P500 Walker Evans Shocks on the P500...initial thoughts

[trigger]

Hey..so them shocks got same travel...
as p5 stock...
just the compressed air..makes it more
stiff...

Supposed to get 1" more travel, and a much better shock.

 

[Admin]

 

[Texas_Newfie]

...

Hey bud, still on the fence about investing in these shocks. Most of my riding is ~15mph-ish. I'd be looking primarily to soften the ride near this speed to stop some of the jarring on my kids neck. Right now I find any decent sized rock or pot hole on a trail nearly gives the kid whiplash.

Honest opinion, do you feel any real benefit at lower speeds? Or is it only evident on the top end?

Thanks bud,

 

[Derail]

Hey bud, still on the fence about investing in these shocks. Most of my riding is ~15mph-ish. I'd be looking primarily to soften the ride near this speed to stop some of the jarring on my kids neck. Right now I find any decent sized rock or pot hole on a trail nearly gives the kid whiplash.

Honest opinion, do you feel any real benefit at lower speeds? Or is it only evident on the top end?

Thanks bud,

The stiff jarring ride was my only big complaint with my P500. I am a bit hesitant to encourage people to buy these shocks because they cost so damn much. The truth is they were a big improvement at any speed above a walking pace. And the faster you go, the more improvement you will notice. So...my honest evaluation in a nutshell is this...if you plan on keeping your buggy for a long time and have the cash for the shocks, buy ‘em. They don’t give you the ride of a new RZR with 2 feet of wheel travel but they are a big improvement over the crappy stock shocks. If you get these shocks, you will go a little faster in more comfort and you won’t rattle the fillings out of your teeth in the process.

 

[Derail]

There is a huge improvement at 15 MPH-ish. But you will soon realize that you are now 20 to 25 MPH-ish

 

[jay_man81]

There is a huge improvement at 15 MPH-ish. But you will soon realize that you are now 20 to 25 MPH-ish

And that increase in speed only gets worse the longer you drive with the WE on...lol. Trails I once rode at 15 became 25 after the WE and now I catch my self going 35mph on them!

 

[xxxtreeboy]

Just got back from my first brief ride with the new shocks. Need to start off by giving a HUGE THANK YOU to Jay for all of his testing, research, and guidance.

When I bought my P500 there were three things that made it the best choice for me.
1) SIZE. I go through the woods quite often where there are no trails. The P500 fits in between trees where other larger buggies won't go.
2) HONDA RELIABILITY. Nuff said.
3) PRICE. As far as UTV's go, the P500 is a bargain and maintenance costs are minimal because the damn thing is tougher than an anvil and nothing ever breaks.

I bought one of the first P500's that my local dealer got and have never regretted my purchase. But...after a few miles of riding locally and couple of trips to Hattfield-McCoy in West Virginia, it was obvious that Honda did cut a few corners to keep the price down. The one big fly in the ointment was the shock absorbers. I knew before I bought my buggy that it was not gonna ride like a new Cadillac. It has a short, narrow wheel base and a very limited amount of suspension travel. But even with all of those things factored in, I still thought that it rode rougher than a hay wagon at elevated speeds and that Honda really dropped the ball with those abominations that they say are shock absorbers. But that one main shortcoming did not outweigh all the other great things that I liked about my little buggy.
So, when Walker Evans Racing decided to make shocks for the P500 I was very excited. They are expensive but I plan on keeping my buggy for a long time so I took the plunge. Today I got them installed and dialed in. I took a brief ride up in the wooded hills behind my house to switch memory cards in my game cameras. Then I rode wide open through a rough and bumpy hayfield. Then for the first time I intentionally jumped the buggy over a big hump in my neighbors yard at about 30 mph and managed to get all four wheels off the ground. The landing was cushy but my Boston Terrier/navigator/shed antler hunter "Lucille The Wonder Dog" did not care much for the Evel Knievel like stunt driving.
Here are my initial thoughts on the WE shock upgrade...they are a big improvement at any speed and the faster you go the more improvement you will notice. The ride is less jarring, more controlled, and plusher than the stock setup. Do the new shocks magically transform the P500 into a machine that rides as plush as a pure sport buggy with two feet of suspension travel ? No, but I did not expect that to be the case. It is a huge improvement. But the nature of the P500's design does have limitations that would be hard to overcome without major modifications. Are they worth the money ? For me...yes. It does address and improve on the one big complaint that I had about the P500. I hope to share more about the performance of the WE shocks after I get more seat time with them. But for now, I am happy with my purchase.

I have a 2017 P500 and was wondering if I replace all 4 OEM shocks with the W.E. shocks, do I need to adjust the settings or preload of the W.E. shocks before I put them on to duplicate the OEM length/settings or can I just bolt them in as-is, and has W.E. corrected the "wrong sized " bolts for the rear shocks for what they are selling in 2018?

 

[Derail]

I have a 2017 P500 and was wondering if I replace all 4 OEM shocks with the W.E. shocks, do I need to adjust the settings or preload of the W.E. shocks before I put them on to duplicate the OEM length/settings or can I just bolt them in as-is, and has W.E. corrected the "wrong sized " bolts for the rear shocks for what they are selling in 2018?

jay_man81 was kind enough to provide me with the number of turns on the WE shock preload nut required to give the stock ride height. I used his preload settings and have not changed it. His experimentation and assistance was a huge help. Also, I had no issue with the mounting bolts, they worked fine. It really is an easy swap to put the WE shocks on. Again, they are expensive and I was very hesitant to buy them. But I have no buyers remorse. For me, they were a huge improvement. I was considering the purchase of a different buggy with a smoother ride and the improvement that the WE shocks made was enough to keep me in my P500. So I reckon the WE shocks actually saved me some money lol.

 

[xxxtreeboy]

jay_man81 was kind enough to provide me with the number of turns on the WE shock preload nut required to give the stock ride height. I used his preload settings and have not changed it. His experimentation and assistance was a huge help. Also, I had no issue with the mounting bolts, they worked fine. It really is an easy swap to put the WE shocks on. Again, they are expensive and I was very hesitant to buy them. But I have no buyers remorse. For me, they were a huge improvement. I was considering the purchase of a different buggy with a smoother ride and the improvement that the WE shocks made was enough to keep me in my P500. So I reckon the WE shocks actually saved me some money lol.

Thanks for the info.. What preload settings did you use to maintain the OEM height?

 

[Smitty335]

Hey..so them shocks got same travel...
as p5 stock...
just the compressed air..makes it more
stiff...

Nitrogen

 

[rocmar]

Nitrogen

Yeah...still don't change
the length of travel....
which is the problem

 

[Derail]

Thanks for the info.. What preload settings did you use to maintain the OEM height?

Preload is adjusted by a threaded nut that compresses the spring. Can’t recall off hand how many turns of the nut it took to achieve stock ride height. But if you get a set let me know and I’ll be happy to go count the threads.

 

[xxxtreeboy]

Preload is adjusted by a threaded nut that compresses the spring. Can’t recall off hand how many turns of the nut it took to achieve stock ride height. But if you get a set let me know and I’ll be happy to go count the threads.

Thanks. I will be ordering a "full set" sometime in the next 2 weeks.