How To Install YFZ450 Shocks On Your Banshee...

[Stinger]

At the request of some fellow members, I'm putting together this how to:

 

Here is what we will be working with:

 

 

As you can see, the YFZ shock is larger in every dimension. The most critical dimension for this swap is the length. The YFZ shock is 1 3/4" longer than the stock Banshee unit. This will make your Banshee sit ~1" higher when this swap is complete.

 

For reference, here is a pic of what the stock Banshee shocks look like when installed:

 

 

Before you start messing with the Banshee, I'd suggest that you loosen up the preload on the shocks as well as turn the adjusters for compression and rebound to the softest setting. This makes it easier to compress the shock.

 

1. Start by jacking up the Banshee so the front wheels are no longer touching.

2. Remove the upper and lower shock bolts.

3. Pull the stock shock off and grab the YFZ shock.

4. You can try to install the lower bolt in the new shock if you want to see what needs to be modified before it will work.

5. You will discover that the bolt hole in the shock is higher than the banshee hole. This means you will have to either elongate the bole in the A-arm bracket or grind down some of the material on the shock. I chose the latter.

 

Here is a pic of the material I removed from the shock mount (marked in red):

 

 

6. Now that the shock and/or mount is modified so the bolt holes line up, you will need to create clearance between the shock mount and the inside edge of the bracket. You can either grind on the shock, grind on the mount, or bend back the material on the mount. I chose to grind the mount like this:

 

 

7. Now, check the clearance on the upper shock mount. You will see that everything appears fine. This may be true but I found it much easier to grind away some of the material on the sides of the mount to make the next step easier. Here is a pic of the grinding I did (marked in red) :

 

 

8. Now you can bolt on the lower portion of the YFZ shock.

9. Next, try to line up the upper shock/mount. You will find that you need to compress the spring nearly 2" in order to get it to slide into the mount. I found the easiest way to do this is to loosen the preload up until the adjustment nut is on the last thread. Then, once the lower bolt is installed, I stood on the upper portion of the shock until it was compressed enough to slide into the mount.

10. Once it's in the top mount, line up the bolt holes and slide the bolt through and tighten it up.

 

You've now completed one side, it should look something like this:

 

 

11. Now, repeat steps 2 thru 10 for the other side.

12. Next, you need to turn the preload nuts back down until both the adjustment and locking nut are into the threaded portion of the shock body. Tighten the lock nut down against the adjustment nut.

 

Your finished product should look something like this:

 

 

13. The only thing left is to go for a ride and adjust the compression (on reservoir) and rebound (on bottom of shock) to your weight, riding style, etc.

 

Note: You may find that there is a bit of interference between the stock lower A-arm and the YFZ coil spring when the suspension is fully suspended. I chose to ignore this as it was very minor in my case. If yours has enough interference that it affects suspension travel, you will need to clearance the A-arm slightly to alleviate this problem.

 

If you have any questions/comments/corrections, please feel free to speak up.

 

Stinger

Edited July 16, 2005 by Stinger

[decon]

great tutorial!

Edited July 16, 2005 by dEcon

[BansheeBrian]

Damn good job! You described it like it was a chapter in the Clymers.

[locogato11283]

nice job!!

[squish]

You guys are destroying your ball joints with these shocks.

[racer]

You guys are destroying your ball joints with these shocks.

393458[/snapback]

it seems like a limiting strap may be in order here...............

[Stinger]

Well, I just went and measured how far my arms droop when all the weight is off the bike.

 

I pulled up on the bumper until there was no weight on the shee's front end, then measured from the ground to the bottom of the frame on the front. I got 13 3/4".

 

Anyone with a stock suspension Banshee care to do the same for comparison purposes?

[Stinger]

Anyone want to measure their stock suspended Banshee as mentioned in the above post???

[kenr74]

Good write up. This should be pinned so we don't have to see any more "do YFZ shocks fit" posts!!

[sg30721]

I have Leager +2 A arms .... would the arms still need to be modified as mentioned here or do you think they would fit easily?

[kb7kuh]

I installed them this weekend and it went real good. Thanks for the picture post, it helped alot!

 

Don

Edited August 8, 2005 by kb7kuh

[JA66]

Anyone want to measure their stock suspended Banshee as mentioned in the above post???

398243[/snapback]

 

I got about 12 1/2", but my tires might be a little bit different size than yours.

[BansheeBoy17]

I have Leager +2 A arms .... would the arms still need to be modified as mentioned here or do you think they would fit easily?

402185[/snapback]

 

You may still have to do the grinding on the upper mount , but the bottom you MAY not have to. Seeing as how aftermarket a-arms dont have the "back" or "sidewall" on the bottom shock mount.

 

I have LSR Race A-arms and run yfz shocks on them.

 

[Toybreaker]

Did you guys get your shocks from Flea bay or what? My best friend wants to do the suspension on his Banshee but the cost is kind of prohibitive. Used Yfz shocks just might do the trick.

Great pictorial.

[Otis]

Did you guys get your shocks from Flea bay or what? My best friend wants to do the suspension on his Banshee but the cost is kind of prohibitive.

 

 

they're usually cheaper on YFZ central. lotta guys upgrading and just wanna get rid of em.