M7 rear skid sag

High Life · Dec 4, 2009

I know my old '05 M7 with 4000 miles on it is probably getting a little tired, but what's my problem with droopy rear suspension? Please see the attached pics.

Knowing that my rear skid needed some maintenance, this fall I tore it apart to see what needed repaired. I sent the shocks to Holz for revalving and a new spring stack for the front spring that is supposed to work pretty good. I purchased new rails from Iceage to replace my stock ones that were cracked. I bought several new shafts, bushings, idlers, etc that were just plain wore out or bent and used all the stock parts to put it back together. After the first ride on it this year, the rear bumper sags 3-4 inches and never rebounds. I did have my torsion springs set in the middle (185lb to 200lb rider) and after the ride I switched it to the highest setting to see if it would help. It hasn't.

I know my skid has sagged before, but never for this length of time and I contributed some of it to worn out parts and shocks desparately in need of service. What do I have going on here, suggestions?

diggerdown · Dec 4, 2009

Ask Holz! Looks like their shock rebuild/revalve did'nt take well!

knoba · Dec 4, 2009

m7

looks like the springs are sacked out but the TI ones should not do that.

High Life · Dec 4, 2009

Holz says to check the mounting location of the rear swing arm, check the Iceage rails vs. my stock rails... I'm going to take a look at it tonight, since I still have the old rails handy.

vdo1948 · Dec 4, 2009

Could be wrong but it looks to me llike the lower mount on the rear spring is in the down position rather than the up position. If so fixing that may fix your problem.

Ski-Laxn · Dec 4, 2009

Rear shock mounting at the rails is swung down and should be in the up position. this will pull the upper wheels forward. Remove the shock and get the lower mount turned up and reinstal shock. Will probably have to readjust track.

Ski-Laxn · Dec 4, 2009

Look at the second picture on this sled. see how the front mount of the rear shock is up compared to yours.
http://snowest.com/forum/showthread.php?t=178474

High Life · Dec 4, 2009

Ski-Laxn said:
Look at the second picture on this sled. see how the front mount of the rear shock is up compared to yours.
http://snowest.com/forum/showthread.php?t=178474

Looks like you could be right Ski-Laxn. However, here's what it looked like before I installed the skid in the tunnel and it looks like its up like it should be, see attached pic.

I'm going to check it tonight to see if something broke or bent since I installed it...

KSH · Dec 4, 2009

Look at this pic. this how it should look.

76FOMOCO · Dec 4, 2009

yep the shock has made the swing to the low side........mover to the up spot.

Ski-Laxn · Dec 4, 2009

Mine was fine on the bench but swung down when I installed it.

Ski-Laxn · Dec 5, 2009

Well did you fix it?

High Life · Dec 7, 2009

Yes, I fixed it.

However, now I am dealing with other problems caused by the initial install. Turns out I DID have the arm (the one that the rear shock bolts to at the rails) installed correctly, but the holes in the Iceage holes were drilled in the wrong location. At least I think they were in the wrong location since when I drilled the holes as where they were on my OEM rails at 18 3/4" from center of rear arm rail bolt to center of idler shaft, it fixed the problem. The holes in the Iceage rails measured 20" which caused the rear shock to swing down instead of up no matter how the shock arm was installed.

As a result of the incorrect geometry my suspension had from the first ride, it appears that I bent the upper half of my rear swing arm and of course, the cross shaft support for the rails.

See the attached photos.

I will continue to call Iceage since their line was busy. Buyer beware! There were no instructions provided with their rails and I took for granted that the holes they drilled were in the correct location. Oh and my rear shock suffered some damage from this incident as well.

KSH · Dec 7, 2009

High Life said:
Yes, I fixed it.

However, now I am dealing with other problems caused by the initial install. Turns out I DID have the arm (the one that the rear shock bolts to at the rails) installed correctly, but the holes in the Iceage holes were drilled in the wrong location. At least I think they were in the wrong location since when I drilled the holes as where they were on my OEM rails at 18 3/4" from center of rear arm rail bolt to center of idler shaft, it fixed the problem. The holes in the Iceage rails measured 20" which caused the rear shock to swing down instead of up no matter how the shock arm was installed.

As a result of the incorrect geometry my suspension had from the first ride, it appears that I bent the upper half of my rear swing arm and of course, the cross shaft support for the rails.

See the attached photos.

I will continue to call Iceage since their line was busy. Buyer beware! There were no instructions provided with their rails and I took for granted that the holes they drilled were in the correct location. Oh and my rear shock suffered some damage from this incident as well.

I could be wrong, bit I believe there rails are predrilled for the TimberSled rear Suspension, which mounts different.

KSH · Dec 7, 2009

What part of the swing arm did you bend?

High Life · Dec 7, 2009

When I ordered them, I asked if my factory parts would bolt onto these rails and they assured me they would. There's nothing on their website that would indicate otherwise.

I bent the upper idler wheel shaft of the rear swing arm. See attached.

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M7 rear skid sag

High Life

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diggerdown

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knoba

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KSH

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