I am wondering if you racers out there are using off the shelf suspension systems or fabricating your own? I understand you have to re-vavlve your shocks and set-up spring rates etc. for different racing applications but i am curious as to what a-arms are being used. Chromoly? boxed aluminum? kits or home made? Also what kind of travel do you need for a racing application?? 13 inches or are you guys up in the 15-16 range?

d,all of the above. those are all good questions most are using bolt on shocks,and bolt on lt kits.chromoly is best dom is fine too as for aluminum if you like the bling thing you can go billet a arms not too sure who is making the billets for the rzr though most kits in the 4" range travel in the 12" range and run stock length aftermarket shocks valved and sprung acordingly tech one concepts to my knowlege is the only one with a kit out thats availible and traveling in the range of 16" i think lsr is working on one as well.at the moment i am fabing my own lt and looking for 16 to 18" of travel.if your intrested check out my posts choped&chaneled rzr,and the tree one mtnmike

more travel is always better.

off the shelf is what most racers use.

Lonestar +8 is chromoly round tube. i believe 16" of travel is what they are claiming.

Mafia Ind is boxed and looks beefy, not sure of their travel numbers though.

If you are planning on racing, stepping up to adjustable shocks such as the versions that Elka makes are worth every penny. They allow you to make adjustments externally and quickly for variations in tracks. If you really know your stuff, most high quality shocks are re-valve-able internally, but they require you to pull the shocks off, and dissassemble them, and you really have to know your stuff to change internal valving or you could make them worse than they are.

Our XTR kit has 16" of usable wheel travel in the front, and 16.5" in the rear with shocks built exactly to our specs. some shock guys make the shocks slightly shorter or with different travel lenghts that can vary the final wheel travel number a little bit, but mostly its less than a 1/4" or so...

Also, another big thing to consider is if the kit uses stock length shocks or has shock towers that uses longer shocks with different mounts. For racing.. using a kit with towers and longer shocks is the best way to go. The shocks have less leverage on them, so they can work cooler, be tuned easier, will last longer, use lighter valving and springs etc. But this is not true of all kits. Some just throw longer shocks on, not really improving anything.

for example, our XTR kit uses a spring rate in the 150 range for the front, and the MTS kit uses a spring that is in the 250 range... so with the XTR kit you get 4 more inches of wheel travel, and a shock that is 7" longer. So you have a lot more oil volume, and less leverage. The less leverage, the less work, and the less work, the less heat, and the lighter the valving and springs can be.

But if you are not racing, and pushing your suspension to the limits, running shocks that aren't externally adjustable, and kits that use the stock shocks mounts will work great. Both are a huge improvement over stock. Its night and day the difference. Even just changing to a high quality shock that is set up specifcally for a Rzr will make a big difference.

G-

__________________
Lone Star Racing

well said lsr greg, could not agree more

Indeed. I went to the AFCO's with resi's and it's a complete different machine. Unless you thow a set of aftermarket shocks on the RZR you won't know what it really feels like to put it through the paces.
I would imaging a LT would make it that much nicer but I really like making it trail width with a tire/rim change.

__________________
My RZR Project

Keep It Wet and Dirty!

On our race stuff we are running some pretty stiff springs right know but we are set up for mostly big table top jumps when the local tracks make some different track conditions we will set up differently. My point is set ups will vary from track to track and driver to driver you need to start with a baseline and put in some seat time to get to your particular preference!

__________________


Proud Distributers of FST Products, Lone Star Products, XMF Products, ELKA Suspension Products, B S Sand Seats, AZ Whips, Fullbore Plastics and AXIA Alloys Billet.
Unleashed UTV
5838 N. 19th Ave
Phoenix, AZ 85015 www.unleashedutv.com
602-246-4011

Well i am come from a backround in ATV desert racing so i understand the shock part of the suspension set-up having delt with works shocks and Axis adjustable shocks over the years. The major question i was after is what are the guys at the tracks running because i do not want to purchase a LT kit and already be at a disadvantage when i roll up to the line from not doing my homework. Just seems hard to dig up information on this darn UTV's haha which i really thank you for your posts and replys. Looks like i will be in the market for a kit that is roughly 6" over and somewhere between 14-16 travel range. Again thanks for the responses and any information is always welcome

Look at FST's kit. overall the most thought out kit on the market. It's a 6 over kit, 14 inches of travel. The best off road shocks on the market, King shocks. Best of all FST is local. Tory and his crew take good care of us. Greg at Unleashed, and I at Iron City Polaris are dealers, and users. The best products in the world aren't worth a darn if you can't get support. I believe Greg has some pictures up in the suspension section. Good luck

From my experience, i would say 90% of the people (maybe more) at the track are running some sort of aftermarket kit that they purchased.... not a home built kit. As long as you do your research, and get one of the kits from the most reputable manf. you will be able to compete. This is just like anything else.. you get what you pay for.. so if you are serious about racing.. don't try and cut corners. Not saying you have to waste money, but spend it wisely, and know exactly what you are getting.

G-

Thanks for the info guys i appreciate the honest responses

Sounds like an interesting project i checked out the pics and the posts looks like you have some good ideas. I would love to embark on something like that but i only have basic mechanic skills no real experience in Fab work. Think i will have to leave that to the pro's at this point in time but good luck on your endevour and maybe we will be banging around the track some time

We use the mafia industries kit with the radflo shocks and it works great.For the race one we built we did do a aftermarket sway bar for the rear that works good also.

I agree, I also am happy with my Mafia Kit. But it's really half a dozen to one, six to the other... There are some good kits out there now.

__________________
HPD:pistons, push rods, head, valves,bush. kit, T.B.. D.F.:pipe, fuel con., belt, harness. super tip clutch. MPI: ECU. Wide band o/2. UTV CRAP: water temp, gusset tubes. T.C.B.: Cage w/ doors & roof. Edge camera: Ralley Cam. Holtz: skid plate, chassis plate,Vents. Mafia Ind.: +6'' L.T. w/ rad flow & Noleen shocks. Gear One Rack. SRT Beadlocks w/ Good Year. Amsoil: intake filter, oil filter. Optima Y., FST hubs, HIDs.

Ya i have been doing some extensive research and all of the kits are all pretty comprable with each having their own +'s and -'s. Now just waiting to talk to some people running the LSR +8 kit see how that bad boy is. BTW thanks for all the info guys