New shocks

[2scoops]

I contacted FOA through their EBay ad. The guy got back to me and said "Oh you need to talk to my Joyner guy. Here's his info" (literally) "JD @ _________ " No email address, no number, no nothin Wow; thanks a million. I Googled JD@ for an hour and got no strikes ! Duurrrrrr.

I see guys here and on other websites selling their Troopers with "King Shocks; Fox Shocks; Rancho Shocks; and Bilstein Shocks; not to mention Walker Evans Shocks and Afco Shocks and others" but nobody is willing to say "This is what I used; this is the travel, the valving, the compression, the rebound; the spring, and they work great. Just call so and so at Shock City and he sells lots of these for Troopers, so he knows the hot setup. I emailed the guys at Silverbullet about their "Bilstein" piggyback shock setup last week. I haven't heard a word back on it.

Theres now 4 of us in the "Shocked Dummy Club" and i'll bet there will be many more soon. I really appreciate all the modifications done as far as lowering diffs, or going to 15 inch car tires, or long travel A-Arms and axles;..... but many guys just upgrade. Why is it so secretive? Believe me; I won't be passing you in the Baja 1000. I just want to crawl and cruise

My first suggestion is don't email. Only speak with people on the phone. Calling someone shows them you are truely interested. I recommend Steve at Makintrax because even though I told him up front I already had my shocks he still helped me, AND he even returned my phone calls--amazing in this day in age. He knows what he is talking about, and he would like to market his products for the Joyner if he could get his hands on one. He could very well be a constant, relibable, and cheaper alternative to King Shocks if we can get him a T2 or T4 to work with.

When dealing with Joyner owners you are dealing with a majority that likes messin' & tinkerin' wit stuff. I am absolutely impressed with the level of effort members on this forum HAVE put into passing on information. If it weren't for each other all of our machines would eventually see a boneyard, or we might eventually succumb to selling our machines due to lack of vendor support. I believe the information you seek is out there. Don't worry, as fellow T2 owner, we will get you taken care of

[Kinarfi]

Whoops; I didn't see that your Webshots pics were a series. Awesome! Your info makes our club obsolete. Thanks!

what club? or did I miss something? No private clubs allowed here unless we all get to join, or is Joyn

jeff

[Mopartist]

My first suggestion is don't email. Only speak with people on the phone. Calling someone shows them you are truely interested. I recommend Steve at Makintrax because even though I told him up front I already had my shocks he still helped me, AND he even returned my phone calls--amazing in this day in age. He knows what he is talking about, and he would like to market his products for the Joyner if he could get his hands on one. He could very well be a constant, relibable, and cheaper alternative to King Shocks if we can get him a T2 or T4 to work with.

When dealing with Joyner owners you are dealing with a majority that likes messin' & tinkerin' wit stuff. I am absolutely impressed with the level of effort members on this forum HAVE put into passing on information. If it weren't for each other all of our machines would eventually see a boneyard, or we might eventually succumb to selling our machines due to lack of vendor support. I believe the information you seek is out there. Don't worry, as fellow T2 owner, we will get you taken care of

I would call; but I usually avoid the phone for 2 reasons. 1. I'm patially hearing impaired. I do alright if I can SEE the person talking to me because I can make out what he says by also having sight of his speech. And 2.; With email, It's always good to have a record of what is being asked and answered. And expecially for old guys like me; I hang up the phone and immediatelyy forget what I was talking about!

[ricksrb]

My first suggestion is don't email. Only speak with people on the phone. Calling someone shows them you are truely interested. I recommend Steve at Makintrax because even though I told him up front I already had my shocks he still helped me, AND he even returned my phone calls--amazing in this day in age. He knows what he is talking about, and he would like to market his products for the Joyner if he could get his hands on one. He could very well be a constant, relibable, and cheaper alternative to King Shocks if we can get him a T2 or T4 to work with.

When dealing with Joyner owners you are dealing with a majority that likes messin' & tinkerin' wit stuff. I am absolutely impressed with the level of effort members on this forum HAVE put into passing on information. If it weren't for each other all of our machines would eventually see a boneyard, or we might eventually succumb to selling our machines due to lack of vendor support. I believe the information you seek is out there. Don't worry, as fellow T2 owner, we will get you taken care of

Where is Makintrax located? Im sure one of us would provide the Trooper if close enough.

Never mind,just looked them up and they are within driving distance to me.If he wants a T-4 i would be willing to get mine to him.

Edited March 25, 2011 by ricksrb

[2scoops]

Where is Makintrax located? Im sure one of us would provide the Trooper if close enough.

So Cal--Murrieta to be exact. His AFCO shocks look sweet! I have talked to him more on the phone this week than I have my own wife.

[Kinarfi]

Whoops; I didn't see that your Webshots pics were a series. Awesome! Your info makes our club obsolete. Thanks!

what club? or did I miss something? Just looked up when and how much I paid for my shocks and springs $685 in 08/09 because the stock ones were blown, talked to the guy who makes them and got good info from him. I did eventually cut 4 shim tubes in halve and replace the bolts with shorter ones. I'll try to remember to include a photo with my engine rebuild photos when I'm done, soon.

Jeff

[Kinarfi]

Here's an earlier post about shock that you may want to read if you haven't already, http://www.utvboard.com/topic/1195-back-to-shocks/page__view__findpost__p__4195

Jeff

[ricksrb]

So Cal--Murrieta to be exact. His AFCO shocks look sweet! I have talked to him more on the phone this week than I have my own wife.

Im not that far away from him.I can take my T-4 to him.

[ricksrb]

what club? or did I miss something? Just looked up when and how much I paid for my shocks and springs $685 in 08/09 because the stock ones were blown, talked to the guy who makes them and got good info from him. I did eventually cut 4 shim tubes in halve and replace the bolts with shorter ones. I'll try to remember to include a photo with my engine rebuild photos when I'm done, soon.

Jeff

Dont think you qualify to join.Its a dummies club.Discussed a little earlier in this thread.

[Guest Lenny]

I'm working on the Trophy Truck ride and am getting real close. I think I have the rear nailed and have just a bit of work to do on the front yet but it is getting real close. Getting the front right could change the rear a bit. I'm currently running 200# x 10" over 200# x 16" springs on the front with standard coil; over 2x10 fox shocks. Modifications are required but I do have an actual 14.5" of travel. The rear has 325# x 10" over 450# x 14" also on 2x10 fox shocks. Rear modifications also required but here too I have a full 14.5" of travel. I am not running longer axels and swing arms/a-arms so no increase in width from extra travel. I run limit straps and bump stops both front and rear. I'm running 15" wheels and 31x10.5 tires. I have about 12 sets of extra springs around from testing and have revalved many times. Each spring change generally requires a valve change. Through all of this I have developed as pretty good feel of just what change does what. I will be posting a complete suspension workup of everything I did including modifications made. I will be posting exacting locations of all shock mount points so my setup could be copied. It won't be long now, besides I need to start selling the extra springs to get my money back out of them. If you were to do your own modifications, my setup can be done for about $1500 including reseviore shocks and springs. I'll put mine up against any done with King shocks without hesitation. I'm not saying that I'm not impressed with King shocks because I am. I' merely saying that good quality shocks, set up correctly, are going to proform better then a sort of OK King shock setup. Once both are set up correctly, I dought either one would have an advantage over the other in Baja type proformance. I suspect that the reason King shocks are so expensive it that they have gained as good reputation for reliability, may be built with higher grade materials which might matter in the Baja 1000 but not for us and they probably lead in the development of the more advanced racing shocks, thus positioning the brand well. They have earned their position.

Lenny

[Mopartist]

I'm working on the Trophy Truck ride and am getting real close. I think I have the rear nailed and have just a bit of work to do on the front yet but it is getting real close. Getting the front right could change the rear a bit. I'm currently running 200# x 10" over 200# x 16" springs on the front with standard coil; over 2x10 fox shocks. Modifications are required but I do have an actual 14.5" of travel. The rear has 325# x 10" over 450# x 14" also on 2x10 fox shocks. Rear modifications also required but here too I have a full 14.5" of travel. I am not running longer axels and swing arms/a-arms so no increase in width from extra travel. I run limit straps and bump stops both front and rear. I'm running 15" wheels and 31x10.5 tires. I have about 12 sets of extra springs around from testing and have revalved many times. Each spring change generally requires a valve change. Through all of this I have developed as pretty good feel of just what change does what. I will be posting a complete suspension workup of everything I did including modifications made. I will be posting exacting locations of all shock mount points so my setup could be copied. It won't be long now, besides I need to start selling the extra springs to get my money back out of them. If you were to do your own modifications, my setup can be done for about $1500 including reseviore shocks and springs. I'll put mine up against any done with King shocks without hesitation. I'm not saying that I'm not impressed with King shocks because I am. I' merely saying that good quality shocks, set up correctly, are going to proform better then a sort of OK King shock setup. Once both are set up correctly, I dought either one would have an advantage over the other in Baja type proformance. I suspect that the reason King shocks are so expensive it that they have gained as good reputation for reliability, may be built with higher grade materials which might matter in the Baja 1000 but not for us and they probably lead in the development of the more advanced racing shocks, thus positioning the brand well. They have earned their position.

Lenny

I'm looking forward to your write up of the process. Especially the modification issues. I do weld; but engineering is way beyond me. I'm still not sure exactly what I will do; but if that mod can be done for $1500; that really gets my attention! I don't want to go larger on my wheel/tire combo. I just don't want to put more stress on the stock suspension and have breaking issues. But the long travel shock setup is really interesting. This is a great UTV Board and very beneficial for anyone who will join in and become part of our community. I keep thinking "OK; so now how do I give back?" I am planning on doing a detailed instructional thread on repainting our plastics, and cover airbrushing and pinstriping. I'm trying something new as I will be using Auto Air Colors which is a water based paint system (other than clearcoat) With that I can do the custom work in the house as it is still snowing here in Oregon. Only 33 degrees today. I'm about tired of winter by now and am going cabin crazy

[Banjo Minnow]

I too am very interested in seeing your setup Lenny. I can weld and do other simple tasks, but i am not a metal worker by any means. Hopefully the mods aren't too involved. Thanks for all the input.

[2scoops]

I contacted FOA through their EBay ad. The guy got back to me and said "Oh you need to talk to my Joyner guy. Here's his info" (literally) "JD @ _________ " No email address, no number, no nothin Wow; thanks a million. I Googled JD@ for an hour and got no strikes ! Duurrrrrr.

I see guys here and on other websites selling their Troopers with "King Shocks; Fox Shocks; Rancho Shocks; and Bilstein Shocks; not to mention Walker Evans Shocks and Afco Shocks and others" but nobody is willing to say "This is what I used; this is the travel, the valving, the compression, the rebound; the spring, and they work great. Just call so and so at Shock City and he sells lots of these for Troopers, so he knows the hot setup. I emailed the guys at Silverbullet about their "Bilstein" piggyback shock setup last week. I haven't heard a word back on it.

Theres now 4 of us in the "Shocked Dummy Club" and i'll bet there will be many more soon. I really appreciate all the modifications done as far as lowering diffs, or going to 15 inch car tires, or long travel A-Arms and axles;..... but many guys just upgrade. Why is it so secretive? Believe me; I won't be passing you in the Baja 1000. I just want to crawl and cruise

Well, I just finished my front suspension (lowered front diff & shock hoops) and finally got around to messin' with the rear. I was able to bolt in my 8.5 inch Fox coilover to the factory mounts without lowering the diff. However, the right swing arm did contact the CV shaft. So, I grinded of about 1/8" of material from the swing arm where it was contacting I aint' scerd. So, if that is acceptable for you, then there is your answer for the rear. Or, I could have moved the lower shock mount back a little and wouldn't have had to grind anything--whatever you find easiest. I will eventually be lowering my diff, but it won't be till' after Moab. Also, I gained about an inch and a half of travel with the new shocks. The bolt holes in the shock are 1/2" so I drilled out the T2 shock mounts to 5/8" and used 1/2 X 5/8 X 1 spacers (Lowes hardware dept). Then I cut them in half and ground them down until I foung the fit I liked. If anyone out there makes a shock with an extended length of 22"-23", no more than 23", then they should bolt in with only having to figure out how to bolt them up (depending on the bolt they accept).

[Mopartist]

Well, I just finished my front suspension (lowered front diff & shock hoops) and finally got around to messin' with the rear. I was able to bolt in my 8.5 inch Fox coilover to the factory mounts without lowering the diff. However, the right swing arm did contact the CV shaft. So, I grinded of about 1/8" of material from the swing arm where it was contacting I aint' scerd. So, if that is acceptable for you, then there is your answer for the rear. Or, I could have moved the lower shock mount back a little and wouldn't have had to grind anything--whatever you find easiest. I will eventually be lowering my diff, but it won't be till' after Moab. Also, I gained about an inch and a half of travel with the new shocks. The bolt holes in the shock are 1/2" so I drilled out the T2 shock mounts to 5/8" and used 1/2 X 5/8 X 1 spacers (Lowes hardware dept). Then I cut them in half and ground them down until I foung the fit I liked. If anyone out there makes a shock with an extended length of 22"-23", no more than 23", then they should bolt in with only having to figure out how to bolt them up (depending on the bolt they accept).

Thanks 2 scoops. How bout some pics for inspiration?

[2scoops]

Thanks 2 scoops. How bout some pics for inspiration?

I will put some up soon. One thing I forgot to mention was the springs. I am going to try 350 over 400 for starters. Like I said earlier, King claims they use 300 but that seems too low to me unless you pre-load the hell out of it. Also, Flatbed, who knows his stuff about suspension, said the a 300 in the rear felt a little soft. I will keep you posted on what I discover.

[2scoops]

Thanks 2 scoops. How bout some pics for inspiration?

Posted some pics in my gallery.

[huunz]

I managed to pick up a set of Fox Airshox for free last week - 10" and 12". I've got the rear 10" mocked up on one side - the tailpipe has to move, but I was building a header anyway. The 10" will fit perfect on the rear using the stock lower mount (after repairing the cracks and bends), and welding on a new Poly Performance shock mount at the upper frame beltline on top. I don't know the valving yet, or the oil or pressure (Foxes tune with oil and nitrogen pressure), but they came off of a single-seat Chinese buggy of a different brand, so they may be close. I don't know how to post pics in the gallery, so nothing to show, although I did take the pictures to show....

[huunz]

I think I got the pictures to work.

My link

[2scoops]

I played around with my rear suspension tonight and came up with some interesting figures. I wanted to put pen to paper/keystroke to computer before I forget.

I have not lowered my rear diff. With my 8.5 inch Fox shocks bolted in the stock location I had 13.75 inches of rear wheel travel on the right side (limited by the CV shaft contacting the swingarm). There was 1.25 inches of shaft showing at this point. The right side had 15 inches of rear wheel travel (limited by my 30 inch tire contacting the frame). There was .75 inches of shaft showing. Keep in mind I have removed my rear fenders and the bracket to which they bolt in order to achieve this much up-travel.

FYI- with 400lb springs, my rear shocks compressed 2 inches. This info can help you determine your spring rates. I am still working on a good rear dual spring rate for my application.

As for my front shocks I am running an 8 inch 250 over a 10 inch 225 with 1.25 inches of preload. I am very happy with this and I don't plan on changing. The only other rate I would consider would be a straight 250lb spring. My front end is super soft. It does lean like a tropy truck in a turn with the dual rate. If you don't want this then I would go with a 250 or 300 lb. With 30 inch tires there is 14 inches between the ground and the bottom of the front of my frame. I have about 3.5 inches of droop.