Hey folks, I enjoy many aspects of sledding and building sleds (as well as many other vehicles), but nothing brings a smile to my face quicker than a nice suspension that can take the bumps... which leads to my question, all other things aside (I know there are many), how much travel is too much? I'm just coming off a Snowhawk 500F which had 12" front and the Expert X out back with 15" total.. it could really take the bumps.... not to mention the transfer. Any feedback or links appreciated!
LazyBastard
TY 4 Stroke God
Well, most existing sleds are 8-10 front, 10-12 back. The reason not to go too much higher is that it'll raise the sled up really high. Swing around a corner on a 20" suspension and it'll feel like a harley with training wheels. Snowhawk didn't have the training wheels, so it was safe to go up higher with it.
Thanks LB.... Why not get as much travel as possible and dial more of it into the droop side to prevent the top heavy tippy over syndrome? The sooner the skis touch the sooner one has control (relative), same for the skid, get it back on the ground to get the power down.
I was out measuring the available travel on my front MPI arms (I was planning to build some but time along with other projects....) and there is a good 343mm/13.5" of travel available... and that is giving 12mm/.5" on either side of the stroke to keep away from binding the outer TRE. Is this just old news that is so comonplace it's not discussed or??
BTW, I did find your custom skid in my searching, very nice! I'm taking notes on it. Or maybe I'll find a way to get an expert X rear end to go the 15".....
I was out measuring the available travel on my front MPI arms (I was planning to build some but time along with other projects....) and there is a good 343mm/13.5" of travel available... and that is giving 12mm/.5" on either side of the stroke to keep away from binding the outer TRE. Is this just old news that is so comonplace it's not discussed or??
BTW, I did find your custom skid in my searching, very nice! I'm taking notes on it. Or maybe I'll find a way to get an expert X rear end to go the 15".....
grader
TY 4 Stroke Master
i think 3 to 4 feet should do. retractable ladder on rear bumper, hang off like the superbike racers in corners..... ya thats it.
Nice 3 or 4 feet... we can call it the ditch bitch. 
Mikey
TY 4 Stroke Junkie
The amount of suspension required is inversly proportinal to the deeper the holes are the longer you will need.
My RX-1 has Polaris IQ suspension in it with Walker Evans shocks
11 in the front 14 in the rear and yes its tippier but it only requires modification of riding style .I am quite happy with it and the wole serup was less than a m-10 or expert-x. Lots of suspensions are prolly way plusher but I guarentee mine to soak up the biggest bumps at 50 mph.
My RX-1 has Polaris IQ suspension in it with Walker Evans shocks
11 in the front 14 in the rear and yes its tippier but it only requires modification of riding style .I am quite happy with it and the wole serup was less than a m-10 or expert-x. Lots of suspensions are prolly way plusher but I guarentee mine to soak up the biggest bumps at 50 mph.
