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Ride Quality

7.1K views 13 replies 8 participants last post by  Dacaur  
#1 ·
I have the 2020 900 Fox Edition. I haven't changed the adjustment on the shocks or made any suspension modifications, and I find the ride fairly harsh. The Rzr is replacing my 2015 ACE, which I raised 2", but then changed to Walker Evans Racing Shocks and the ACE was much smoother riding than my Rzr. The ground clearance of the Rzr is marginal for the type of riding I do, and I'm afraid that softening up the Fox shocks will lower it slightly, which would be a problem.
I'm considering either going with larger diameter tires or a lift then changing to Walker Evans shocks. The lift and shocks gets pretty pricey, so I'd like to be sure that it would make a significant difference in ride quality. I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has made either of these changes to their Fox Edition.
 
#2 ·
Adjusting the shocks from soft or firm, will not affect ride height. That is done with the preload only.

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#4 ·
We have an Ace 570 and it rides so much better than my 900S, that my wife prefers to drive that. I did just install some ST dual rate springs, so I am curious to try it out and dial it in.

The only time you'll truly run into 'preload' on the stock springs, you'll be at the top of suspension droop from lowering the collar to a point where the shock will no longer extend.
 
#6 ·
Thanks to all of you for your responses. I'll just have to continue experimenting with these shocks. The Fox shocks are supposed to be excellent, so I just have to learn how to adjust them properly.
I always start in the middle of soft and firm. Ride it over some whoops, and then adjust 2 or 3 clicks softer or harder, till your happy. To soft could make the ride more plush, but you may bottom out more.

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#8 ·
Don't do a lift, it will make the ride harsh as it changes the geometry of the suspension and the spring rates. A true dual rate setup is nice on the rear and will complement the ride and a 28" tire will help the GC. Bigger tire means a clutch kit as well if you want to stay in the power band.
 
#10 ·
We have a 2015 ACE 570 (stock) and a 2020 900 Fox edition. Once you dial in the shocks it's a night and day difference over the Ace. There is 24 clicks on the fox shock. Start out half way at 12 clicks then do like mquick5 said. We adjust on the fly with riding conditions. Huge difference!
 
#11 ·
Tire pressure helps. Too soft can cost ground clearance, but too much can make it too firm. Folks are all over the place on this, but 12-15 is probably a reasonable starting place.

If high speed corning isn't a concern unhooking the sway bar can help, but not always. On the other hand, I've gone the other way. I run a very stiff anti-sway bar and set my shocks much softer. I'm set as soft as I can be and not bottom on large hits. Letting the ASB/ARB handle side to side play.

If you are putting around a bit, not really going all that fast, you can increase spring pre-load a little bit. This of course means more ground clearance (and now you can soften the tire a bit more) but for each increment above factory ground clearance you go you've also removed shock extension/over-travel for going over pot-holes and what have you. There is certainly a trade-off there. Most of the time the factory will be really close the shock industry tendency to look for 2/3 of total shaft travel exposed, 1/3 remaining for extension.

However, this is certainly tunable for individual preference. Just keep in mind you're robbing peter to pay paul. And that increased ground clearance also raised CG, and so it's somewhat (tiny) more able to roll over.

Depending on how it's valved it (increased preload) can make a pretty noticable difference, for you're often gaining more "soft" travel at that point in the shock travel (assuming it's got some form of multiple stages).

So preload, compression, and tire pressure can all be juggled, as can sway bar stiffness.

I would work in the order of pre-load, then tire pressure, then compression to prevent bottomg at big hits. Then I'd unhook sway bars to see if I felt it too tippy.

It still unhappy I'd look at dual rate springs.
 
#12 ·
rfgonzo, I'll check to see where the shocks are set now and experiment a little with the set up.

dafish, Wow, you really caught my attention with tire pressure. I've always been told to run my tires around 7 lbs, but you're recommending 12 - 15? I don't do any racing, just normal trail riding with some climbing when I'm in the mountains. I'll have to reconsider the tire pressure.
 
#13 ·
Skromfols you probably were told 7psi because thats what your Polaris ACE manual suggests. Your RZR 900 suggests 10 psi for front and 12 psi for rear.
 
#14 ·
On my rzr 900 with stock tires I ran 10 in the front and 12 in the rear and that was fine.
After upgrading to 27x9-12 tusk terabytes all around 10 and 12 was a pretty harsh ride. Going to 8 in the front and 10 in the rear made it ride soooo much better. I stopped halfway through a trail I've done many times and let out some air because it was so much harsher than I was used to on the same trail, which I had run on stock tires the day before. Just 2lb of pressure made a CRAZY difference that I wouldn't have believed if I hadn't experienced it myself...