Fox Shox front update

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peterock · #1 Post by **peterock** » Mon Apr 16, 2007 5:39 pm

Well I was finally able to get out on the track and see how they worked. I set them close to the directions they recomend for other atv's. The one down side noticed right away was that if enough weight was applied to the front end, I could slam the frame on the ground. At the track, I tested the feel of several other quads that had them on and mine felt way too soft. So i added some more to the chambers and gave it a test spin. Still too soft. I ended up with 55lbs in the main chamber and 230lbs in the evol chamber bottom clicker 12 clicks out and top clicker 9 clicks out. They seemed to be soaking up every thing Gravity Park had to offer. They were probably a little soft yet for that track but they should be perfect for the race coming up this weekend.

I have to follow-up with ATK and Fox to see what the deal is with being able to hit the frame on the ground.

2000ex · #2 Post by **2000ex** » Mon Apr 16, 2007 7:38 pm

Sounds like they did not do their homework on these shocks.

You should take an eye to eye measurement of your bike with no shocks on and a 2x4 lying flat underneath the belly of the machine. That is your fully compressed length. Sounds to me like the stroke is too long. Take some measurements to make sure they are correct. Nothing more painful than frame bottoming

I have been working on a project of modifying my Walsh +3's into LT arms by moving the shock mount out per Walsh specs. I have them on the bike now and took measurements. The measured fully compressed length is 14 inches. Fox makes a shock that fits Gibson arms which are 19.5 inches long with a 5.5 inch stroke...19.5 minus the 5.5 of stroke = 14 inches compressed

That should do the trick.

hnnblehscnnble · #3 Post by **hnnblehscnnble** » Mon Apr 16, 2007 10:25 pm

ive never ridden them on a cannondale but set up right on a 450r they are the next best thing to sliced bread.what rear shock are you running.the front and rear have to work together ya know.

Psychosis · #4 Post by **Psychosis** » Mon Apr 16, 2007 11:50 pm

What a-arms are you running too? I have the newest ASR's and the Fox's from ATK and I have yet to install them. Just not wanting the frame to smack.

peterock · #5 Post by **peterock** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 2:27 am

American Star long travel, should be the same as what you have Psychosis.

hnnblehscnnble,

The rear shock is a TCS converted ohlins. Right now it's not an issue of the the set-up working. It actually worked really nice. Better then anything else I've had to date and that includes custom axis, and elkas.

I talked with Fox and just missed Travis at ATK. I have to talk to Travis in the morning to see what set-up they were looking at.

Psychosis · #6 Post by **Psychosis** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 2:39 am

Hey man, let me know what you find out, as well as everyone else. If they're setup correclty and frame's smacking then that's an issue that needs to be dealt with. I won't have mine installed for a few weeks so if need reworked or something then I'll do so.

peterock · #7 Post by **peterock** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 11:38 am

Not a problem, have to find out tire sizes they used and everything. Different tire sizes are going to have an effect as well. My MX tires are 19" vs if you are running cross country you may have 21 or 22" tires. Can make a difference as to how far it can travel before the frame hits. However, it can only travel so far regardless of tires before the tie rods bind against the frame.

peterock · #8 Post by **peterock** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 12:48 pm

Ok, just measured my MX set-up. Shocks need to be 18 3/4", can get away with 19" before anything binds but it starts getting tight right after that. As for compressed. The old 2X4 trick doesn't work as the tie rods are binding before that point. Had to go with 4" from ground to make sure nothing was binding. That leaves us with 5" of stroke. If we push it to the limits and use a 19" shock, then we could get 5 1/4" stroke.

2000ex · #9 Post by **2000ex** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 3:42 pm

peterock,

You need to measure at 4 inches of frame height the eye to eye measurement. Then take your extended shock length and subtract it from that measurement for your stroke. If your tierods are hitting the frame at 4 inches off the ground and you were bottoming the frame that is NOT GOOD. You are lucky the tierods dont look like boomerangs, there is a LOT of stress exerted on them if this is correct.

I dont think Fox even makes an Evol with less than 5.3 inches of stroke

peterock · #10 Post by **peterock** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 4:36 pm

Tierods weren't hitting at 4 inches, they were barely clearing at 2 inches but would hit if the wheels were turned. At 4 inches the wheels could be turned freely without binding.

As for the measurment that is what I did, set the frame at 4 inches and measured eye to eye. Measurement was 13 3/4", which gives the 5 inches of stroke length. If we had a 19" shock we could then get away with 5.25" stroke.

Have to call Fox back today. Already talked to ATK and they are going to set up a quad tomorrow and verify everything I told them. They supplied Fox with a bunch of measurements and were supposed to be getting shocks made just for the ATK's. Obviously talking to Fox, it's not what Fox is supplying them with. More to come...........