make them any better than a better designed shock.

Axis is one that confuses me because it seems to be a good product out of good parts... But people really seem to struggle to get them right.

Fox floats seem nice too... lots of easy changes. But there is a REASON there is no rear air shock. Same reason air shocks came off cars after the 60's. But l like the fronts and want to be sold on the idea. I'm just not yet.



Myself, I'd either do some rebuilds from somewhere like Jet Suspension, M@ul tech, Noleen, etc...

Or I would get a set of shocks from a company that builds to order for your weight and riding style when you purchase. This way you get an aftermarket shock and it's already valved and sprung for your weight and riding style.

Myself, I think I am going to try Zbros Racing next time.... cause they make the ARS FX arms and EXIT shocks.

[riotact]

I got a really good deal on some Works Triples and +2 +1 Burgards.They both need some work but for the money,and the riding I do it will be worth it to me.I'll come in around $450 and everything will be looking and working like new.Just keep an eye out and you should be able to find a deal on stuff in the price range you are looking for.I know Works arent the best but if they are setup right they will be way better then stockers.

[MtnEX]

Originally posted by riotact
I got a really good deal on some Works Triples and +2 +1 Burgards.They both need some work but for the money,and the riding I do it will be worth it to me.I'll come in around $450 and everything will be looking and working like new.Just keep an eye out and you should be able to find a deal on stuff in the price range you are looking for.I know Works arent the best but if they are setup right they will be way better then stockers.

Back in the day we were racing Works and Ohlins shocks.

I don't know what would make Works not as good as EXIT, Race Tech Motowoz, Fox, etc...???

Know the answer to that?
Or is it just that they are not "popular" like say Fox is?

[hondaracer_34]

PEP PB1's ( do they make those for 400ex's? ). My second choice would be FOX Floats.

Check out : EXIT shocks, Ohlins, Axis, GT Thunder, Motowoz ( heards alot of great things about them ), etc.. Elkas just plain suck IMO

[riotact]

The only problem I've seen so far with the Works is that sometimes the tender springs brake on them.If there setup right,and your not a ram rod with your wheeler I think they'll be fine.The way I see it is,Works is still in business so they gotta be doing something right.There not $800-$1000 shocks and I don't race so they'll be good for me.It's probably like the G-force axle.It's not $400 so it must not be good.That will be the axle I get after my front end is done.It's hard to beat an axle thats $200 with a lifetime guarantee.

[dustin_j]

Works shocks are fine if your goal is a better ride than stock. The spring upgrade and adjustability makes Works shocks much better than stock. However, the check ball piston (used by Works) is an interesting idea, but it cavitates terribly. This causes a loss in damping under high shaft speeds. Nothing wrong with using Works as a lower cost upgrade from stock. Works Black Widow shocks use shim style valving, similar to others.

Also note, non PB1 PEP shocks use the same check ball piston. PB1s use shim stacks.

All shim stack shocks (say 3 times fast, haha) have different piston designs and preferred stacks. All seem to perform well when tuned, with Elka being the hardest to tune. The main difference will be how well they were tailered to you, and how well they were setup on the quad.

[dustin_j]

Originally posted by riotact
The only problem I've seen so far with the Works is that sometimes the tender springs brake on them.If there setup right,and your not a ram rod with your wheeler I think they'll be fine.The way I see it is,Works is still in business so they gotta be doing something right.There not $800-$1000 shocks and I don't race so they'll be good for me.It's probably like the G-force axle.It's not $400 so it must not be good.That will be the axle I get after my front end is done.It's hard to beat an axle thats $200 with a lifetime guarantee.

I agree. There's a point where "the best" is complete overkill. It's nice that Works offers a budget friendly alternative for non-rebuildable shocks.