racer Posted June 11, 2006 Report Share Posted June 11, 2006 its fuckin simple, if you buy the right parts. I dont have pictures yet, ill add those later. i used a racetech gold valve kit, it includes everything you need for the vavling components. you will also need one quart of shock oil and a new seal head, as you will destroy the factory one, which is probably shot anyways. Steps: 1. let the nitrogen out of the shock., and remove the spring. these are the only times a special took is needed. a spring compressor and a nitrogen needle. however it can be done with out them, thats how i did it. just a handful of vise grips to compress the spring just enough to remove the coil hat, and you can SLOWLY back out the hex cap fitting on the bottom of the reservoir. once itsa few turns out it will start to leak gas, if you have any left. now mount the shock in a vise with the body portion being clamped. 2. using a sharp chisel, or other appropraite substitute, tap out the end cap of the body. aim the chisel at a 45* upward angle and tap gently with a hammer and the cap popes out fairly easy. clean that shit out! chances are there is going to be a ton of dirt caught between the end cap and the seal head (SH). clean it out so you can see what youre doing. 3. drain the oil. with the nitrogen out of the system you can push the reservoir up into the shock. it will slide on the arm that its attachted to, revealing a circlip that retains the resi. remove that circlip and pull the resi off of the body. beware that it is full of oil. 4. USE EXTREME CAUTION. you are about to drill/cut into your SH. the SH is what keeps your shock oil from escaping. it is retained in the shock body by 2 circlips, very much like those used on your pistons to keep the pins in place. there is one clip on the back, and one on the front. you are going to CAREFULLY use a small drill or dremel tool to cut back the edge of the SH, use caution not to cut into the shock body, or youre pretty much fucked. once you have about a 1/4-1/2 of the circlip visible its time to remove it. use a pick to remove the circlip through the groove you just cut into the SH. once thats out you can slowly pull the entire shock shaft out of the body. beware that once the SH is from of the body, the shock oil will start to pour out and onto the floor. once you pull everything out far enough, you will expose the cirlcip thats behind the SH. remove this and then pull the shaft completely out of the body. 5. You can now go about re-valving your shock with what ever parts you like. this is also the time to put on a new bumpstop. Thats as far as i have gotten. I was doing it at work on saturday when things picked up and i had to do my job. :yankyank: All thats left for me to do is put in the proper amount of oil and button it back up. Once thats complete, ill complete this thread. Im also going to take a picture of where I cut into the SH to remove the circlip. Please ask all the questions you want, as im SURE i forgot some things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txblueshee Posted June 11, 2006 Report Share Posted June 11, 2006 Be sure to snap some pics of the seal head process... everything else is easy cheese.... I've always wanted to do a shock using one of those race tech kits... then again.... I'm lazy as hell and time is money... Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racer Posted June 11, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2006 ya i will. i forgot to add that if you go with a racetech ktt you will need a pair of metric calipers or a micrometer. the valving shims arent labeled so that pretty much the only way to tell whats what. another note. the racetech seal head does not use two circlips like that factory one. it only uses the one on the font and relies on the nitrogen pressure to the SH in place. it requires a little more maintenance cause your gas always needs to be the right pressure. but the upside is next time you wanna change your valve stacks you can reuse the SH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txblueshee Posted June 11, 2006 Report Share Posted June 11, 2006 The only way I would attempt this too is if I had access to a race shop like you do... I've seen it done before and it's quite simple.... I could see how it would be extremely time consuming your first time... mark baldwin rebuilt my buddies shock in 30 mins at the tx national.... BTW, Cole... great post... I don't have the power to make it a sticky or it'd be stuck... Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawarriorman Posted June 11, 2006 Report Share Posted June 11, 2006 Throw some pics up there so we know what you're talking about. Most people here haven't seen the inside of a shock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racer Posted June 11, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2006 i should have pics on weds. shop's closed until tuesday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racer Posted June 13, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2006 i was looking on the racetech website and they offer valving kits for the 450 fronts shock also. the price quoted was 160 bucks, same as the rear kit. however this makes me wonder if thats for each side, or for the pair??? heres the website. http://www.racetech.com/evalving/english/S...angname=english Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cotton eyed Joe Posted June 13, 2006 Report Share Posted June 13, 2006 This is awesome. Since I bought my billet Marvins I've wondered what the hell goes on inside a nitrogen charged shock. I've had to hold myself back more than once on tearing one apart. Mostly because I dont want to end up with something blasted through my eye when I do something stupid and the N2 lets go at 700psi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racer Posted June 13, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2006 (edited) Ya, Ill try to remember to bring home all the parts tomorrow when I get off work so I can get soem pics. I guess i can wait one more day to button it back up............sigh. j/k its been apart for two months almost. :baseball_w00t: Stan I have a sneaking suspicion you could could take apart your factory rear shock if you still have it. Ther is only one complicated part. And if you set the shock body up in a vise on a turntable and use a .0625 or .125 end mill you could cut that groove damn near perfect. Just make sure to let that nirtogen out of there first. hahahaha Edited June 13, 2006 by gimmeabeer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racer Posted June 15, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2006 Ok here are two pictures. one is of the seal head with necessary groove cut into it. this should give a pretty clear of whats needed and ill explain why if anyone has questions. the second is of the stock valve. the third is of the gold valve. and it wont let me post them, so if someone wants to help me out............. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txblueshee Posted June 15, 2006 Report Share Posted June 15, 2006 Ok here are two pictures. one is of the seal head with necessary groove cut into it. this should give a pretty clear of whats needed and ill explain why if anyone has questions. the second is of the stock valve. the third is of the gold valve. and it wont let me post them, so if someone wants to help me out............. bustedshocks111@yahoo.com ... I'll hook it up cole... Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txblueshee Posted June 15, 2006 Report Share Posted June 15, 2006 :baseball_bat: Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cotton eyed Joe Posted June 15, 2006 Report Share Posted June 15, 2006 Is the circlip one of those little bastards that have no ears for removal like a snap ring does? I hate those things. I can totally see why you would have to gouge that out to remove it. Do you have pictures of the actual process? Tools used, etc? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racer Posted June 16, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2006 no, sorry Stan I dont. yes its one of those earless bastards. the picture shows pretty well what goes on. that rubber seal on the end rests against the end cap of your shock, so it faces towards your rear tires if you will. you can see the groove atop the AL portion of the head, thats where the circlip resides. now you just go in that portion of the shock body and cut into the SH directly behind the clip. cut as big a portion as you like, but you have to get a pick or two in there to get it out. once it has started coming out you get a firm grip on the clip with some needle nose and twist the SH, virtually unthreading the clip from its groove. Cutting the groove, I used a small air powered right angle die grinder. Im sure a wizard or a dremel toool would be fine. use a small bit, what ever you are comfortable with. Theres a pretty big area (realtively) to play with, so get a bit you can control so it wont cut into your shock body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txblueshee Posted June 22, 2006 Report Share Posted June 22, 2006 You had a chance to try it out yet? Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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