I JUST BOUGHT A SET OF FRONT ELKA SHOCK'S FOR MY RAPTOR. I ORDERED TRIPLE RATE, ADJ. COMP & REBOUND W/ SSD. HOW COME IT TOOK ME AND ANOTHER GUY WITH A FLOOR JACK JUST TO BE ABLE TO GET THE BOLT HOLES LINED UP. WHEN EVERYTHING WAS BOLTED DOWN , MY RAPTOR NOW SITS A GOOD BIT HIGHER THAN STOCK. I THOUGHT IT WAS SUPPOSE TO LOWER IT. NEEDLESS TO SAY I'M NOT VERY HAPPY. COULD SOMEONE EXPLAIN TO ME WHY. I DON'T THINK IT WAS ANYTHING I DID SINCE IT'S PRETTY STAIGHT FORWARD. PLEASE HELP.

 

Call Elka. Tell them what you wanted. Send them back.
Aftermarket companies send out a lot of crap. Sometimes it's good stuff, just set-up wrong. For the kind of dough they charge it should be perfect. A lot of folks don't know any better and keep oversprung shocks having paid dearly for shocks they thought would be set up right.
Sometimes it's a matter of taste, but they ask enough questions they should be able to figure it out. I have Works shocks on my DS and mini-raptor (son's). I added my own rezzies, and have a bunch of spare parts and a pile of springs waiting to go back. It's a hands on approach, I kind of enjoy it. But they should have gotten it right the first time. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/img]

 

I have TCS shocks which are Elka shock bodies with the same sag feature and TCS valving. It took me a little while to figure out when I first installed them. Jason at TCS set me straight. What you need to do is remove the shocks. With one of the shocks removed you can turn it upside down. You will notice that the spring retainer(the disc on the bottom of the spring) has a slot cut in it. This slot enables you to take the spring retainer off of the shock, the shaft passes through the slot. Since they are no preload shocks you can compress the springs with your hands and get the spring retainer off easily. Once the spring retainer is removed you can remove the springs from the shock. You will notice that there are two black rings where the lightest spring was. Start by removing one of those rings and then reassembling the shock. I took off the larger of the two rings and that was enough to lower my ride height about 2.5 inches. Enjoy the shocks. Lowering your Raptor is the best mod you can do to it.

 

I will second "Yambike"! He is absolutely correct, I had to do the same thing. I also removed the larger of the two rings. You shouldn't have any problems lining up the bolt holes either way. I assumed you jacked the frame until the tires were off the ground. I have the exact same shocks you have and they fit perfectly.

 

I didn't remove any of the black rings from mine but I did loosen the pre-load adjustment. Jack the front end again then loosen up the allen screws on the pre-load adjustment nuts. You should be able to turn them my hand.

/NotuRaptor

 

Notu Raptor has a good point. There should be no preload on the springs if you want to lower your ride height. Back off the preload all the way if it isn't already. Then you can try removing the rings.

 

THANK'S FOR THE INFO!!! I'M GOING TO DO WHAT YOU ALL RECOMMENDED. WHAT IS THE MAX YOU CAN LOWER A RAPTOR WITH THESE SHOCKS AND STILL BE FULL FUNCTIONAL?

 

WELL I TOOK THE SHOCKS APART AND THE ONLY THINGS IN THER BESIDES THE SPRINGS WERE THESE 2 PLASTIC PIECES THAT SEPARATE THE SHOCKS. THEY DON'T SLIDE OVER THE REBOUND ADJUSTMENT ****. THERE WASN'T ANY OTHER KIND OF RINGS. I JUST CAN'T FIGURE OUT WHY OTHERS HAVE LOWERED THERE RAPTOR'S USING THESE SHOCKS. I COMPARED MY RAPTOR TO MY BROTHER'S (ALL STOCK) AND MINE IS 1" TALLER. I WANTED IT TO BE SHORTER. I PUT THEM ON ANYWAY. ANYONE HAVE ANY OTHER SUGGESTIONS? THANKS

 

It sounds like they may not be zero preload shocks after all. You better call Elka. They should be more than happy to help you with an expensive purchase like that.

 

They may have sent you the long travel model, these require long travel a-arms. If you don't mind me asking, who did you order them from?