Steering and Handling Discussion.

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Originally Posted by MtnEX

OK, so I posted this thread

http://www.exriders.com/vbb/showthre...hreadid=491627

And then proceeded to read all 21 pages of this thread.

I was a little disappointed not to find any information regarding arms, shock lengths and calculating that... and further more the answer to my question.

I understand how to follow the directions and measure for shock length and shock stroke.

I also understand that you want the shock length to stop the down-travel rather than the bind points of the front end. And I understand that you want the shock to bottom before the frame hits the ground.


What I do not understand is rather or not a shock length and stroke being 1/4" short is a major deal, large enough to buy new shocks for the arms or check to see if the shocks can be lengthened that small amount?


When I consider aftermarket shocks I have bought for arms and when I think about stock shocks I have taken off stock arms.... I want to say no it does not matter.

None of those have ever been close to using 99% of the available down-travel of the arms.... and I can't see where bottoming with the frame 1.75" off the ground instead of 1.5" is going to kill anything....


But there might be something else I am not thinking about.

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The only way to make your shocks compress more is to remove external spacers (if they have any) or cut the body shorter or install a shorter body (which will also shorten your extended length).

Yes it's important to have the compressed length correct. 1/4" at the shock equals around 1/2" of wheel travel.

If someone isn't using all of their wheel travel then the shocks are not setup correctly!

Sorry I didn't help to answer, but here you what other people of good will give you a satisfactory reply.

Oh, for me, I took the gamble. Turned out I got lucky and was right. For this particular application I was working on the specs were crap. Just a case of two companies in bed with each other on the application. My shocks were oh so close, so I got the arms, bolted everything up and sure enough it was spot on when I measured the wheel travel from extended to compressed length. I had 10.5" just like I should have when they had me believing I would loose 1/2" of down travel and 1/4" of up travel and would be 1/2" low all the time. Was BS.

Great example of why it's always best to measure for yourself, rather than just believing a spec. If your (actual) tire size varied from their spec that would change your measurements slightly as well. I'm glad it worked out for you.

I'm thinking about buying a new ATV, either the new outty or sportsman, but since the ATV was actual 4wd, how does it steer properly? Since when you turn, the tires turn at different speeds and 4wd will turn itself on (I believe) and then it's much harder to turn...

differential

Good day. Im a new ATV owner and I think this is a helpful thread, especially for newbies like me. I have a Honda TRX and still unsure on what to do, but this gave me somewhat an overview.. Thanks for this.