P1000m5 Rock Donkey v2 Long Travel

[ohanacreek]

Fudamentaly it doesn’t work. Your spring is compressed X amount to support Y load. After you add a lift kit the spring will still be compressed X amount but now you have moved the range the knuckle travels in.

More stress on the drive line and no change in spring rate.

(X and Y is engineer speak for stuff you wouldn’t understand if need to ask)

I guess it’s a mute point since Strongmade doesn’t work with SATV arms.

Yes the spring will be compressed X to support Y but with the preload off and the secondary (lighter) spring not as compressed with pre-load to bring the ride height up (bringing the ride height up with static geometry instead of pre-load force on the springs) there will be more travel in the shock and the lighter of the two springs can actually function....right?

Or am I just plain misunderstanding this if I am disregard.

 

[Admin]

 

[ohanacreek]

I really like that rear winch mount.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Thanks I really liked @joeymyt33 so much so I stole his time and steel. Haha.

 

[ohanacreek]

I also get what you are doing. @nbomar wanted to avoid a lift but in the end had the preload turned up so high that it made more sense to go with lift and let the shocks work better.

But I don’t know how much preload you are at now

That’s my goal, but maybe I’m just misunderstanding suspension mechanics.

 

[ohanacreek]

Well I found 3 pair of these at Tractor supply for $36 so I decided I would try them. They will fit a 28.5” tire I’m not sure thy have the length to go around a true 30” tire.

 

[lee]

Is this where I say "Well bless your heart"?

Each wheel will support the same load.
(ok technically as you get further from the center of the earth the effect of gravity dose go down but you didn't say you wanted to clear 5 gallon buckets and pose on liebook).
So to support that same load the spring will compress the same amount.
You can change the amount of pre-load on the spring to archive a given ride bight.
But the total spring compression will be the same and therefore the effective spring rate (or the wheel rate).
So there will be no improvement in ride comfort.

 

[ohanacreek]

Is this where I say "Well bless your heart"?

Each wheel will support the same load.
(ok technically as you get further from the center of the earth the effect of gravity dose go down but you didn't say you wanted to clear 5 gallon buckets and pose on liebook).
So to support that same load the spring will compress the same amount.
You can change the amount of pre-load on the spring to archive a given ride bight.
But the total spring compression will be the same and therefore the effective spring rate (or the wheel rate).
So there will be no improvement in ride comfort.

I wasn’t sure how taking pre-load out was going to affect it so it was either going to achieve the same affect as preload and be a waste of time and money or it was going to work. Thanks for clearing it up, even if it was the opposite of what I wanted to hear.

 

[Smitty335]

Is this where I say "Well bless your heart"?

Each wheel will support the same load.
(ok technically as you get further from the center of the earth the effect of gravity dose go down but you didn't say you wanted to clear 5 gallon buckets and pose on liebook).
So to support that same load the spring will compress the same amount.
You can change the amount of pre-load on the spring to archive a given ride bight.
But the total spring compression will be the same and therefore the effective spring rate (or the wheel rate).
So there will be no improvement in ride comfort.

Or make it worse! Springs are designed to support a certain weight, not ground clearance. The preload adjustment is to set spring sag, that is, jack your machine up until the shocks a fully extended, tires still on the ground, measure ground clearance, ride a little, measure ground clearance with passengers, beer, tools in the ride,that you usually haul, that will be your spring sag. If my ride has compression adjustments a spring sag of 2 to 3 inches is a good place to start, Adjust spring tension until you get 2 to 3 inches of spring sag, then start messing with the compression adjustments, if you are bottoming out, stiffen your compression and if you never bottom out back it down until you do on the hardest hits. If you stiffen your compression to the max and still bottoms out all the time, it's time to start all over, stiffen the preload on your springs and start over with compression adjustments. And the reverse works, may have to go back to the spring adjustment and let some tension off, if you have compression completely backed down and no bottoming. You want to bottom out occasionally. Kinda like having a long pecker and using half of it!

 

[my99svt]

Well I found 3 pair of these at Tractor supply for $36 so I decided I would try them. They will fit a 28.5” tire I’m not sure thy have the length to go around a true 30” tire.

View attachment 67922

To use with a 30" tire you will need to replace the straps with these from Harbor Freight.
2 in. x 16 ft. E-Track Tie Down Strap

 

[BigOL3]

Kinda like having a long pecker and using half of it!

Time to adjust and adapt ...... lol

 

[JTW]

To use with a 30" tire you will need to replace the straps with these from Harbor Freight.
2 in. x 16 ft. E-Track Tie Down Strap

Why not just buy those to begin with?

 

[ohanacreek]

Or make it worse! Springs are designed to support a certain weight, not ground clearance. The preload adjustment is to set spring sag, that is, jack your machine up until the shocks a fully extended, tires still on the ground, measure ground clearance, ride a little, measure ground clearance with passengers, beer, tools in the ride,that you usually haul, that will be your spring sag. If my ride has compression adjustments a spring sag of 2 to 3 inches is a good place to start, Adjust spring tension until you get 2 to 3 inches of spring sag, then start messing with the compression adjustments, if you are bottoming out, stiffen your compression and if you never bottom out back it down until you do on the hardest hits. If you stiffen your compression to the max and still bottoms out all the time, it's time to start all over, stiffen the preload on your springs and start over with compression adjustments. And the reverse works, may have to go back to the spring adjustment and let some tension off, if you have compression completely backed down and no bottoming. You want to bottom out occasionally. Kinda like having a long pecker and using half of it!

Fox QS3 only have pre-load, and 3 settings. (I have dual springs so I have the ability to adjust spring crossover)
I have them set to stock ride height with stock tires. There’s just more weight than bone stock.

Works pretty good on softest for most riding and technical trails, mid for faster rough trails, and hardest if I feel like getting some airtime.

I’d NEVER get the stage 5 Elkas adjusted.

 

[my99svt]

Why not just buy those to begin with?

Still need track to tie down. This just replaces the straps that are to short when you go 30"s

 

[BigOL3]

Well I found 3 pair of these at Tractor supply for $36 so I decided I would try them. They will fit a 28.5” tire I’m not sure thy have the length to go around a true 30” tire.

View attachment 67922

I found "spots" (holes/openings) in the under-frame I could place the hooks in and ratchet it down. Works great, pull the rear ones forward, and the front ones backwards.

 

[Smitty335]

Time to adjust and adapt ...... lol

And then it can be the other way, have a short pecker! HA!

 

[elkguide]

And then it can be the other way, have a short pecker! HA!

We do NOT need pictures!!!!!!!!!

 

[lee]

Wait a minute, I'm not understanding this.
In the middle of a conversation about peckers @JTW is commenting on tie down straps?

Oh, nope..never mind, I see where he's going with this.

 

[Smitty335]

Fox QS3 only have pre-load, and 3 settings. (I have dual springs so I have the ability to adjust spring crossover)
I have them set to stock ride height with stock tires. There’s just more weight than bone stock.

Works pretty good on softest for most riding and technical trails, mid for faster rough trails, and hardest if I feel like getting some airtime.

I’d NEVER get the stage 5 Elkas adjusted.

View attachment 67934

It just takes a little time, I haven't had much time to mess with mine. And haven't put very many trail miles on yet. After Mulberry went two clicks stiffer on the high and two clicks softer on the slow speed compression, think I'm getting close! And it's going to be sweet!

 

[Ragnar406]

Is this where I say "Well bless your heart"?

Each wheel will support the same load.
(ok technically as you get further from the center of the earth the effect of gravity dose go down but you didn't say you wanted to clear 5 gallon buckets and pose on liebook).
So to support that same load the spring will compress the same amount.
You can change the amount of pre-load on the spring to archive a given ride bight.
But the total spring compression will be the same and therefore the effective spring rate (or the wheel rate).
So there will be no improvement in ride comfort.

@lee This is where I say bless my heart ... so are you saying that preload adjustment does not affect ride comfort?

I may be understanding that the weight of the ride will sag the spring the same amount no matter the preload ... but preload will change the shock travel which will change ride comfort correct? Then you have the whole soft, Med , firm settings.

I probably won’t understand the entire response but I want to so I may have to settle for discussing over beer at Takeover.

 

[BigOL3]

And then it can be the other way, have a short pecker! HA!

When that happens, you are just out of luck ..... lol

 

[ohanacreek]

I found "spots" (holes/openings) in the under-frame I could place the hooks in and ratchet it down. Works great, pull the rear ones forward, and the front ones backwards.

I’ve got shackles on the front bumper and welded a d-ring to the trailer frame just behind the hitch, and I tie to the ROPS on the back down to d-rings I welded at the rear corners of the trailer. People praise these things so I figured I’d spend $35 ($50 with the required Grade8 5/16” bolts) and try them out since I needed some new straps anyway.

It is much quicker to tie down and I don’t have the long straps that always end up loose in the wind no matter how well I tie them to themselves.