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How do I adjust my suspension?


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Ok, I need some advice here. I have had Shees for a few years now and have not really messed with the shocks. I mostly ride in the sand so I've never really worried about it. Can somebody tell me what the different adjusters do. On the rear I have the black knob that can be twisted and then the nut on top to compress the spring. On the front I have the nut on top and it looks like different height settings on the bottom.

 

Basically I'm just wondering what will happen to the ride by turning each adjuster. :wacko:

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Stock front shocks only have pre-load / ride height adjustment provisions (notched collar that the bottom of the springs sit on) What type of front shocks do you have?

 

Stock rear shock has compression adjustability (black knob near the top of the shock), Rebound adjustability (black serrated knob near the bottom mount, under the spring) and ride height / pre-load adjustability (spanner rings on top of the spring). If the rear shock is stock and has not been rebuilt, I think it's best to set everything full soft (comp & reb) set ride height with rider on the bike (some call it "sag") then work in 2 "click" increments until it's working how you like.

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Ok, sorry it took so long to get back to this. Went out riding this weekend and my suspension sucked!! I think I made the back end as soft as possible and it was so bouncy I could hardly keep the back end down. I turned the knob on top all the way soft, I also turned the spanner rings all the way to the top. I didn't mess with the bottom thing becuase I didn't know what it did. The front shocks just have the notched collar on the bottom so I turned them so the ride was lower. I'm guessing that is all that can be done with them.

 

So what makes the rear suspension better? Soft or hard? I thought going soft would let it absorb the whoops but it just bounced the back end right back up and off the ground. banghead

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You had too much rebound in there..your rear shock was pogo sticking...aka bottoming out then rebounding back. Bad mojo. First thing..your springs control your ride height..adjust them so your machine sits the way you want it to. Too much preload (the tension on the spring when shock is fully extended) and you'll throw off your rebound and damping. Too little preload and your spring will slop around the shock body. Sus. setup is a ballance it won't perform in every aspect perfectly as each setting will interfere with another..but the goal is to achive a good ballance of all the points for your given riding conditions. Your damping is where your money's going to be made at. too soft and you'll bottom out and your shock will ride on the spring causing it to be bouncy..too much damping and you won't achive the full rate of travel and have a harsh ride. The key is to have your shocks bottom at least on one point of the track to ensure that your using maximum travel possible. Rebound adjuster is a bit difficult to setup. the goal is to set the rebound so the shock does not load up or pack up when running in rough stuff like whoops..too slow of a rebound and your shocks won't fully extend before the next obsticle..too fast of a rebound and your shock will extend too fast causing it to become bouncy. It takes some time to dial in suspenstion..don't be suprised if you have to revalve and re spring your shocks to suit your riding style.

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Well, I'm taking it back out this weekend to play with the adjustments some more. I liked the front end better than before but the back end was terrible. You are right about the pogo stick thing. Going through the whoops I thought the back end was going to go right over the top of me.

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