I have an '02 Raptor - primarily ride the dunes at Glamis. I recently fitted my quad with a rear lowering kit that lowered it approx. 3 inches. I tested it out over Memorial Day Weekend and was amazed at how much better the Raptor handled. I also noticed, however, that the rear end was bottoming out when hitting compression bumps at high speed - either at the bottom of a steep angled dune or going around a bowl at speed. I tried adjusting the pre-tension on the spring and the compression settings on the stock rear shock - which did help some but I still noticed some bottoming. This is the original shock on the quad and it has seen a lot of use (we try to make at least one trip a month to Glamis). My question is given the age of the shock is it worth it to try having it re-sprung/re-valved or should I bite the bullet and buy a new shock? Also - I'm running the Works Triple-Rate Steelers on the front - I've been told that you should run the same brand shocks on the front and rear - is this true? Any rear shock recommendations for the Raptor?????

Thx

 

1. Get rid of the lowering kits.
2. Doesnt matter what brand you run on the front vs rear, but one type is going to be more consistent and simpler to tune.
3. I would just have the stocker revalved, works can do it as can a handful of others.

 

Thanks for the input. For clarificaiton - I only have a lowering kit on the rear which basically consists of a longer, beefier linkage. Out of curiousity - why get rid of the lowering kit? On the Raptor - it makes a significant difference in handling/turning in the dunes. Even Elka is offering a new linkage for the Raptor that lowers it 2.5 inches.

As far as having the shock revalved - should that include a new spring?


Thx

 

depending on what you weigh the stock spring should be fine. I revalved and went with the race tech gold valve, it rides like a couch now, very smooth!!

 

warwgn -

I weigh aprox. 170lbs (depending on how many Coronas were consumed the previous night). So I'm guessing the stock spring is probably ok. Have you noticed any siginificant difference on days where the sand is severely "chopped up"? I noticed that you have YFZ shocks listed in your profile - are you running stock a-arms? How are they working for you?


Thx

 

Stock arms and I love the yfz'z they work awsome, I plan on having them revalved with the race tech gold valve too but not untill I get some +2 arms. I dont really ride dunes very often, but on breaking bumps ( more harsh then dune chop) it worked great. The back end stayed straight and was noticably smoother. The stock spring should be fine for your weight, or at least a new stock spring not an old worn out 4 year old spring.

 

Cool - from what I've read - in order to mount the YFZ front shocks on the Raptor - you have to grind the mounts down a bit? Are we talking just some minor grinding or was it more than that? If the YFZ fronts work so well .... I'm wondering if the YFZ rear shock would work on a Raptor?


Thx

 

Elka replaces the linkage, it's not just a new strut like the rest of them. And elka's shocks should be valved with that new linkage and spring rate in mind. The rear linkage is not for anything but flattrack on a raptor, I know because I've got one. It's a good way to trash the rear suspension.

Spring depends on how worn the original is and how much different your needs are from the original OEM setup.

 

Thanks - is there a good rule of thumb on determining how worn a rear spring is? I mean just by looking at it - I would say it is in good condition but knowing how much I've ridden on it over the last four years I would say put a fork in it the shock is done!

Do you know if there was a big difference in the rear shock/spring on the Raptor's from '02 to 04/05? I was thinking that if the newer shocks were beefier that another alternative would be to pick up a newer Raptor "stock" rear shock off of eBay.