Rear Shocks - what's the deal?

6577 Views 27 Replies 14 Participants Last post by Mouse Driver, Feb 3, 2010

5W0P3

Discussion Starter · Dec 23, 2008

On the rear shocks, there is a valve on the front of the resevoir and that polished slot thing on the back. What do those do? I want to make the rear softer, is it adjustable?

1 - 20 of 28 Posts

xx-rated

· #2 · Dec 23, 2008

DO NOT TURN THAT THING THAT LOOKS LIKE A SCREW!! If you do, apparently all the oil will leak out of your shock. This happened to a magazine test rider that thought it might be an adjustment screw. I'm sure the valve is for charging the shock. The shocks on the XX are only pre-load adjustable. That's it.

5W0P3

Discussion Starter · #3 · Dec 23, 2008

Does anyone know if any other shocks, like maybe from a raptor or YFZ or something would fit in our quads? I've got to have to softer rearened. Not elkas but something from a stock bike that is adjustable?!

xx-rated

· #4 · Dec 23, 2008

I'd be careful about softening the rear end up too much. How much do you weigh? How many hours do you have on it? The rear will soften a bit after you get some time on it. I would think that if you soften the rear shocks up, it will increase the body roll in the corners.

5W0P3

Discussion Starter · #5 · Dec 23, 2008

xx-rated said:
I'd be careful about softening the rear end up too much. How much do you weigh? How many hours do you have on it? The rear will soften a bit after you get some time on it. I would think that if you soften the rear shocks up, it will increase the body roll in the corners.

I'm about 180-190. It seems to just be really stiff for my weight.

vfm2010

· #6 · Dec 23, 2008

5W0P3 said:
I'm about 180-190. It seems to just be really stiff for my weight.

Start eating! I weigh about 275 and it rides like a Caddy.

5W0P3

Discussion Starter · #7 · Dec 23, 2008

vfm2010 said:
Start eating! I weigh about 275 and it rides like a Caddy.

I'm actually trying to get to 160lbs... it rides pretty stiff to me.

ohmatman

· #8 · Dec 23, 2008

My opinion is is the engineers spend 100s of hours testing them with different setups and they are dialed in for the best performance that your gonna get without upgrading them. Just my opinion, but i know the 700xx was in R&D testing for at least 2-3yrs before it came out.

jamie007

· #9 · Jan 31, 2010

Just got a 700xx last week and even with me weighing 240lbs, the rear shocks seem super stiff! Almost bone jarring riding the rough rocky whooped out trails in LV. I'm debating if I should try to get the rears re-valved or maybe get some new shocks. I see Elka has there stage I shocks for $495 a pair (front or rear). Front shocks seem fine though.

roadkill

· #10 · Jan 31, 2010

I weigh about 180 and have about 200 hours on the stock shocks... I ride hard and fast in very rough terrain. Rear has been stiff from the get go. I ordered Stage 3 Elka shocks for both front and back. Preload, compression and rebound adjustable. I know that Stage 1 or Stage 2+ might be good enough, but I didn't want just "good enough"... I wanted shocks that are able to take me to new skill levels and not just be good enough for the skill that I have now. Should be here in another week.

roadkill

Nasty700xx

· #11 · Feb 1, 2010

I have Elka's all around and with the adjustments it really lets you dial it in.

ceballos

· #12 · Feb 1, 2010

jamie007 said:
I'm debating if I should try to get the rears re-valved or maybe get some new shocks. I see Elka has there stage I shocks for $495 a pair (front or rear). Front shocks seem fine though.

depends on your budget or what you want to do with your quad... revalving them would be the economical way if you're not looking to go crazy with it... IMO

xx700xx

· #13 · Feb 1, 2010

jamie007 said:
Just got a 700xx last week and even with me weighing 240lbs, the rear shocks seem super stiff! Almost bone jarring riding the rough rocky whooped out trails in LV. I'm debating if I should try to get the rears re-valved or maybe get some new shocks. I see Elka has there stage I shocks for $495 a pair (front or rear). Front shocks seem fine though.

Give it some time. The shocks will settle a little bit for ya.

jamie007

· #14 · Feb 1, 2010 (Edited)

I did a little calling/emailing around and this is what I found out, for getting the rear shocks reworked. GTthunder quoted me $400 for a revalve and new springs. Wiigstyle racing quoted me $475 for the same. ATVSuspensiontech (formerly TCS racing) said they don't rebuilt the stockers but I could just get a set of Elka's or maybe works shocks, for somewhere around $500 for the basic shocks w/o reserviors or any adjustments but preload. Now if my budget was $500, would I be better off getting my shocks revalved and resprung or getting the low end Elkas? I'm leaning towards keeping mine so I will have the non adjustable reserviors and will be a little cheaper if I go with GTthunder. And according to Josh at Wiigstyle, the stock rear shocks are the same quality as the $500 Elkas, but without the adjustability of their $1000 shocks... What do you guys think?

My primary riding is spirited trail riding in the NV desert, very rough and rocky. I don't do any racing and don't do a lot of jumping.

See less See more

ceballos

· #15 · Feb 1, 2010

check out Precision Concepts... they do great work

jamie007

· #16 · Feb 1, 2010

ceballos said:
check out Precision Concepts... they do great work

Just spoke with Bob over there and he said they've done a lot of testing/work on the 700xx shocks. He was saying that they did a setup for one of there riders that is about my weight and they did not need to replace he springs. He said for the type of riding I do, just some revalving can make them track much better, especially in the rough stuff. He said it should be under $300 for that, with a lifetime warranty on their work...hmmm sounds pretty good...Might just go that route! Thanks Ceballos!

Baxter

· #17 · Feb 1, 2010

jamie007 said:
Just got a 700xx last week and even with me weighing 240lbs, the rear shocks seem super stiff! Almost bone jarring riding the rough rocky whooped out trails in LV. I'm debating if I should try to get the rears re-valved or maybe get some new shocks. I see Elka has there stage I shocks for $495 a pair (front or rear). Front shocks seem fine though.

Try losening the preload collars. I weigh 180 lbs and find the front too soft and rears perfect. How long have you owned the 700xx. That is the preload on the rear shocks. Post pics if possible.

jamie007

· #18 · Feb 1, 2010

Baxter said:
Try losening the preload collars. I weigh 180 lbs and find the front too soft and rears perfect. How long have you owned the 700xx. That is the preload on the rear shocks. Post pics if possible.

My preload is already backed all the way out, i even tried removing the "second" top collar, but then the spring was too loose and was flopping around when the shock is fully extended. Front shocks seem perfect to me, for now...My quad is less then 2 weeks old. Maybe I'm just getting too old and need a softer ride...

ceballos

· #19 · Feb 2, 2010

hey jamie.... i told you! a lot of people here, well in the district we race in, use Precision Concepts very much. Nothing but great work from them....

Baxter

· #20 · Feb 2, 2010

jamie007 said:
My preload is already backed all the way out, i even tried removing the "second" top collar, but then the spring was too loose and was flopping around when the shock is fully extended. Front shocks seem perfect to me, for now...My quad is less then 2 weeks old. Maybe I'm just getting too old and need a softer ride...

How much do you weigh ?

1 - 20 of 28 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.