19’-20’ shorter shocks on 16’ 36” front end?

[Riff]

I’ve got a 2016 Axys with blown out shocks, mostly the left. A generous buddy with a 19’ offered me a deal on his stock shocks, but turns out they are 3/4” shorter. Will I die if I put on the shorter ones, even just for a bit while the longer ones are rebuilt? Do i just lose 3/4” of ride height but everything else is fine? Thanks for any help.

 

[sledhed]

You will lose a lot of ski pressure... might be kind of fun off trail LOL... I would take advantage of the gift and grab a set of REACT a-arms to go with it and go narrow. The REACT handles better than a narrowed non-REACT sled IMHO...

 

[Riff]

Hmm…if it would just lower the ride height I’d probably go for it while the long ones get rebuilt. Hadn’t thought about ski pressure side effects.

I’ve got two sets of 36” arms that came with the sled, probably gotta work through those before buying any more. It’s currently a 36” front end on the first set of aftermarket A arms. I don’t know much about either set honestly, maybe they are even meant for shorter shocks. I wish it was a little more straightforward figuring out all the parts interactions in the sled world….

 

[Riff]

Just to clarify: I have a 2016 Axys, with aftermarket 36” front end. It currently has 16 3/4” shocks, that are toast. My buddies shocks are just over 16”, meant for a ‘19. It seems that some aftermarket 36” A arms designed to use the longer shocks, and some aren‘t. I can‘t find any markings on mine to tell who made them, and some brands look pretty similar. Maybe I should just put on the short ones, send off the originals immediately and get er done. Anybody know of a rebuilding option for central WA, or can recommend a shop to send them to?

 

[sledhed]

Just to clarify: I have a 2016 Axys, with aftermarket 36” front end. It currently has 16 3/4” shocks, that are toast. My buddies shocks are just over 16”, meant for a ‘19. It seems that some aftermarket 36” A arms designed to use the longer shocks, and some aren‘t. I can‘t find any markings on mine to tell who made them, and some brands look pretty similar. Maybe I should just put on the short ones, send off the originals immediately and get er done. Anybody know of a rebuilding option for central WA, or can recommend a shop to send them to?

Ah... yep, I would not let it stop me from riding. If you were to try switching arms around and compare suspension positions fully extended with the shocks, that would give you an idea what was engineered for what length shock I suppose. Too bad they don't stamp their stuff with part numbers or something (aftermarket stuff), but post up some pictures and maybe someone will recognize whose arms they are and maybe even which version they are for, react or non-react.

 

[Riff]

Sledhed, thanks so much for your responses! I may go ahead and try the shorter shocks, and send off the old ones for rebuild. It’s worth saying that I’m not much of a rider; I mainly use the sled for ski access but after upgrading to an Axys I’ll admit to a couple of pure sled days, with my pal coaching me. Deep turns in good snow on a sled are pretty damn satisfying.

I’ll post some pictures in a bit here.

 

[sledhed]

Sledhed, thanks so much for your responses! I may go ahead and try the shorter shocks, and send off the old ones for rebuild. It’s worth saying that I’m not much of a rider; I mainly use the sled for ski access but after upgrading to an Axys I’ll admit to a couple of pure sled days, with my pal coaching me. Deep turns in good snow on a sled are pretty damn satisfying.

I’ll post some pictures in a bit here.

No problem, love snowest forums compared to FB etc., always was more useful info here and easier to find and easier to tap into people's knowledge and experience... I have known a number of people who use sleds for ski access and have transitioned to also pure sled days mixed in, sledding is a lot of fun no matter how you get into it...

 

[sledhed]

And P.S. I would probably tighten up the springs on those shorter shocks to compensate a little, also maybe (if you want to) you could loosen up front track shock spring and tighten rear shock spring a bit, but there are limits to how much you can tighten / loosen those (see owners manual, you can download that), and you will have to put it back when you get your shocks back. Main thing is to not loosen that front track shock spring enough that the spring keeper can jump loose...

 

[Riff]

Look at these happy skiers Learning to sled!

 

[J270wsm]

After I installed alt impact a arms on my axys guys on here were suggesting to get the stock shocks shortened to match the shocks for the react a arms

 

[Riff]

Hmmm! I made the switch today, I’ll ride it soon and see if it’s horrible- and get the long shocks rebuilt soon too.

 

[J270wsm]

Personally I don’t like the way the front end felt after installing the 36” front end. Skis felt too planted, it’s better now that I adjusted the suspension but it still doesn’t feel the same as a stock react front end. I should have sent the shocks out to be shortened but I was looking at a month turn around.

 

[couch]

16 pro with 36" bpwr react front end with QS3 shocks - seems to work fine for me @ 54 trying to keep up with 24 year olds on 850 Khaos / Summit ....

Sent from my motorola edge plus using Tapatalk

 

[Riff]

Quick update and question; i put on the shorter shocks and it’s totally ridable. However, I took the old shocks in to a local shop for a rebuild and after holding them for a week, they quoted me $1100 for the rebuild. Can anyone recommend a mail-in rebuilder that I should send them to?
Thanks.

 

[Elkaholic4life]

Andy dose great work and his prices are good

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