Installation and Review: Raptor Shocks

christopher · Jun 9, 2012

http://www.raptorshocks.com/

Last winter when I installed the new KMOD Suspension Kevin did everything he could to convince me to ditch my brand new EVOL Air Shocks for a pair of these new Raptor Clickers. After a few long phone conversations with Raptor Shocks I agreed to pull off my EVOLs and try the raptors.

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From their website...

Product Description

Our ski shocks for the Nytro are a huge improvement over the spongy stock units that came on your stock sled. These are amazing on the front of a boosted sled when you're trying to navigate a gnarly chute and you need to stay focused on keeping the hammer down not worrying about looping over backwards. These shocks will drive through the holes, keep the sled flatter, and have more adjustability than any other coilover on the market. These ski shocks combined with a K-mod skid are simply magical!! Don't wait until the guy two zip codes over figures it out before you. If your not first your last... www.kmodsnowmobileparts.com (Ski shocks sold separately rear shocks sold in pairs)

Standard features: 100% billet parts, 5/8 nitride shafts, one piece triple rate springs, spherical bearings, (RAP) rapid adjust preload and synthetic oil to name a few!

Yamaha Nytro Front Shock.

Price: $525.00
SKU: 10013
Weight: 4.50 LBS

christopher · Jun 9, 2012

The EVOLs weigh in at

christopher · Jun 9, 2012

The Raptor weighs in at

christopher · Jun 9, 2012

Lets take a close up look at the new Raptor Clicker Performance Shock.

christopher · Jun 9, 2012

Closeup of the lower section showing the triple rate spring.

christopher · Jun 9, 2012

christopher · Jun 9, 2012

christopher · Jun 9, 2012

christopher · Jun 9, 2012

The underside of the oil reservoir

christopher · Jun 9, 2012

christopher · Jun 9, 2012

And the all important MAGIC WHEEL that is supposed to make this shock Oh So Sweet to ride with!

bholmlate · Jun 9, 2012

Hey Christopher<O

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what benefits are you hoping to gain by switching over to rapter shocks that you didnt find with your EVOLS? Did you like your EVOLS? There is no doubt that you can gain performance from a good shock package and dailing in the shocks to fit your riding style. I am curious what convinced you to switch over. It will be interesting to see if they work as good as they look and reading up on them I have no doubt they will.

christopher · Jun 10, 2012

Yes sir???

Sent from my Apple iPhone 4S using the TapaTalk app.

Iceman56 · Jun 11, 2012

Chris what all did the guys at Raptor shocks have to say to get you convinced to try them? What all do they do better then the Evols?

What is the prices of the Evols?

It looks like there is about 3lbs total wieght difference? Can you get them with the titanium springs, to be even lighter? Cost?

smokindave · Jun 11, 2012

I bought my sled a set of Raptors and LOVE them,they sure smoothed out the rough trail.

christopher · Jun 11, 2012

Two things got me to try these.

#1.
Kevin at KMOD installed Raptor Shocks on my new skid he built for me last year, and they WERE super adjustable. Not at all hard to change while out riding. So from that I had some experience with the shock already.

But, I had JUST upgraded my old OEM Float2 shocks to the EVOL and didn't want to trade them out. But Kevin has been VERY persistent in telling me to dump the air shocks and move over to the triple rate adjustable springs.

So he finally got me on the phone with the folks at Raptor and I listened to his sales pitch and liked what he had to say.

Just as a rule, I LIKE to try and support small vendors and this guy is just getting off the ground. So I agreed to take a pair of his shocks and install them for the coming season.

Considering how well the rear shocks worked, the front ones should be pretty sweet. Just the ability to twist that little wheel and dial them in INSTANTLY is a considerable reason to give them a try.

But I will not have much to tell you till we get into late November.

christopher · Dec 6, 2012

Finally getting around to reassembling my sled at long last.
Got the front end put together last night.
Alignment, Toe/Camber and shocks mounted!

Uploading photos now.

christopher · Dec 6, 2012

When mounting the shocks last night the first thing I came across was the fact that not all of the bushings matched up.

The 2 shocks came with 8 bushings.
6 of them were of one size and 2 of another.
My guess is that this was little more than a simple oversight in packaging.
In my case I just used 2 of the bushings from my old float shocks to make it fit.

WRONG Size Bushing.

Right sized bushing.

christopher · Dec 6, 2012

Other than the little bushing issue, mounting was a total no brainer.
The shocks fit perfectly.

christopher · Dec 6, 2012

The shocks arrived per-calibrated for my sled & weight.
So I have made NO adjustments to them so far.

One thing that REALLY stood out to me last night.
I needed to change the oil filter on the sled.
And decided to do that just after mounting the shocks.
I was able to roll the sled over on her side VASTLY easier than ever before.

Can not say for a fact that this is the result of the different in the shocks or not, but it was MARKEDLY different. The ability to roll was significantly easier that before. It is entirely possible that this is the result of the triple rate springs being more willing to give up that first inch of compression and allow me to get the sled over on the ski edge.

Really won't know for another week till I get her on the show, but I strongly suspect I am in for a pleasant surprise!

Installation and Review: Raptor Shocks

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