200 Recon rear shock
1 - 8 of 8 Posts
Joined
·
15 Posts
Just received in the Progressive rear shock for my Recon, I ordered the one that another member posted about for his TRX 300 and it fits but even on the stiffest setting it is about the same as my stock shock. so a question to you guys have any of you added a spacer to push the coil spring down to help stiffen up the shock?
Joined
·
5,072 Posts
I haven't spaced a spring myself but it isn't unheard of, there's a few DIY tutorials on YouTube that give you a good idea of 'how to'.
I believe it's common to use PVC pipe or machine a spacer to suit your needs.
Edit: Remember to take into consideration the possibility of creating a certain amount of lift by adding a spacer. You may find that by stiffening up the spring you will take all of the 'droop' out of the shock/spring and end up with a nose diving ATV.
Another solution to your issue would be to fabricate a bolt on bracket to bring the shock into a more vertical position, the more vertical it is the stiffer it becomes.
There is a calculation for this online if you know the spring rate and damping effort of the shock/spring.
I believe it's common to use PVC pipe or machine a spacer to suit your needs.
Edit: Remember to take into consideration the possibility of creating a certain amount of lift by adding a spacer. You may find that by stiffening up the spring you will take all of the 'droop' out of the shock/spring and end up with a nose diving ATV.
Another solution to your issue would be to fabricate a bolt on bracket to bring the shock into a more vertical position, the more vertical it is the stiffer it becomes.
There is a calculation for this online if you know the spring rate and damping effort of the shock/spring.
Joined
·
15 Posts
Sam thanks for the reply, I'll see if I can find some of the videos. I already lifted the rear by 2" to give it more of an even look if not just slightly higher in the back end, but when you sit on it, it levels out nicely. I'll keep you guys posted if I try to add the spacer and how it goes.
Joined
·
15 Posts
Will do, Right now I'm thinking of adding a PVC (1-1/2" coupler with PVC pipe glued into it then cut down to 1-1/4" length) spacer since I have a progressive shock I can make adjustments from there. My goal is to eliminate/reduce the sag that the weight of the machine puts on the rear shock. I'm going to be extremely careful compressing down the coil spring, I don't have a place around me that rents out a compression spring tool and really don't want to spend $50-100 on it. So my plan is to use around 150 or so pounds of weight on the rear rack to compress the spring and then run a strap through the coil on both sides and ratchet it down in order to hold the coil in place then slowly remove weight from the rack to see if it holds. If I does I'll remove the top bolt and take the plate off and slide on the spacer then put the plate back in place, reattach the upper bolt and add weight back on the rack to compress the shock/spring then remove the strap and the weight and see what it's like. That's the plan anyway but if any of you have a better way to compress the coil with limited tools I'm all ears. I'll try to take as many pictures as I go as well.
Joined
·
15 Posts
I went ahead and added a 1-1/2" PVC spacer to the rear shock on my 2001 Recon, here's what I ended up doing to make it work for me.
I glued a small piece of 1-1/2" Sch. 40 PVC pipe into both sides of a 1-1/2" PVC sch.40 coupler (the length of the coupler was 1-1/2"), I then cut the end flush with the coupler to give me a length of roughly 1-1/2". This gave me the spacer I was looking for and it fit very nicely on the shock, I then painted it with some black rustoleum spray paint and let it dry.
I then went to work on compressing the spring on the progressive shock that I ordered (I found it on E bay for around $45 or so, it's for a 2000 TRX 300 2x4 but it fits just fine), I turned down the spring to the softest setting, I then clamped the bottom of the shock in a vice and ran a ratchet through the top coil on the spring, I did this to both sides then ran the strap under the vice, so I would have more length to compress the spring. I tightened both ratchets at the same time to compress the spring evenly and just enough to remove the spring retainer. Once that was removed I tightened the spring enough to fit the spacer on top of the spring and then reinstalled the retainer. I started loosening one side my opening the ratchet, then I would snug it back up and loosen the other side.
Once the spacer was installed and everything was lined up and looking good I reinstalled the shock, to do this and to remove the shock I ran a ratchet from the rear rack and up to a rafter in my shed and then tightened it up, I also put a floor jack under the receiver hitch and by lifting on the rear rack and using the floor jack to fine tune I was able to remove the bolts for the shock very easily and it held the wheeler in place so when I reinstalled the shock I didn't have to move anything.
After tightening the progressive shock to the highest setting I still wasn't completely satisfied so I took the shock off again and decided to put the spacer on the factory shock, while removing the spring from the factory shock I found out that it is a lot stiffer than the one that is on the progressive shock, so I decided to swap them out, that way I would keep the stiffness of the stock spring, and the adjustability of the progressive shock. The stock spring fit great on the progressive shock and after adding the spacer really stiffened up the back end. I have the progressive shock set at the middle setting right now and really like it.
Here's a couple pictures of it after adding the progressive shock and spacer, I also have a set of Foreman 300 4x4 tires on the rear that are 24" with 11" rims to match the fronts.
One other thing that really bugged me was the angle and position of the receiver hitch, it was way to low for my liking, so I welded a 1-1/4" receiver hitch that has a 5" rise to the hitch bracket and also changed the angle to it sits more level.
I glued a small piece of 1-1/2" Sch. 40 PVC pipe into both sides of a 1-1/2" PVC sch.40 coupler (the length of the coupler was 1-1/2"), I then cut the end flush with the coupler to give me a length of roughly 1-1/2". This gave me the spacer I was looking for and it fit very nicely on the shock, I then painted it with some black rustoleum spray paint and let it dry.
I then went to work on compressing the spring on the progressive shock that I ordered (I found it on E bay for around $45 or so, it's for a 2000 TRX 300 2x4 but it fits just fine), I turned down the spring to the softest setting, I then clamped the bottom of the shock in a vice and ran a ratchet through the top coil on the spring, I did this to both sides then ran the strap under the vice, so I would have more length to compress the spring. I tightened both ratchets at the same time to compress the spring evenly and just enough to remove the spring retainer. Once that was removed I tightened the spring enough to fit the spacer on top of the spring and then reinstalled the retainer. I started loosening one side my opening the ratchet, then I would snug it back up and loosen the other side.
Once the spacer was installed and everything was lined up and looking good I reinstalled the shock, to do this and to remove the shock I ran a ratchet from the rear rack and up to a rafter in my shed and then tightened it up, I also put a floor jack under the receiver hitch and by lifting on the rear rack and using the floor jack to fine tune I was able to remove the bolts for the shock very easily and it held the wheeler in place so when I reinstalled the shock I didn't have to move anything.
After tightening the progressive shock to the highest setting I still wasn't completely satisfied so I took the shock off again and decided to put the spacer on the factory shock, while removing the spring from the factory shock I found out that it is a lot stiffer than the one that is on the progressive shock, so I decided to swap them out, that way I would keep the stiffness of the stock spring, and the adjustability of the progressive shock. The stock spring fit great on the progressive shock and after adding the spacer really stiffened up the back end. I have the progressive shock set at the middle setting right now and really like it.
Here's a couple pictures of it after adding the progressive shock and spacer, I also have a set of Foreman 300 4x4 tires on the rear that are 24" with 11" rims to match the fronts.
One other thing that really bugged me was the angle and position of the receiver hitch, it was way to low for my liking, so I welded a 1-1/4" receiver hitch that has a 5" rise to the hitch bracket and also changed the angle to it sits more level.
Attachments
1 - 8 of 8 Posts
