P1000 What shocks are you running?

[TI722]

I have the 3 seater and I bought the 814 Dominator series. I'm somewhat satisfied, they're really good on fire roads and mild trials but leave a lot to be desired on the really rocky technical trails. I've tried adjusting them but can't find a sweet spot that will do both. I bought them mainly because I'd read good things but really wanted the extra 1" of lift they give you because I'm running 29" tires.

I'm looking for recommendations on where to shop next. I had Radflo's on a Viking before I bought the Pioneer and they were absolutely amazing but they don't make any to fit the Pioneer. The wife is not happy so I'm not afraid to spend a little cash but I'd like to get it right this time and not have to keep plunking down $$$ for trial and error.

 

[Admin]

 

[dnjones161]

I have the stock deluxe shocks but I've read a lot on this issues as I've been considering an upgrade.

My opinion after hours of reading reviews: no shock set up is going to do fire roads/quick trails AND slow rocky stuff well with one setting.

If you want a single set up that can quickly switch and offers improved ride over the factory deluxe shocks, seems like the Fox LE shocks with Hard/Med/Soft switch is the way to go. Maybe not the BEST for any given scenario, but a big step up over factory and easily adjustable for multiple terrain on the fly. Also readily available- you might lose that extra inch of lift tho?

I'm running 29 inch Big Horns with my factory set up and dont have any scrub though, so that may not be an issue.

 

[TI722]

our Radflo's handled everything we threw at them well. the price point was almost a thousand more but they worked pretty flawlessly on all types of riding. I'll drop the extra $$ to keep the wife happy and improve the ride.

Most comments I have read said the 814 were a step above the Fox. Before we go on our spring trip I'm going to call a few of the top names and see what they say. I'm getting ready to buy some ground so the shocks are probably going on the back burner until right before our next ride down to Tackett/RRB in the spring. Just trying to gather some info on where to look first.

 

[DDDonkey]

I run the 814's and really like them, but I am not a shock "snob" at all. What I mean by that is I thought the stock shocks rode really nice for the first 700 miles and did not replace them until around 1700 miles. I keep them really soft, but don't drive overly fast, I have also removed the rear sway bar.

Sounds like you may need two settings, a fire road one and one for the rocks. Lets us know what you figure out,

 

[ToddACimer]

I really liked the Fox shocks for slow technical riding but I always hated the wheel hop of higher speeds and hard slam of bottoming out on bigger bumps. I'm currently running Elka Stage 4's and the improvement in ride from the Fox Shock to the Elkas is bigger than the jump from stock shocks to Fox shocks. The Elkas seem to have more roll stability and keep the machine upright a lot better at any speed but they also ride softer and smoother from 0-50+mph. I'd say it's easy to ride 5-10mph faster with fox shocks than stock shocks but even my wife was trail riding at 35-40mph in spots I'm certain she would have been doing 25-35 mph with the Fox shocks. The harsh response of the Fox shocks was a huge peeve of mine and the doors constantly shook at rattled, the Elka's eliminate that chatter and impact on obstacles.

I'd say the progressive rate in the rear fox shocks is their killer, you can't add preload without bottoming the lighter coils and you're stuck with the harsher ride of the stiffer spring rate at the bottom of the spring. The Elka's are a single rate so at least they are consistent and you can better maintain ride quality with ride height.

 

[TI722]

thanks, that's the kind of information I'm looking for. Elka is definitely on my call list. I just wasn't sure what stage I should be looking for.

 

[GPR1500SC]

What ToddACimer said.
Elka 5's here
if you are low speed or a single terrain trail rider the Fox's are ok but if you like picking up the pace on the good section of the trail the Fox's are very disappointing, I went from Fox's to Elka 5's
and think the extra money spent was well worth it.

 

[JTW]

I won’t say that one is better than another... but truth is. Nobody has compared apples to apples! I’m sure you’ll see some better performance with the high end elkas in some circumstances. But if you swap springs away from the progressives, run without a lift and have the same tire setup between machines then you can make a much more accurate and unbiased judgment. I can’t help there because I haven’t ran stage 5’s.. but ask yourself what you need and what best fits those needs for the money.