I was wondering if the difference I notice between aftermarket shocks and stock Raptor shocks is normal. When I had my Raptor, I could pick up the front bumper a couple feet off the ground and drop it and it would spring right back to its previous position. Same thing if I pushed down on the bumper.

However, with the new quad I recently traded the Raptor for, it has aftermarket shocks (Axis Racing shocks). Whenever I pick the front end up a couple feet or push down on the front bumper, it pretty much stays where I left it. It seems to absorb EVERYTHING w/o popping it back up to its extended position like the Raptor would. Is this the way aftermarket shocks are supposed to work and if so, why would the Raptor or other stock sport quads not do the same thing?

Thanks,

 

Im not positive, but the shocks may need to be rebuilt, someone on here can tell you that for sure. How old are the shocks? The one thing that aftermarket shocks do help with is keeping the quad from bouncing or springing, like what your talking about.

 

YOur shocks were set up for flat track correct? If so it sounds like they wont spring up (no rebound) because I think when racing flat track at 90mph you dont want your shocks to be springing up and down, so you probably need to get them set up for woods and everyday riding were they have compression and rebound valving. They may be Zero preload which in that case they'll never come the whole way back up which is good for mx and racing because the shock will fall out from under the quad and get traction to the ground but even zps will come back up when pressed down but if you pick up on front end they will extend even further. If your quad is on ground and you pick up on front do the shocks extend out further? Then if quad on ground if you press down on front do the shocks come up to the point at which they were at when just sitting there? If so then they are set up for no preload but they should still have rebound in them but as stated before they will not come the whole way up like the stock raptor shocks but they shoule return to the same height as they were with the quad sitting on ground.

 

xtreme165,

Thanks for the explanation.

If the quad is sitting on the ground and I pick up the front bumper and release it (w/o dropping it), then the shocks DO extend further up and they will stay there. If I push down on the bumper, the shocks will compress and stay about the halfway position. If I then push down on the bumper it will compress further, but will come back to the halfway position - it will not bounce all the way back to the top.

Does this sound like the way it should be?

Thanks,

 

Birdofprey, Ya they are working corectly they are set up for no pre load which are better for mx or flat track because the shock as I said before will fall out underneath and get the wheels on the ground but the only down fall to this set up is the shock does sit about a 3rd through the travel. I put TCS on my raptor which does the same thing the reason I did this is because stock the raptor seat height is way to high and with zps it lowers the ride height a good bit. Alot of people like works and etc dont recommend no preload or zps they are the same thing, for woods riding because you sit a 3rd through your suspension but alot of xc racers are runing zps now because of the ride height differance and when going over logs, rocks and etc the shocks get to the ground. If it feels nice I wouldnt mess with them exp being axis because axis shocks last a long time before needing rebuilt. Just as long as the previous owner weighed about the same as you but you might eventually want to get these valved for everyday riding and not flat track if thats what the quad was used for. Call axis and ask them they are real nice let them know what the quad was set up for and ask how much to get shocks redone for what type of riding you'll be doing. But ya they sound like there working for what they were intended for.

 

Thanks again, extreme.

I probably will need to call Axis eventually to get the same spring for each side. One side has a blue one and the other side has a red one. Since it was a TT racer, I guess they usually went around a track in a certain direction and that's why it has different springs. I've ridden the quad around the streets quite abit before I tore it apart and never noticed the springs were different (I didn't find out until I took the Axis shock covers off).

 

Hey xtreme165...Can you really get shocks for any of us at a discount? What brand of shocks, and what kind of a discount? I might be interested in taking you up on the offer. Let me know. Thanks.