LT vs. STD ( not the diseases) ;)

[slosh13]

I cant help but to look on the market anymore and see all the aftermarket chassis builders putting out some form of long travel design based aarm. What is the difference betwenn standard travel and long travel other than the longer shock requirments? Im looking into getting a long travel setup only b/c "its the hot thing to do" I wanted someone to explain the likenesses and differences to me before i shell out my money, thats all:D thanks.

[4TraxRider]

Long travel shocks and arm setups don't necessarily provide more travel, but provide a longer shock so that there are more valving changes as the suspension compresses.

[wilkin250r]

Originally posted by 4TraxRider
Long travel shocks and arm setups don't necessarily provide more travel, but provide a longer shock so that there are more valving changes as the suspension compresses.

Bingo.

It's kind of misleading. The advantage is not longer wheel travel, as the name would imply. The advantage is the longer SHOCK travel. With a long travel front end, you can get much more precise control of the valving in the shock to truly customize your suspension.

[jlhughes750]

those guys are both right on the money.

i have a Gibson XC frt. end on the R...

I've been racing over 10 years on the R's and more recently the EX's and i'll tell u, the 19 inch shocks make a huge difference. u have 3 more inches of shock there to soak things up...

I've had alot of experience with many builders and have been the happiest so far with GIBSON. I 've had Laegers,LSR and ROLL and none have worked as well for me...

basically YES the LT frt. ends do make a difference and they are worth the extra $.... If everyone u race against has them then u WILL be at a disadvantage, it took me a few rides to really notice the advantage of the extra suspension. Its awsome..

later, J

BTW i got AXIS on mine......

[boogiechile]

OK if you want the technical stuff about long travel, here it is. i know that this will bore some of you because all you want to know is "will it work that much better to be worth spending the bucks." I fully understand that and yes it be better. If you are interested in the other stuff, read on.

While the 19 inch shocks are much better and the real key to the LT setup, LT does offer more travel. It is not not much more travel but it is more, less than an inch in many cases. The factor that realy keeps long travel from having a lot more travel is ball joint movement. The a arms can only travel until the ball joint binds, that is what determines the amount of travel you can get. Many long travel arms use spherical bearings or heim joints because they have more range of motion than standard type ball joints, allowing more travel.

The longer the shock is the less the motion ratio becomes for the same amount of travel. Lower motion ratios are easier on the shocks and make adjusting the shocks less critical, another advantage to LT setups.

The more the travel, the higher the motion ratio gets. 2.3/1 is about as high as any shock builder ever wants to see, with 2.0/1 being more desirable. If the shock has a stroke of 6 inches (only a LT shock could have this much) travel would be 12 inches with a 2.0/1 motion ratio

Since an ATV is relatively narrow, travel is limited to a maximum useable amount anyway. Travel really can not go "up" much more than stock because the frame will hit the ground. So virtually all the added travel must go to the droop (down) travel.
Hanging with a lot of droop makes the wheels close together and when landing they have to widen a lot as the suspension compresses, this can cause what is called side scrub.

I build my own LT arms and have found that the tie rod ends can be a limiting factor in travel. The angle of the arm on the spindle needs to be steeper to get enough down travel. That angle is fixed on a 400ex spindle so changing to heim type tie rod ends with extreme motion mounting pins is required.

It is hard to get to 12 inches of travel without adressing these issues.