preload

[Hammer trx450r]

does anyone know what the preload settings are? is it one inch?

[schmitthead]

its personnal preference.
i have mine adjusted all the way up, as little preload as possible. front and back then i adjust the compresson so that i dont bottom out.

[bigz-71]

this might be a stupid question but i am going to ask it anyways, how do you adjust preload?

[Hammer trx450r]

yeah thats what i' did and i like it. loosen the big nut up top and turn the spring all the way up so it lowers the ride height

[2manycrashes]

Originally posted by schmitthead
its personnal preference.
i have mine adjusted all the way up, as little preload as possible. front and back then i adjust the compresson so that i dont bottom out.

Please excuse my ignorance, but I'm not sure if I followed your response correctly. You said you adjusted for as little preload as possible. You also indicated that you turned the spring all the way up.

If I'm reading your response correctly and understand that preload is the sag height, then it would appear you have adjusted for MAX preload. I read an article that said rear preload should be approx 30% of shock travel and front preload should be 20% of shock travel. I ran into an issue with this on my 450R though. The rear preload was preset perfect at 3" ( 9" shock),
however the front preload, was way off. The stock preload was maybe 1/4 to 1/2 inch and I am a 210lb person. Even after adjusting the preload (sag heighth) to the max, I was only getting a little over an inch of preload. The front shock is 8.4 inches, so I should have gotten 1.7 inches of preload. At best I've got 1.25 inches (15% at this point)... Maybe the shocks will wear more over time and I will get more preload, but this seemed a bit odd to me. I'm not the heaviest guy in the world, but there are definitely alot of riders who weigh less than me and won't see as much sag height in the front due to their weight.

Anyways, I found it odd that the 450R shocks did not allow for more travel within the front preload. It is my guess that by not having more weight in the front of the quad, the front shock may be just a hair to strong???? They seem to work good though and adjustments to the rebound and compression actually work and make noticeable changes.

Please let me know your thoughts....

[schmitthead]

I adjusted the preload all the way up to lower the ride height in the front. And componsate the bottoming out tendency by adjusting the compression. I am just telling you what works for me. If there is a better way please let me know, but until then it is staying the way it is.