Hey guys I have a 2006 Kodiak 450 and I had a few questions about the spring settings. I understand the whole concept of how the springs work and what they will do when you tighten them or loosen them. I just wanted to know exactly how much of a difference its going to make. And I want to know if you tighten them up all the way will this give more ground clearance?? I do a lot of trail riding and river riding on rocks, not too awfully much mud holes and minimal road driving. Also how do you turn these things?

 

use channel locks to turn them. your not gonna get really and ground clearance out of it. the tighter u make the spring the stiffer it is. the stiffer it is the less flex you will have the harder it will ride. the bike wont sit any higher, it just wont sink as much when u sit on it.

 

Trial and error. It won't hurt anything to just try tightening up the preload and seeing for yourself what it does, instead of taking everyone else's word on it. It takes maybe 5 minutes to get a pair of channel lock pliers, lift the front end up, and change the settings.

You will get a little bit more ground clearance with tighter preload, just because the suspension won't sag under the weight of the machine as much. You're also going to get a rougher ride though, so it's a trade-off. Try it and decide for yourself if it's worth it.

 

I of course knew the ride would be rougher. How will it effect trail riding, rock crawling, and mud holes? Also is tightening the springs something people normally do when they buy a 4wheeler? I understand that the factory settings aren't meant for "extreme offroad" or people taking these to the limits. I do ride pretty rough so I kind of think it would help me out a little but I just wanted to know exactly what it was gonna do before I start tampering with things.

 

Like I already said, it doesn't hurt anything to just try it. It takes less than 5 minutes to put it back to stock if you don't like it, so what do you have to loose? Everybody has their own opinions, we all ride different places on different terrain, with different riding styles, different rider weight, etc. Just plain and simple, there are too many variables to just go by what someone else thinks.

Some people buy a machine and will never even touch the settings. Others, like me, will tweak and fine tune the settings until we find that sweet spot that perfectly balances the trade-offs. If you are happy with the way it rides and don't want to go to the trouble of experimenting with the settings, there's really no need to mess with it. But if you think that it could be made better, then what's keeping you from just giving it a try?

I'm not really sure what more you want to know. Preload is pretty straightforward and common sense stuff. It's the higher end shocks with compression and rebound adjustment that can start to get confusing to people, and takes some more thought to get it tuned properly.

 

if ur gonna be in rocks and mud holes ur gonna want it to be able to flex and articulate so i woudlnt go with it really stiff.

 

Ok what I want to know is......why would anybody want stiffer springs or looser springs? What is the advantage over normal? What stiffness is recommended for what type of driving style.

 

Stiffer springs will give you better ability to soak up big bumps and jumps. They also decrease body roll and increase stability, so it'll corner better. On the downside, on rough trails the stiffer suspension can slow you down because it sends you bouncing all over the place and beats the hell out of you, where with softer suspension your wheels would have more of a tendency to articulate over the rocks instead of pogo-sticking over them. Of course with softer suspension, you can't jump as high and can't corner as quick, but at the end of the day your body will thank you. Overly stiff suspension can really beat you up in a day of riding.

 

I would think the opposite though. Loose springs would be easier on the rider crawling rocks but you would bottem out a lot more I would think. So you're saying for rock crawlers a loose spring is better and for speed 4wheelers stiff springs are better?

 

It depends on rider preference too, but most riders would rather have a comforable ride over rough and technical terrain, and more laid back style riding, but a more firm, stable ride for aggressive riding.