Shocks

[ricer68]

What shocks is everyone switching to? Not sure about the Fox floats and having to mess with the air pressure. I just picked up a 14 viper xtx currently has fox floats 3.

 

[Kkurz]

As far as I'm concerned, any high quality coil spring shock will improve the ride over the air-sprung shock. I picked up a set of Fox coils and they are so nice! Fox, Hygear, Elka, Ohlins... All good. I think, the air shocks are light, and the younger "snowcrosser" generation identify with them, but unless all you do is jump, they ride like crap. My 2 cents...

 

[super1c]

I went with the hygear evol chambers and it really made a big difference on the front.

 

[Mike P]

What shocks is everyone switching to? Not sure about the Fox floats and having to mess with the air pressure. I just picked up a 14 viper xtx currently has fox floats 3.

Custom Axis from Hygear. It really depends on your budget and what type of riding you do. I don't like the air shock myself. The pressure seemed to change, -20-f the shock would soften up as compared to later in the day at +20-f . A lot of threads on this subject.....

 

[ricer68]

Yeah not sure what the budget will be, just got the sled so going to have to keep it on the DL with the wife. Lol

 

[rbell14]

Hygear evol was an inexpensive way to get way better performance out of my fox air shocks. Budget did allow for me to purchase all new shocks.

 

[snowfever27]

X2 on the Hygear ‘evol’ upgrade. I just took the hygear dual pressure kit off of the float 3’s on my dads sled. He’s selling the sled. They have 200 miles on them. PM me if you’re interested, I’ll give you a good deal. I hated my float 3’s until I did the evol upgrade. Now I like them. Someday I’ll have some high end coil overs, but after the evol upgrade the floats perform much better. They are a huge improvement over the stock float 3’s.

 

[PeeWee86]

My Viper MTX 141 has the same rear skid as the XTX. I went with a Zbros Exit X2 rear shock and their 145lb spring for the center shock spring. ZBroz asked me about my weight and my riding style and they custom valved the shock for me. The Exit X2 also had a better price point than the Axis or the Elka shocks that I looked at.

So far I have been VERY pleased with the results I’ve gotten with this combo. There is a long thread on here that talks about reducing ski pressure on the Viper MTX and XTX by changing out the weak factory 110lb center spring. Recommended reading. At some point in the future I may send the center shock to Cannondale for a re-valve. He claims to have made great strides from the factory valving.

I had my front shocks rebuilt with a Fox EVOL upgrade. Again I’ve been happy with the ride results, but if I had to do it over again I may have gone with the Hygear Dual Pressure 3. I believe I would’ve had similar results and I would’ve spent a little less money. The upgrade kits that are available directly from Fox have the EVOL chamber turned 90° from with where they are on a factory Yamaha shock. The Yamaha/Arctic Cat versions are not available from Fox as an upgrade. Because of this different orientation they interfere with the A arms unless they are mounted upside down. Fox confirmed that this was not an issue with their operation but it does make the EVOL chamber more vulnerable to damage. I talked with the Fox service center in Baxter about my concerns and let’s just say that I felt their response was lacking in good customer service. Next year I plan to switch over to nitrogen in them for more consistentsy.

 

[alexm2816]

The DX coil overs struggled for me (230lbs in gear) for anything but an easy cruise. Had Cannondale repair a set of abused FF3's and hygears I got on ebay and the classifieds and I love them so far. Now I just want wish the skid was as stout as the front! What are guys doing to the rear skid on the DX's to get more out of them?

I thought the air pressure would be a bigger headache than it is. I have checked it 3 times and it's taken 3 pumps to get to spec and I'm guessing most of the air loss is from putting the gauge on and off.

 

[cannondale27]

The DX coil overs struggled for me (230lbs in gear) for anything but an easy cruise. Had Cannondale repair a set of abused FF3's and hygears I got on ebay and the classifieds and I love them so far. Now I just want wish the skid was as stout as the front! What are guys doing to the rear skid on the DX's to get more out of them?

I thought the air pressure would be a bigger headache than it is. I have checked it 3 times and it's taken 3 pumps to get to spec and I'm guessing most of the air loss is from putting the gauge on and off.

I can fix your rear shock too bud! Or you could buy my Axis center I have in classifieds!

 

[alexm2816]

I can fix your rear shock too bud! Or you could buy my Axis center I have in classifieds!

I'll give you a buzz tonight. Gotta see if my 2 week window can fit your schedule for a rework!

 

[Wannaviper]

I replaced my XTX's rear shocks last year with Fox QS3 coil-overs and I am very happy with them. I wanted to get a set for the front, but adding the Hygear evol chambers to my Float 3's was a lot cheaper, and has worked surprisingly well.