P500 Shocks and Tires and other things...

Derail

Derail

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Aug 31, 2017
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Southern Ohio
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  1. 500
Rode almost 60 miles yesterday in Tennessee with my 23 year old son on some of the most rutted out gnarly trails I have ever been on. Think we got enough seat time to make an informed evaluation of my buggy mods. I recently added Walker Evans shocks and 26” Maxxis Bighorn radials. Also removed my swaybar around the same time. The combination of these three things have completely transformed my little buggy. The WE shocks improved the ride in a huge way. Did not bottom out once yesterday and we were doing some pretty crazy stuff. The ride is way plush and smoother than a buggy with this small amount of wheel travel has any right to be. And the tires were very impressive also. They do add a small amount of ground clearance and they gripped and grabbed hard enough to get us out of some pretty hairy situations yesterday. We went through some mud holes and badly rutted trails that undoubtedly would have gotten my buggy hung up in times past. Am very happy with the way my little buggy performed yesterday. Only had one little “oh s*** !” moment all day and that was not the buggies fault. We were going up a steep, deeply rutted out, greasy hill. My son straddled the rut on one side of the trail the same way we had done several times earlier in the day. On the way up a rear tire slid down in the rut and we had a low speed tip over to the right side. Was almost comical the way buggy laid over on it’s side in slow motion. No one was hurt. The only damage to the buggy was a cracked glass in the right side mirror and a couple of very small scuffs/scratches to the rear fender. Was a good day and will make for some great memories.
 
sgerksinwi

sgerksinwi

Well-Known Member
Sep 24, 2016
203
264
63
WISCONSIN
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  1. 500
Rode almost 60 miles yesterday in Tennessee with my 23 year old son on some of the most rutted out gnarly trails I have ever been on. Think we got enough seat time to make an informed evaluation of my buggy mods. I recently added Walker Evans shocks and 26” Maxxis Bighorn radials. Also removed my swaybar around the same time. The combination of these three things have completely transformed my little buggy. The WE shocks improved the ride in a huge way. Did not bottom out once yesterday and we were doing some pretty crazy stuff. The ride is way plush and smoother than a buggy with this small amount of wheel travel has any right to be. And the tires were very impressive also. They do add a small amount of ground clearance and they gripped and grabbed hard enough to get us out of some pretty hairy situations yesterday. We went through some mud holes and badly rutted trails that undoubtedly would have gotten my buggy hung up in times past. Am very happy with the way my little buggy performed yesterday. Only had one little “oh s*** !” moment all day and that was not the buggies fault. We were going up a steep, deeply rutted out, greasy hill. My son straddled the rut on one side of the trail the same way we had done several times earlier in the day. On the way up a rear tire slid down in the rut and we had a low speed tip over to the right side. Was almost comical the way buggy laid over on it’s side in slow motion. No one was hurt. The only damage to the buggy was a cracked glass in the right side mirror and a couple of very small scuffs/scratches to the rear fender. Was a good day and will make for some great memories.
Did you do all corners with the shocks?
 
Mudder

Mudder

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Oct 1, 2016
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looks like all 4. Must ave been psychic with your avatar name! Glad you and son are OK and had fun family time. Good write up and pics.
 
Derail

Derail

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2017
263
723
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Southern Ohio
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  1. 500
Nice rig! Where abouts in Southern Ohio? We do a lot of riding in Perry Forest and Wayne National.
Adams County. On SR 73 close to the Scioto County line. Between Peebles and Rarden.
 
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Arizona

Arizona

Active Member
Sep 1, 2016
102
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Casa Grande & Show Low Arizona
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  1. 500
Two weeks ago I ordered 4 Walker Evans shocks for my P-500 They said it would take 2 weeks to make them, so I'm hoping they will arrive sometime next week. Derail's post & story about them really helped me make the decision to order them. If anybody is interested in buying 4 new updated for 2017 Honda dual rate spring shocks, let me know, they help a fair amount over the original 2015 &2016 single rate spring shocks. I'd say the dual rate springs help soften the ride about 20% but with my bad back I had to order the new W.E. shocks.
 
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Bruce4795

Active Member
Dec 12, 2018
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Arizona
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  1. 500
16CE5A51 5B3D 4ECB 8A2A 0957D676FE2D
8F858F46 EE9E 4124 861D 10D05A2F0B18
Two weeks ago I ordered 4 Walker Evans shocks for my P-500 They said it would take 2 weeks to make them, so I'm hoping they will arrive sometime next week. Derail's post & story about them really helped me make the decision to order them. If anybody is interested in buying 4 new updated for 2017 Honda dual rate spring shocks, let me know, they help a fair amount over the original 2015 &2016 single rate spring shocks. I'd say the dual rate springs help soften the ride about 20% but with my bad back I had to order the new W.E. shocks.

Walker Evans shocks just arrived. install went pretty well. Had trouble getting the rear A arm to drop enough to get the new shocks on. Ended up pulling the wheel and using a pry bar to lever the arm down a bit. Front shocks arrived with a lot of preload. It picked up the front end about 2.5 inches over the stock shocks. The rear shocks had some preload also, but not as much. Took it for a test drive and noted a slight vibration due to the increased drive shaft angle to the front wheels. Ended up backing off the preload collars to where the rig was at about the same height as before the install. That solved the vibration issue. Hint....measure your rig height at 4 corners to the fenders to establish a baseline height before removing the old shocks. I anticipate one could probably tolerate about 3/4 inch of height gain due to preload without any vibration. I used a flathead screwdriver and brass hammer to move the preload collars...not much room for a tool in there. Be sure to have the wheel off the ground first. WE indicated it was okay to use the flathead screwdriver during a phone call to them. Local dealer noted the drive shafts start to bind up with too much drive shaft angle to the wheels due to preload, so I was probably approaching the bind angle with the 2.5 inches of preload. Here are a few photos of the final install...
 
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Bruce4795

Active Member
Dec 12, 2018
112
248
43
Arizona
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  1. 500
Might be interested in the shocks. Do they install easy?

The fronts went on easy with the tires on. The rear install I had trouble since the A arm would not drop enough to get the shocks in. I pulled the wheels off and used a pry bar to lever the A arm down a bit and then the shocks went on easily. Be sure to check your ride height on all for corners and adjust the preload collars back to the same approximate height. Mine were set with way too much preload and raised the front end about 2.5 inches which resulted in a drive line vibration. It went away when I dropped the ride height which reduced the angle on the cv joints in the drive lines. Install the shocks with the top bolt in first then the lower bolt. Good luck!
 
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Chuckie3

Well-Known Member
Sep 17, 2018
216
408
63
New Fairfield ct
Ownership

  1. 500
Want to put wheels and tires on my 500,I plow snow and ride trails any ideas thanks
 
Russ989

Russ989

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Want to put wheels and tires on my 500,I plow snow and ride trails any ideas thanks
Depends on what you want to spend. What’s your budget?
 
Russ989

Russ989

Land of the free because of the Brave! 🇺🇸
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This is the setup I had on my 500, it was a little under $700. 12” ITP steel wheels 5+2 offset with 26x9-12 Sedona mud rebel rt’s on all four corners.
I highly recommend this tire, it’s a go getter and it’s 8ply radial.
94807E2C 0F6B 4842 8DD9 D876159D9C52
9B0A9DFD A9E8 4F50 91D6 1768DAABA0DD
 
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