Fox QS3 float setup
- Thread starter mrooks17
- Start date
My shocks are so low grade they use regular steel springs.
I can’t even afford regular air.
They are consistent with altitude and temperature changes though.
My brother ran the burandt air shocks for a couple years though.
They were fine.
Make sure to adjust your pressure with no load and best when you are out riding. In the past I have keep a note book of the pressures and what I liked or didn't like and how the sled reacted. Sometimes a few psi make a big difference. I dont think there is a magic formula that works for everyone. So basically trial and error until you find what's right for you.
I’m pretty somewhere on the Burandt website he has a starting set up posted.
That's what I was thinking. I'll take the pump with me and probably check/adjust once when I get out there and get a feel as they are altitude sensitive and I'll be coming from sea level.
Sea level barometric pressure is approximately 14.7psia while atmospheric pressure at 10,000ft is 10.2psia. So if you fill the shocks at sea level to 100psig it will only be 104.5psig at 10,000ft. So not as terribly altitude dependent as people make them out to be. They are temperature dependent though because we are dealing with a very small volume of air under a large pressure. That is the primary reason for checking them on the hill. If you fill them in a 60 degree shop you're going to get close to the same pressure drop at 20 degrees on the hill with air as you are with nitrogen. You can over-pressure with nitrogen if you want and let it out to where you want to be on the hill.
I haven't seen the inconsistency to the level TRS has. After I find a pressure I like I check mine once a month on the hill and don't mess with it other than adjusting a front track shock for snow conditions. If you are riding similar elevations and temperatures, it shouldn't fluctuate much on you unless you have a leak. I find the same thing with my AER air forks on my dirt bike in the summer. If you don't re-adjust your coil over pre-load for fuel or ice weight throughout the day you shouldn't be tinkering with your air pressures either. Also, I see a lot of people chasing a valving issue with air pressure adjustments since that is what they have available. Which then causes issues with something else being a trade-off.
Air sleeve maintenance is a thing. If you don't keep the air seals lubed they get sticky and you lose plushness in small bumps.
Coil spring rates vary by +/- 10%, threaded preload collars can move as springs twist when they compress, and temperature affects oil viscosity in the shocks. So there's no guarantee a coil over is going to feel the same day after day because you didn't touch it either.
I haven't seen the inconsistency to the level TRS has. After I find a pressure I like I check mine once a month on the hill and don't mess with it other than adjusting a front track shock for snow conditions. If you are riding similar elevations and temperatures, it shouldn't fluctuate much on you unless you have a leak. I find the same thing with my AER air forks on my dirt bike in the summer. If you don't re-adjust your coil over pre-load for fuel or ice weight throughout the day you shouldn't be tinkering with your air pressures either. Also, I see a lot of people chasing a valving issue with air pressure adjustments since that is what they have available. Which then causes issues with something else being a trade-off.
Air sleeve maintenance is a thing. If you don't keep the air seals lubed they get sticky and you lose plushness in small bumps.
Coil spring rates vary by +/- 10%, threaded preload collars can move as springs twist when they compress, and temperature affects oil viscosity in the shocks. So there's no guarantee a coil over is going to feel the same day after day because you didn't touch it either.
Great post. Right on target.
Thanks for the thorough explanation. What lube do you use for the air sleeves? Noticed they came with quite a bit of residue out of the box
How the shock is orientated changes where and what I use. If the shock is orientated with the air sleeve (larger black tube) up I use the Fox "Float Fluid" 5cc put directly in the main air chamber. That lets it pool down around the air seal and keeps it lubed. It comes in a bottle and I use a syringe with a big tube attached instead of a needle, or 5cc single use pillow packs.
If it is orientated with the air sleeve down on a Float 3 then the Float Fluid will run away from the seal if installed as above (until you have your sled upside down
). In that case if I have the shock apart for full service I put 2.5cc float fluid inside the air sleeve before the seal head gets screwed onto the shock. That puts it on the other side of the seal. The other option in this case is to pack the seal with a good suspension assembly grease on both sides and coat the inside of the air sleeve. This is also what I do if doing a re-lube between full shock services. On the original Floats Fox used to recommend cleaning and re-lubing the air seals once a season. Not sure what the official recommendation is now. If you notice the sled is taking extra force to "break away" and make a ski shock compress in the shop when standing on a running board is a good indication a re-lube is needed. I do it about every 500 miles I suppose. If you get some residue on the grey shock body that's normal. The blue wiper seal vents when the shock extends. You are not losing pressure when this happens as this is not the air seal - just the wiper to keep water, ice, and dirt away from the air seal.
Different flavors of suspension grease for dirt bikes too if you look into that world. Race-Tech and Pro-Circuit sell it at $14 and $20 per oz. Carver's is more affordable.
Air sleeves are supposed to be hand-tight. So after letting the air out you should be able to unscrew them with a strong grip. Like spin-on oil filters though, they seem to get tighter over time and sometimes require a strap wrench.
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Here’s a post from a couple years ago in the axys 850 section. Maybe a decent starting point.
Now thats more along the lines of where my FTS was at last season. Im going to try the 15psi that seems to be what everyone recommends (including BBA) as a starting point this season and see what its about
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