Silver Bullet
New member
I just bought a 00 700 SRX and it has Ohlins on the fronts. It seems very stiff for me. I would like it to be softer for diving into corners and powder. Can you explain to me how to adjust them softer. Thanks
Change to a lighter spring rate.
iahacker
Member
I have a set of these on my 2001 SRX. They have the dampening adjusters on them which I set fairly light. Just enough so the shocks don't bang when extending after hitting a bump like a snow clod. I put the Advant-Edge extenstions on them and a set of springs from the front of a 1998 V-Max 700. You have to use the black plastic sleeve from the V-Max shock to center the spring. I had these from a sled I put Viper shocks on for a guy. It rides smoother than any other sled I have rode.
Good luck
Good luck
yamaholic22
Active member
yup just like the other guys i run my compression dampening clickers more towards the soft side or they have way too much compression dampening. You also don't want to run any more spring rate than you have to for good steering control or you will never compress the front end much.
Silver Bullet
New member
I tried the spring preload all the way off - no spring compression. This helped turning on the snowcovered road, but in powder front end was very low and snow would come over the hood. So I tried the opposite - I cranked the springs almost as tight as I could. This raised the front end and allowed me to really float through the fields of powder. I thinki I'll stay more toward tight spring but a little looser than all the way. I do have a question where are the compression dampening clickers located. If anyone has a picture to show me exactly where and which way does what I would greatly appreciate it. I'm looking forward to dialing the front suspension for my ride style - Its all new to me...
Thanks
Thanks
Look on the top of the shock on the resevor. There is a slot that you can click to different settings. I use a penny to spin the clicker to different settings. I think my shocks have about 10 different settings. When the trails are smooth I make the shocks stiff, "9" better handling. When the trails are bumpy I soften the shocks up "6". I can really feel the difference.
Silver Bullet
New member
Thanks JohnnySRX ! Where is your preload set on your sled. I have mine as tight as I can go which raised the front end - I was thinking to loosen springs up about 1/4 of the way and then use the clickers to dial in for softness.
On Ohlins you should only use the preload to adjust ride height. It is a linear rate spring so it acts differently than the progressive rate springs do. If you adjust as tight as you can go, you are simply raising ride height and eliminating travel.
After reading your more recent posts, what it sounds like you are really after is softer compression damping. I would drop the compression damping a couple clicks at a time and test sufficiently to realize the difference. If these shocks do not have adjustable rebound damping then you should get to a point where it feels a lot softer, but kicks back pretty hard. You will have to find a happy medium between these two points.
With adjustable rebound, you can fine tune both to match.
After reading your more recent posts, what it sounds like you are really after is softer compression damping. I would drop the compression damping a couple clicks at a time and test sufficiently to realize the difference. If these shocks do not have adjustable rebound damping then you should get to a point where it feels a lot softer, but kicks back pretty hard. You will have to find a happy medium between these two points.
With adjustable rebound, you can fine tune both to match.
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If you are looking for a higher front end you can do the shock bracket swap. I have done that and it raised the front end about 2". Do a search on the brackets and you will get how to do it. Its not hard, take shocks off, take brackets off, flip bracket upside down and switch sides. Put back together and the sleds sets higher. This mod is usally only done when guys have long traveled the rear suspension. So I dont know how it will work for you??? Right now I have my shocks set on 9, because the trails I was on were pretty smooth and flat. When the shocks are stiff I don't get as much inside ski lift in the corners.
shock bracket flip will give you 1in in height. everyone on here needs to send me 5cents for roylties
if you wan to use that sled in the powder, you need to raise the whole sled and use wider/longer than stock skis.
if you wan to use that sled in the powder, you need to raise the whole sled and use wider/longer than stock skis.
Silver Bullet
New member
Thanks guys for all the info - I love this place! Since I just got the sled I think I am going to use it for awhile as is playing with spring compression and clickers on the ohlins. If I still feel I need more performance in powder I'll make the swap on the brackets. I'm going to get a few miles on it before I decide what to do. I'm headed to da UP in March. Hopefully there will still be enough snow to go on and off trail. It's 41 degrees here today.
Thanks everyone
Thanks everyone