taking out my rear shock tomorrow, any tips??

[shanksyamaha]

Im taking out my rear shock and spring and sending to pioneer to have the fat boy spring installed and the shock revalved..... Whats the best way to get the spring and shock out.. do I have to remove the entire rear skid????

 

[schmeg]

No, you can leave the skid in, or for more room, just loosen the front bolts a little, then remove the rear mounting bolts (#*$&@ pain) while suspending the rear of the sled with a come-along or something similar. Then disconnect the transfer rod on one end, then rear shock mount, then front mount.

 

[Big Ron]

Hey Shanks...what fat boy spring are you going with? Did you see my post about the extra fat boy springs that are available from Ohlins USA?

 

[shanksyamaha]

I ended up buying the spring off this site from Yamadog1. Its a yamaha # 8ft-47489-10. He sold it to me for $70 shipped. The spring is like new with less than 200 miles on it. He said it was too stiff for him but Im about 35lbs heavier so I think it will work fine for me.

I didn't realize you could pull the rear spring and shock without pulling the skid. Its been a couple years since I worked on a monoshock. Im gunna get under it and take a look today. Id like to get it shipped out to pioneer asap, we had 3 inches of snow on the ground a couple days ago so its on its way...

Ok.. Just so I get this right..... Im gunna suspend the rear of the sled from the ceiling of the garage. Then remove the rear suspension mounting bolts and allow the rear of the suspension to drop down. Then remove the transfer rod mounting bolt, then the rear shock mounting bolt, then the front shock mounting bolt.

 

[copo427ss]

ide pull the whole skid right out and give it a once over. my front arm was cracked bad and i couldnt see it until it was out on the shop floor. it was cracked sometime over the last season and i always looked with a light evertime i defrosted the sled and never saw it.

 

[Metallicat]

I removed my rear shock today without touching the front or rear arm mounting bolts. I followed the posted instructions (removed limiter strap bolts and transfer rod bolt from one end) and then lowered the rear so it was compressed just a bit by a block of wood sitting underneith the rear idlers. This was just enough to take the tension off of the shock bolts so the rear shock bolt would come off easily. Then I jacked the entire rear end up (I used a come-along) so I could have good access to the front of the shock. This gave me enough room to unscrew the RA cable from the shock and remove the front shock bolts. Voila! 30 minute process as opposed to the PITA task of removing the rear end on the 136" mono.

 

[yamadog07]

you can pull shock without removing skid.
i would set shock adjustment dial to full light or full heavy , then remove cable to shock.
at least you know where it was at when you put it back in.
still is a good idea to pull skid & inspect, 2 nd year i had cracks on rails & welds. warranty covered but i would not have found unless i removed.

 

[shanksyamaha]

Thanks guys.. Im gunna go out and give it a look today. Havnt had time yet. I was gunna get the beef up kit installed but I allready spent way too much money on the sled this year and my wife is really breathing down my neck about it. The sled only has 378 miles on it so Im hopeing I can squeeze one season out of it and have the beef up kit installed after this season... Since Im not installing the beef up kit and the sled has hardly been ridden. I dont really want to bother pulling the entire skid......

 

[shanksyamaha]

pulled it out and sent it today. 20 minutes.... nothing to it... thanks for the tips guys....