I do mostly desert riding, with a lot of ruts, potholes and washouts. I also like to do some jumping, but usually no more than about 6-8 feet. My stock shocks do pretty well on the jumps, but are kicking my butt on the rough stuff. I have adjusted them all the way soft on the compression, but still wears me out pretty quick.

My question is, what is my least expensive option to get the best of both worlds?

Is it possible to get any more travel out of my stockers? Can I get more travel with different shocks but the stock A-arms? Really, I'd like to get wider A-arms anyway, but financially, I can only do one or the other right now. What about flipping my wheels?

I'd hate to revalve them for rough trails, only to lose my jumping ability... OTOH, completely soft is pretty good for what I do, just needs to be a little more soft, and I've never tried completely hard yet...so maybe just revalving them is all I need, and then I can turn them full hard when I jump?

Are there any companies out there that have better valving than others when talking about revalving my stockers, or can they only revalve, not upgrade to better valving technology?

What about double and tripple rate springs? What is the advantage of them? Seems like they would offer a softer ride on the rough terrain and firmer ride on the big stuff...

What kind of prices should I expect for 1) revalving and 2) upgrading to multi-rate springs?

Any help will be greatly appreciated!

 

A good less expensive shock is the Works Triple Rate w/ Rezzies. Better than stock IMO but there are obviously better shocks out there. Ebay has alot of "deals" on aftermarket shocks and A Arms. i dont thinkj it's worth revalving the stockers. In the end you still only get one spring rate.

 

So what do double/tripple rate springs do? Like I said above, from what I can tell, they do two things:

1) Lower ride hight, (ie. one of the springs is soft enough to allow some sag when loaded, but strong enough to allow the shock to fully extend when unloaded.)

2) Offer softer spring rates on smaller bumps, and harder spring rates on larger bumps/jumps

If I am correct, how well does it work in reality, and what are the drawbacks?

I agree that new shocks (even cheaper high quality shocks) would be better, but from what I've seen, revalving my (perfectly good) shocks would cost around $150, whereas new (even Works) shocks would run me almost a grand....that's a BIG difference...at least to ME... [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-blush.gif[/img]

 

Ryan you are correct about what the springs do. Basically they help save your back and lessen rider fatigue[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]
If money is an issue which is your situation then have yours revalved until you can upgrade, you may be happy and never want to upgrade. Exriders has alot of threads on suspension tuning, I would recommend that you check it out. Also Sandlakeduners.com has some very knowledgeable people. I believe Gt Thunder and Baldwin both can revalve your stockers.

 

what about the quad rates? do you think those are really necessary ?

 

Thanks! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

on multi-rate shocks each "section" has a different spring stiffness the short part at the top is soft made to soak up small bumps, the middle one is for whoops/small jumps and the long bottom part is mostly for big ruts and jumps.

 

I guess quad rates would be good in some situations but I dont know that they are right for the general public. It could be overkill.