Sandy at Works is a great guy. I spent a bunch of time with him on the phone today trying to figure out how to get better "performance" out of my cheapo Works Steelers. Elkas are just too damn much money, and TCS won't rebuild these. I might have sold them, but I think this will work without getting into $900 shocks
.......First,,,Always buy shocks with Rezzies even the cheapo Steelers. I didn't realize the vast difference in the way a shock works with a rezzie as compared to without. In a nutshell, a shock without a rezzie uses gas inside the shock to take up the space of the rod when it is compressed. The oil and gas basically emulsify inside the shock, that is, they are all mixed up in there.
A rezzie actually has a rubber bladder (some have floating pistons) that separates the oil from the nitrogen gas. No mixing, no emulsion, and better cooling.
.......Adjustable compression on these is dialed in at the rezzie and is compression in addition to what's in the shock itself. Since I ususally have my shocks set as loose as possible, I didn't think the adjustable rezzies were worth the extra $160 to me. Adding just the rezzies is $160, plus oil, $14.
.......Now for springs. The main spring I have is a monster. Way too stiff. I have been using the Bomb yellow springs with one Works spacer. I am going back to works springs, but lighter, with more crossover spacers. I am getting a little inventory of springs so I can work it out myself. And I will, as always, let you know how it comes out. I am going from a 240 lb main spring to a 175, and the second helper is a 240 lb instead of a 500. This is going to give me lots more sag and more travel up front. We'll see. As always it will take me a while to figure it out.....[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/img]

 

Fourlix, did you ever check into having the stock Arvin shocks reworked? I'm pretty happy with the factory suspension but the front end feels overdampened. The sharp irregularities in our local dunes transmit a lot of shock to a riders arms. I think a change to a slightly thinner shock oil would make a big improvement. I'm always trying to find a happy medium between ride quality and the ability to get through the whoops without taking a beating. For all my tinkering, I still haven't gotten the rear shock up to the abilities of the factory valved fronts. Your description the nitrogen pocket's function was the best I've read. Now I understand why my Bilstiens have a free floating piston.

 

Tearing into those Arvin POS could be fun. I'd do more than change oil. I'd take out parts and drill holes, or maybe just ventilate them with a good hand gun...[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/img]

 

I have to say that the Ryde FX shocks on mine are great(for stock) and the rear with a dual rate. What other production quad has that. By far the DS has the best "from the factory" suspension IMO. I had Elka's on my Raptor triple rate rezzy's the whole nine yards I even had the dual rate back shock. I'm not saying the DS is damped better but the extra suspension travel make it much smoother and able to soak up more IMO. BTW is anyone modding the stock rear shock on the DS? It seems like a really nice unit.

 

I too think the rear shock is great. I have just a smidge of increased dampening both ways, it is nice and loose with lots of travel and lots of sag. But the Ryde FX front shocks have far too much rebound dampening. Take the spring off and feel it for yourself. Unlike the Works, there is no rebound gas charge either. If the front end shocks performed like the rear shocks it would have the best sport stock suspension going. With too much rebound dampening the Arvins don't recover fast enough on fast multiple hits and compress into higher spring rates making the ride unbearably harsh. They suck.
......You'd be surprised how few springs there are to choose from.
Getting the right combination of spring rates with these reworked Works shocks is going to be a matter of luck, there just aren't that many options. My Main spring will go from a 220 to a 175, and I'm adding a 240 helper spring to make up the distance in length. I will let you know. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/img]

 

When you guys bash the stock shocks, it's seams that you don't realize that there are differing stock shocks on these things. I've seen it for myself, side by side. My shocks work great, the dampning is nice on compression and rebound. But when I set Phillips pre-load up at Sand Mountain, I noticed that his were extremely stiffly dampened. I don't know why, but it is definatly a fact. So it's not that the stock ones suck so badly, it's just that some are no were near as good as others.

 

Knutz,

It's starting to sound like Arvin just has some inconsistent Quality Controls set in place, and maybe that is what fourlix should be complaining about. I'm in the boat of guys who tightened their front shocks (a little) and noticed improvement. I think there is no doubt in anyone's mind that Works Steelers with Rezzies are FAR superior to anything stock, but I think fourlix may have gotten the 'bottom of the barrel' in Arvin's QC department. I wonder if for 2002 they'll be able to make their units more consistent and hopefully, all on the better side.