Can someone give me some rear suspension basic info.

[mrjimbov]

This is my first 4-stroke and man does it handle for crap!!!

There are 2 shocks is the rear suspension of my 04 Warrior.
What is adjustable on the front shock and what do the front shock adjustments affect?
What is adjustable on the rear shock and what do the rear shock adjustments affect?
I think I understand the purpose, function, and adjustments of the transfer rods and limiter straps but I'm willing to listen to anyone who has advice on either or both of those suspension parts.

I'm 6-1, 210lbs., and my sled is bone stock with 3500 miles. Living in Northern Indiana I don't get to ride a lot of miles so I don't want to spend a bunch of time messing with my rear suspension trying to get the sled to handle good and ride smooth.

 

[Grimm]

You can download the owners manual from Yamaha for any sled and read what each sled's suspension adjustments are for your sled. Just click this link:
http://www.yamaha-motor.com/sport/myyam ... there.aspx

 

[mrjimbov]

I looked at a friends 03 RX-1 owners man. and it wasn't much help.
It says the spring preload of either shock can be adjusted by turning the adjuster but it doesn't tell me if they both have to be set at the same setting or if I can set the front shock to firm and the rear shock to soft.
If I do that, how would the sled handle?
How would it handle if I set the rear shock to firm and the front shock to soft?
I understand spring preload and shock damping on a motorcycle but I don't understand why there are 2 shocks on my snowmobile rear suspension? Do they work together or does the front shock work independent from the rear?
I've looked at several post reguarding the rear suspension and most of them talk like there is only 1 shock in the rear suspension. That is why I asked the questions about what the front shock adjustments affect and what do the rear shock adjustments affect?

 

[team ducktape]

I am sure you have read these already but there may be a few awnsers in here:

http://www.totallyamaha.com/snowmobiles ... NSION.html

 

[ahicks]

I can give you this much. For "start here" settings that I've been using for years, remove all preload from your ski and front skid springs, then set the rear for your weight - so the rear drops about 3" with your weight on it. Try that, and adjust as necessary. Could write a book about all the different variables. For help beynd that, need to know what the sled is doing that you aren't happy with.

 

[Len Todd]

You need to read the manuals and then do some testing. I hesitate to give you the below cause it is all in the book. People who do not read the book often have a lot more problems. But, ...

If you have studs, you have to match up the carbides with the number of studs. If you have old carbides that are not sharp, they need to be replaced, if you expect to turn on icy trails. Given that you have matched and sharp carbides, ...

Loosen ski springs such that the A-Arms are nearly parallel to the ground. Make sure you have equal pressure on the springs. You can use two scales (one under each Ski) and a 4"x4" under the track to get the same ski pressures, if you are a perfectionist. Otherwise, just count the turns of the nut to make them equal.

Depending on how much you weigh, you need to set the spring on the rear suspension's rear shock. The more you weigh the more pre-load on the spring. If you later find that you are bottoming, then you need more spring pressure. Do not overdo this setting.

Let the straps out fully, Then set rear suspension's front spring support washer so you have just enough tension on the support washer to keep it firmly in place.

Then test the sled. If it wheelies, then extend the control rods. If the rods are fully extended per the manual and it still wheelies, then shorten the straps. Once you have the control rods set, so that it no longer wheelies, then try some turns. If it pushes through the turns, tighten straps until you have the carbides digging in good enough to make the turn. Do not over do it.

Then once you all of the above right go back to the rear suspension's front spring. Adjust it so that you have just enough tension on it to keep the support washer in place.

From this starting place, if you need more ski pressure, then shorten straps. If you need less ski pressure, then lengthen straps. Whenever you do this, check that support washer to make sure the spring is firmly held in place but not overly compressed.

If you find that you have the straps out all the way, and there is still to much ski pressure, then you tighten up on the rear suspension's front spring to take up some of the weight off the skis.

 

[Grimm]

Here's a link to a video on Maxsled's website on adjusting the suspension on Yammy sleds, which includes both front and back. http://216.128.13.95/absolutenm/templat ... &zoneid=17

 

[usaf167aw]

What book is this in?

You need to read the manuals and then do some testing. I hesitate to give you the below cause it is all in the book. People who do not read the book often have a lot more problems. But, ...

If you have studs, you have to match up the carbides with the number of studs. If you have old carbides that are not sharp, they need to be replaced, if you expect to turn on icy trails. Given that you have matched and sharp carbides, ...

Loosen ski springs such that the A-Arms are nearly parallel to the ground. Make sure you have equal pressure on the springs. You can use two scales (one under each Ski) and a 4"x4" under the track to get the same ski pressures, if you are a perfectionist. Otherwise, just count the turns of the nut to make them equal.

Depending on how much you weigh, you need to set the spring on the rear suspension's rear shock. The more you weigh the more pre-load on the spring. If you later find that you are bottoming, then you need more spring pressure. Do not overdo this setting.

Let the straps out fully, Then set rear suspension's front spring support washer so you have just enough tension on the support washer to keep it firmly in place.

Then test the sled. If it wheelies, then extend the control rods. If the rods are fully extended per the manual and it still wheelies, then shorten the straps. Once you have the control rods set, so that it no longer wheelies, then try some turns. If it pushes through the turns, tighten straps until you have the carbides digging in good enough to make the turn. Do not over do it.

Then once you all of the above right go back to the rear suspension's front spring. Adjust it so that you have just enough tension on it to keep the support washer in place.

From this starting place, if you need more ski pressure, then shorten straps. If you need less ski pressure, then lengthen straps. Whenever you do this, check that support washer to make sure the spring is firmly held in place but not overly compressed.

If you find that you have the straps out all the way, and there is still to much ski pressure, then you tighten up on the rear suspension's front spring to take up some of the weight off the skis.

 

[SMOKNZ]

Then once you all of the above right go back to the rear suspension's front spring. Adjust it so that you have just enough tension on it to keep the support washer in place.

Len,

Even with the straps all the way off there is still some spring pressure on the support washer. How much is enough? It isn't like getting zero preload on the ski shocks, is it? couple turns past zero preload?

 

[Len Todd]

You need enough pre-load on the spring to keep the support washer in place when the shock is fully extended. You know that you have excessive pre-load when the sled starts to teeter-totter, assuming all the other adjustments are correct.

 

[SMOKNZ]

Len,

Through this process do you as you max out the control rod adjustment, you make a strap adjustment and put the control rods in the middle again?

I set my rear spring so I had about a 50%/50% gap between the control rods while sitting fully geared up on the sled with the control rod adjustment somewhere close to middle.

Last year I wasn't able to adjust the center shock because the aluminum nut was stripped. I replaced it this year and had to fix the support washer as it was bent, and I am looking to do some adjustments. Sled never teetered or darted when getting off the throttle but the steering was very heavy. The spring tension was pretty tight. When we get more snow I am going to test this setup procedure out!

 

[Len Todd]

My control rods are set back to the OEM stock position. If you find that the sled is still teeter-tottering and the front spring is still not sufficiently preloaded to preclude the support washer from repositioning itself and bending, then maybe you need to lengthen your control rods a bit. This is the adjustment used to adjust weight transfer ( i.e. keep the skis from lifting off the ground during acceleration.)

I am careful to not over pre-load the rear spring. If the nut on yours stripped, you could have previously done that. I have mine rear shock spring set to the stock position. It seems to "float" my 220 lbs fairly well without being too stiff. This is the adjustment used to adjust the sag. I have the cam in the middle setting.

Then, I add just enough pre-load on the rear suspension’s front shock to keep the support washer in place. If you previously bent that washer, is it possible the spring was too loose at one time? This could allow the support washer to curl up inside the spring. This is the adjustment used to pick up some of the weight off or add weight to the skis. I use the spring adjustment to do that.

With the above initial settings or adjusted slightly from these initial settings, then I use the straps to slightly adjust ski pressure. I will tell you though the amount of carbide and its condition is critical to how you want the sled to perform when turning. I find that brand new 4" doolies are great. But, ... they wear down a bit and then I am pulling up the straps to get better steering. You can get to the point that you are over-doing the straps to compensate for bad carbides. Just because they are there does not mean they are sharp and working correctly. I went up to 6" doolies late last year. I had to back the straps significantly to preclude over-steering. My point here what you have under the skis for carbides greatly affects the rear suspension's front settings.

 

[ATV PRO #11]

Great thread guys!!
Going to print this off and go to work this weekend!!
I too have been clip clopping around the manual but the feedback here is much better!!