Mountain Cat suspension setup

ultrasks700 · Feb 4, 2019

Got frustrated a handful of times ridng my 18 MC this past weekend. I feel like i gotta throw all my weight at the sled to get it up on edge, and once its there it doesnt want to stay. I just put a set of Grippers on it hoping for an improvement but it seemed to make it even worse(but i do like them, they are way more predictable than the stocks)
Current suspension settings:
Skis shocks: 70psi
Center shock 70psi
rear shock 140 psi
All set on #2.
I weight 180 lbs, i dont really want to go any lower on the ski pressure because when i do it dives in the corners. Seeing what sort of input you guys have.

dw8 · Feb 4, 2019

Riding the Maine woods, my notes say i'm 78 ski, 28 front, 150 rear. I'm 195 before gear. It doesn't fight me unless its low slow or a hard crust. Stays flat in a sidehill.

I'm thinking of lowering the skis to 65, did that in my dads alpha and its way better (came from dealer at 90).

And thought about increasing the FTS to 45 or so. Get better ski lift but will probably want to turn uphill

ultrasks700 · Feb 4, 2019

dw8 said:
Riding the Maine woods, my notes say i'm 78 ski, 28 front, 150 rear. I'm 195 before gear. It doesn't fight me unless its low slow or a hard crust. Stays flat in a sidehill.

I'm thinking of lowering the skis to 65, did that in my dads alpha and its way better (came from dealer at 90).

And thought about increasing the FTS to 45 or so. Get better ski lift but will probably want to turn uphill

Sounds like i might have my front skid shock to high, this weekend i plan on trying some different settings.

MTN_VIPER · Feb 4, 2019

I run in mine,
Ski shocks 60psi main, 85psi EVOL
Front skid 60psi
Rear skid 130psi main, 190 in the Hygear chamber
Rider weight 180 lbs without gear. I have Gripper skis on mine as well

I added EVOL chambers to the fronts, a Hygear dual pressure chamber to the rear shock and had them re-valved (slow speed rebound loosened up) for my "old man" riding style.

I prefer a softer front end which helps me keep it up on one ski off trail/mountains. The trade off is it will dive more in the corners as you mentioned. The solution that I have found to be very effective is to run the ski shocks on #3 when riding on smooth twisty trails. I don't ride a lot of trails, but when we do the sled handles nice and flat almost like a trail sled on #3.

For shock settings I usually run,
Skis #1 off trail/mountain, rough trail at slow speeds
#2 general trail riding, rough trail medium speeds
#3 smooth groomed, twisty trail and higher speeds
Skid shocks,
Both on #2 most of the time, sometimes I'll run both on #1 if I'm looking for the smoothest ride and conditions allow for it.

jakey-boy · Feb 4, 2019

Your FTS pressure is too high and your Front shock pressures are too high. I've found higher pressures in those makes it harder to get on edge yet makes the skis want to dive. Soften those 3 up to about 55 and try it. If you are not liking the way the front shocks feel on the trail adjust your QS3 setting to either 2 or 3 on the trail and see if it is better.

nh_sled_head · Feb 4, 2019

I have owned my 18 Mountain cat for the second season now and still have not found the shock settings i love yet. I have mine at front 65 on both front rear at 75 which i think is to high now and rear shock at 150 which i also think is to high. I am about 195lbs with out gear and it wants to just trench like a bastard haha. I would love any advice also and will be fallowing this thread.

jakey-boy · Feb 4, 2019

nh_sled_head said:
I have owned my 18 Mountain cat for the second season now and still have not found the shock settings i love yet. I have mine at front 65 on both front rear at 75 which i think is to high now and rear shock at 150 which i also think is to high. I am about 195lbs with out gear and it wants to just trench like a bastard haha. I would love any advice also and will be fallowing this thread.

Yep you are trenching because of the 75 in the FTS. I have mine at 60 and it still trenches but I like the wheelie and I have it figured out how to ride around it. You can drop it as low as 35 depending how you want it to feel but at 75 they will trench like crazy. Another thing we are finding is they trench more in lock out. Honestly I don't ever use lock out anymore I really don't see a purpose for it.

slyrydr · Feb 4, 2019

jakey-boy has it right, i run 55 on skiis with position 2; 60 on fts, but 55 works well also, position 2, 130 in rts position 2......rider 180 plus gear....one thing to remember, don't go too light on track pressures, especially fts, because completely compressing skid can lead to alpha skid breakage, for those with the alpha....the reason cat went to the rolled chain case was to get a shallow approach angle so the sled would get on top of the snow quicker, by putting too much pressure in the fts, certainly anything over 60, you are making the approach angle steeper, which will cause trenching, as will running the rts in the lock position in soft snow....on harder snow more fts pressure works ok as does locking rear shock to keep front down...cat has the best, most rider tune-able stock suspension out there, so experiment a little to find something to your liking...

bcsnowdog · Feb 4, 2019

I run 35lbs in my front skid shock,gets on top of the snow fast tried more but in deep snow would not get on top.Keep checking for any contact on rail so far good 1100 kms.I did turn bolt around and shorten on limiter strap.180lbs with gear.

daknapp · Feb 4, 2019

First weekend out on '19 Mtn Cat and I started out using the FOX spec sheet, splitting the difference between Mtn and Agg Mtn (175# before riding gear):

Front Ski 52 psi, #2
Front track 52 psi, #2
Rear track 112 psi, #2

I quickly changed the front ski to #1 and the front end became much more lively.

Second day I changed the both rear shocks to #1 just to get a feel for the difference...It was hard to get a real feel for the difference as there had been some rain so the snow was heavier with a crust.

The riding was through the trees, over grown meadows...power lines and skidder roads but no real steeps. Just getting the feel for the 162 length...so far, so good ! Next trip out I'll had a little pressure to the rear track shock.

ultrasks700 · Feb 5, 2019

Great feed back guys. I'm gonna find a hillside and spend some time tweaking this weekend.

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Mountain Cat suspension setup

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