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Suspension tuning primer

jwalker2020

Newbie
Joined
Feb 21, 2005
Messages
17
Location
Stinson Lake, NH
I just bought an 05 Rage and an 05 Vector, which are a total blast. I
am also new to snomobiling, so I don't have experience tweaking
suspension settings.

The Rage/Vector manual tells you how to change the settings, but it doesn't
tell you the effect. For example, it tells you how to change the
limiter strap length, but not what it actually does.
It also talks about weight transfer without explaning it.

I was wondering if there are any good resources out there for the Rage/Vector
or even snowmobiles in general, on what all of these settings do.

Thanks!
 

I'm in the same boat. I could also use a primer.

The best I've found so far is this site, searching it for suspension and "ski lift" type threads. To some extent the different sleds all need different adjustments, but some of the ideas seem the same.
 
Well, I'll throw something out here, and others can add to it or refute it as they see fit.

1.) Limiter Straps. The shorter you make the limiter strap the more ski pressure. (It is kinda the course adjustment for ski pressure, with the ski preload adjustment being more of a fine adjustment in my opinion) More ski pressure will help the sled bite better in the corners, and help minimize inside ski lift, but will also make the sled more difficult to steer. Meaning it requires more effort to move the handlebars.

2.) Weight transfer will also affect the ski pressure, but only when you are applying power to the track. If you have a lot of transfer setup you will lift the skis off the ground under hard throttle. You are looking for a good balance of being able to control the sled while also getting good traction with the track to accelerate. This one requires a bit of dialing in, and can change drastically with the snow conditions.

3.) Other than that the other setting that you need to deal with is simply the preload for the rider's weight, and this one is pretty straight forward, but requires a different adjustment depending on the sled you are riding and which rear suspension it has.

4.) There are other settings like the anti bottoming adjustment for the Vector, but this is kinda the next level up from just getting the sled set up to handle well.
 
Pretty nice effort QC
After years of messing with suspensions, going as far as having shocks revalved and changing springs I now have a new approach.
Being under 200 lbs I'm going to set everything to full soft. If I bottom out too much (some bottoming is good, that way you know you are using all of your suspension) I'll dial it back up.
Weight transfer does one more thing. It allows your suspension (front and rear parts of skid) to act independently. This is a good thing for comfort. Plus I love the feel of it so I have mine maxed out for as much as possible
 
Tork,

By maxing out the weight transfer do you mean you adjusted for the maximum travel on the rods on the back end of the skid? I'm looking for a nice soft ride.
 


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