Do shocks really matter on a mountain sled?

boondocker97 said:

So because you have to use more energy to ride your sled and make it do the things you want, that makes you a better rider? I better put just springs in place of my shocks then.

Your shocks are going to be worn out quicker if you ride more rough trail or jump a considerable amount. Highly dependant on riding style. There is no magic mileage number here. Shock oil gradually gets used up just like engine oil and needs to be changed. To make things worse, OEM shocks seem to have more air trapped in the oil since they are assembling them so quick the air bubbles don't have a chance to escape. Everytime air travels through the valving you are not getting any damping action from the shock.

Pushing on a shock in the shop will give you a slight idea of how it will behave for very slow compressions like weight transfer, but that's it. You can't even start to move the shaft as fast as it needs to open up the high speed valving.

backcountryislife - I am really considering putting a Fox reservoir and hose on the float rear shock of my new sled that has a high/low speed compression adjuster. Once you have that tuning ability, it really makes you wish you had it on everything else. Does HPG have any remote reservoirs you could buy resonably and add to your existing shock?

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boondocker97 said:

So because you have to use more energy to ride your sled and make it do the things you want, that makes you a better rider?

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snowmobiler said:

yes.

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Snowoff311 said:

What does a revalve cost ya? on some stock KYB's from a freeride?

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EhGent orange said:

even just comparing two stock xm's side by side going down the trail, one x model and one sp... i noticed a big difference on how it handled and absorbed the bumps. the x was much smoother and the sp was a lot choppier. so needless to say i want to upgrade the shocks on my sp.. maybe next year though.

now I'm not a guy that wants to sit and tinker with shocks or clutching or anything all day, i just wanna set it and forget it in a sense, and just ride.... i also want something that will shave a few pounds (even if i may not notice it in the snow, i don't care) as i am not a big guy. is my best bet to start looking at the fox shocks for what i want to do.

i ride lots around home (fields, creeks, river banks, rolling hills, cut lines), and try to go to the mountains as much as i can... we always have to take a rough trail in to get to the hills.... so good shocks are important, especially on the ride out when your beat tired lol. i was thinking toms emotion & some fox shocks of some sort in front... comments?

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byeatts said:

upgraded shock will not save weight unless you go to Fox Air shoxs , All other upgrades will have heavier duty components and more features typically at the expense of weight.

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backcountryislife said:

unless you spend a few more bucks & swap out for some ti. Felt a walker evans with TI coil & shaft the other day... unreal how light that was, significantly lighter than a shorter float I had in the other hand.

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byeatts said:

Ti springs save 1/2 lb. we have weighed the two and compared. Ti is a great option but nothing is as light as air,

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alt said:

Ok, so heres the skinny on Ti coils, no B.S., and remember this is coming from a guy that sells them. Bob is spot on with the weight. Ti springs average $300.00 each. That $300 pulls .5# off each shock. That puts you at $600/ #. A far cry from the days of $100/#. I still get guys that call and go by the $100/#, and today its just not realistic. Sleds are out of the box lighter which makes pulling weight off ALOT more costly having to go to the exotic materials. Even at that you dont get the big numbers of past. To me if your going for every ounce and have endless pockets go TI. To most of us it means absolutely nothing. Now suppose you have made your decision based on just this information, but its really not over. Remember this is JMO, but a Ti spring in my experience will not give you that super plush ride with that of a steel triple rate spring, period. I have talked with Jake from Raptor several times to try to get Renton to turn Ti triple rates and they will not. To me that would be a HUGE step in the direction of advancement for a shock. Ti shock shafts.. another very costly step in the right direction, but it really comes down to what I said in the beginning is the cost worth the gain? The air shocks are no question a lighter shock than coil. Do they have the ride quality..IMO NO, not even with all the fancy chamber mumbo jumbo. They are still a great shock, and a HUGE improvement over the stock Chinese junk, don't get me wrong, im not bashing air, I just don't see the ride quality seat of the pants feel of that of a coil. Im not trying to kill my sales on Ti springs, just stating some should know facts before a guy throws the cash out there...the facts as I see them, that's all it is. Ive got to get to the shop! Thanks!
Dan

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alt said:

Ok, so heres the skinny on Ti coils, no B.S., and remember this is coming from a guy that sells them. Bob is spot on with the weight. Ti springs average $300.00 each. That $300 pulls .5# off each shock. That puts you at $600/ #. A far cry from the days of $100/#. I still get guys that call and go by the $100/#, and today its just not realistic. Sleds are out of the box lighter which makes pulling weight off ALOT more costly having to go to the exotic materials. Even at that you dont get the big numbers of past. To me if your going for every ounce and have endless pockets go TI. To most of us it means absolutely nothing. Now suppose you have made your decision based on just this information, but its really not over. Remember this is JMO, but a Ti spring in my experience will not give you that super plush ride with that of a steel triple rate spring, period. I have talked with Jake from Raptor several times to try to get Renton to turn Ti triple rates and they will not. To me that would be a HUGE step in the direction of advancement for a shock. Ti shock shafts.. another very costly step in the right direction, but it really comes down to what I said in the beginning is the cost worth the gain? The air shocks are no question a lighter shock than coil. Do they have the ride quality..IMO NO, not even with all the fancy chamber mumbo jumbo. They are still a great shock, and a HUGE improvement over the stock Chinese junk, don't get me wrong, im not bashing air, I just don't see the ride quality seat of the pants feel of that of a coil. Im not trying to kill my sales on Ti springs, just stating some should know facts before a guy throws the cash out there...the facts as I see them, that's all it is. Ive got to get to the shop! Thanks!
Dan

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rulonjj said:

I will let you know on Sunday if they matter.

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backcountryislife said:

Dan, a lot depends on where you source it. As a TI guy I'm sure you know that some rod sources have gone WAAAY down in price recently, the TI shafts that Bparks is doing are about 1/3 of the price of what you quoted for coils, also he mentioned to me a few days ago that he found springs for $175 for our one that wasn't going to air.

right now, something is going on in the market that SOME ti materials are dropping heavily making it so that some of these products are changing from the historical "out of realistic range" to pretty feasible.

The main thing about doing things like this though, is that in general there's no durability or strength loss, compared to some things we do for weight loss that have a decent bit of tradeoff.

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