Last week, I installed a set of Walker Evans coilover shocks on my otherwise stock-suspension RZR and had the chance to take it out yesterday. I purchased the shocks from my Polaris dealer who was able to get them through the "Pure Polaris" catalog. Apparently, Polaris has licensed them from Walker Evans. The shocks showed up in Walker Evans Racing boxes with their stickers and everything. They just had Polaris stickers with barcodes stuck on the boxes.

The installation was pretty simple. The only pitfall to watch out for is to make sure you get the shock eyelet bushings on the correct end of the shock. The upper and lower ends use different size bushings, but they're close enough to be confused. I left the rebound adjustment and height adjustments as they were from Walker Evans for my first trip out. The RZR maintained it's stock ride height without adjusting the new shocks.

The trails my friends and I ride are mostly light sand and gravel with some rock mixed in. The only area I'd had problems with before were the "whoop" or rhythm sections. Stock, my RZR would bottom out in some areas and simply buck violently in others. My only soution thus far had been to slow WAAAAY down in these areas. With the Walker Evans shocks, I noticed that I was able to take these sections with much greater speed. Some of the deeper and more violent sections still required me to slow down, but were not as harsh as before. I could actually feel the shocks taking up a lot of the rough stuff, which was a nice change. I only bottomed out once, in the rear, but I think it was just a fluke, since it only happened once on a 25mi+ ride. The second improvement I noticed was that the roll stability was much better with the new shocks. I have been running with the front sway bar disconnected to try to get some travel out of the stock setup and left the front unhooked for my first ride with the new shocks, just to try to make an even comparisson. At higher speeds and quick, sweeping turns, the stock setup felt a little loose and top-heavy with the front bar unhooked. With the new shocks, nearly all of that went away. I'm considering unhooking the rear bar as well for the next trip out.

All in all, I'm pretty pleased with the Wlaker Evans shocks. My only real criticism is lack of paperwork and instructions (there was no shock dyno sheet and no explanation of the valving adjustments). For how and where I use my RZR, a Long Travel setup is not an option. Short of that, however, I think these shocks have made a pretty decent improvement to an otherwise stock suspension.

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'08 Green RZR
Born on 10.1.07
Two Bros. pipe, UNI filter, PCIII USB, G-Force 5pt belts, quick-release steering wheel, Venom 4k winch, Longacre rear view mirror, Walker Evans coilovers, TCP half-doors and more.

FOR SALE

Nice review!

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www.UTVGuide.net

thanks hope i am as happy

Thanks for the review.

I agree about going without the swaybar. I've had mine out on my King Quad since day one and never looked back. And having high quality shocks make it all work.

Looking forward to the results with both bars removed.

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05 Suzuki King Quad 700- Too many mods to list. Looking to get a RZR. www.nyrocatv.com

how much did you pay for the shocks?

Very good review! I look forward to more when you disconnect the rear sway bar & start playing with the rebound adjustment.

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Now a 2-Rzr household.
Romeo, MI
http://tinyurl.com/8ltm8
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i am thinking abou the wer shocks for the dunes. how much did they set you back and do you happen to still have the part number from polaris. thanks

Nice review! I put a set on about a month ago and I love them, im going to try unhooking the front sway bar now i think.. But I agree, the WER shocks really dont come with much paper work or instructions, but the rzr shocks at least come with instructions, they still dont send any out instructions with their rhino shocks. I will have two more sets shortly if anyone is interested..$1750.00. Retail is $1940.00.

Nice write up, did any of you guys compare them to the AFCO shocks??

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My RZR Project

Keep It Wet and Dirty!

I just received this email from Walker Evans and thought I would share.

Rusty,
The 140lbs and 175lbs are the shock spring rates. The shock pre-load is 1"
front and 1 3/4" rear. This is measured from the bottom of the spring nut to the point that the shock body threads into the end cap. There are 16 compression adjustment positions but the rebound is set internal within the shock valve pack. The shock pre-load, oil level, gas charge and re-bound are set at the factory. The 16 position compression adjuster is set at about 3 positions from the softest setting for a starting point, clockwise will make it a firm ride and counter clockwise will make it softer. If you adjust the pre-load make sure you do not have a coil bind problem. Hope this helps you.
Best regards,
Walker Evans Racing

After I received that reply, I wrote back, then they responded. Here is what they had to say.

RUSTY - Thank you for your reply back.

A couple more things, what made you decide on the 1 inch in front and
1 3/4
in back, is that a practical preload setting for tow full grown men - 400 lbs - total. ?


W.E. –

Rusty,

Polaris sent us one of the first RZR for testing, we now have 2 RZR's one OE suspension and one we use to test long travel kits. We have a test track out the back door of the shop and all the testing on the RZR was done with 2 passengers. Testing is done to real world conditions, passengers, gear and wheel / tire combinations. We also have race teams and dealers that report shock status and send in shocks for review and tear down. The shock valving, spring rate, pre-load, charge pressure and oil level was established to work well in all test conditions, so we have a good overall shock. Customers can adjust any or all of these for their own riding style and conditions.

badlands atv park in IN sell them for 1399 for all 4..great to deal with

Cool information from WE, nice Rusty.