Fox Floats on Mnt Viper

If you want it to work like a mountain sled - toss the stock proaction in the trash and bolt in a mountain skid from a cat, poo, or doo. All of the will work better in snow than the stocker and are lighter. I have no experience with the doo skids, but we've done a couple cat ones and I'm using polaris/holz skids in my sleds now. No comparison to the stocker. What I have now is better in every situation. Never tried floats, but we did the stocker with hydraulic shocks, with gas shocks, with viper shocks, with ohlins shocks, tried them set back, tried them with transfer rods, tried them without rods, I'd keep going, but you get the idea:) Bottom line is if you want it to act like a mountain sled you will need to scavage parts off of the brands that have actually built sleds that work on a mountain.
 
Thumper: I think you are incorrect. The valving on Float 2's was changed so that the shocks had more "cushion" and a softer/less harsh return rate. The complaint with Float 1's apparently was they felt like a pogo stick jumping off the bumps -- they delivered too much energy back and sprung back. Carver revalves Float 1's to Float 2 specs for a fee. The additional canister/reservoir adds more air into the mix, allowing for an even softer ride no matter which model of Floats you are using. The canisters are optional.
 
I don't want to replace the skid, just the shocks to find improvement. My hope here was that somebody has done something themselves that works (Gild seems to have done just so) replacing the rear steel bodied shocks with something where install won't be too bad and that will work better. I may never achieve perfection with my 2003 sled, but I believe there must be good options out there people are using/ have tried that works......
 
I hear you on wanting to keep with the stock skid, but you are chasing your tail. I don't doubt that there are ways to make the stock skid work (to a point) as I thought I had it figured out a couple times. Sadly i finally gave up and went a different direction. New shocks for the stock skid are going to be $300 - $600 or more depending on what you try. I've got less than $500 in each of my used holz skids and they came with a pretty decent shock package.
 
I understand your point Ryan. I do. But that doesn't help answer my question. Unless you are offering to come to Duluth and install a new skid in there, that doesn't help. But swapping out shocks is not as big of a problem.....

So my question was which aftermarket shocks would work/ fit into my skid to improve off trail performance, without costing me my next child.....

I was in particular interested in what Gild did --- looks excellent..... If anybody has any ideas about that or other options they did, please let me know. I appreciate it very much.


Mike
 
mntvipermn said:
I understand your point Ryan. I do. But that doesn't help answer my question. Unless you are offering to come to Duluth and install a new skid in there, that doesn't help. But swapping out shocks is not as big of a problem.....

So my question was which aftermarket shocks would work/ fit into my skid to improve off trail performance, without costing me my next child.....

I was in particular interested in what Gild did --- looks excellent..... If anybody has any ideas about that or other options they did, please let me know. I appreciate it very much.


Mike
Click to expand...


If you would like a 151 in your sled, I say go with the new 08+ Mseries 141 skid relocated back. Find one with Fox Zero's or even better fox Floats...


That Would be an incredible setup.
 
I have a really good lead on a set of Ohlins that will fit/work great. I would prefer a Fox Float on the Rear, and an Ohlins on the Center, but the Ohlins would work sweet also...


Mike
 
I have a really sweet set of Ohlins for both center and rear shocks on the way........

I will post pics once the are installed..... ;)! ;)! ;)! ;)! ;)!
 
A guy could do this easily enough himself I think. The trick is to convert the area where the shock attaches (you need Clevis style bracktes that will also fit the fox floats)........ I know Pip'dViper also did this mod and he had to fabricate brackets for the fox floats for where they attach to the bulk head.

I don't have fabricating equipment at my disposal, so I had to go to Carver Performance. But believe it or not, there is a company out of Canada that sells these things. That's where Carver got them from. Cost was like $25 for both sides. But you do need those brackets.

Then it's just a matter of finding fox floats that fit with correct center to center length. I can't remember the exact length right now, but Carver said the RMK's use the same length shocks, and that's whet he used.

Before the install, Carver revalved them to fox float 2 specs and also added reserviors to the shocks.

so total cost was something like $1,000 for shocks, $300 for reserviors, $25 for clevis style brackets, and he charged a very, very nominal shop and labor charge.

I also put new Ohlins on the rear pro action. I'm not sure which is improved more -- the front or the back. But the sled is so, so much better it's unbelievable.

In bumps/moguls, nobody can pull away from me now. The sled rides really, really smooth. Night and day better.

In powder, the suspension seems to "float" much better with the terrain now. I think comfort and performance both are much improved.

Suspension mods aren't cheap, but are well worth the cost IMO. Improves your sledding experience exponentially.

My back and knees sure love me better now!!!!

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Mike
 
Thx Lightning. I know it wasn't cheap, and I'm sure a guy could do it cheaper himself and from getting parts off ebay if a guy looked hard. And trust me, it took an act of congress to get the wife on board with this one......

But on the flip side it has made the Mnt Viper into an entirely different sled. More capable, better handling, and most importantly, very comfortable.

Actually, when my wife and I ride together now, she wants to ride the Mnt Viper. She loves how the Boss seat puts her up high and it's even more comfortable than the Attak.

IMO, suspension mods are worth every $.01!




Mike
 
It is a realy nice and clean looking mod. Looks like it belongs.

Is there a differance in the fox float shocks for a mountain machine vs a trail/race... Or is it just adjusting the presure to make it work for any sled?
 
New pictures of the Floats with covers:


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Here are the rear shocks I put in. Making Floats for the rear is very difficult, so I went with Ohlins.


Large Ohlins rear shock with reservoir:


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The center shock:

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The finished sled:

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The sled is like new now. You change enough parts, and it is basically new! i also recently added a Hi Perf Roller secondary now that I really like. She really goes through the back country.


I typically run them at about 75 psi for back country riding and add pressure up to about 90 psi for rough trails. Easiest shocks ever to adjust -- just add air!!



Mike
 
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