M10 air on Viper - review

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mhollida

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Here is my early review and comments on an M10 AIR skid on 2003 Viper.
Got mine last year and installed over the summer. Not too bad install, thanks to the tech section here (M10 standard install). I added tunnel support plates in the area of the front arm after reading about some issues with tunnels tearing where the front arm bracket mounts. I just made steel sheet metal plates and riveted to tunnel where the front arm bracket mounts.
Review
First to be fair I bought my 03 Viper last spring and did not get a chance to ride it stock. I did however get to ride my buddies 03 Viper last week side by side with my M10 Viper so I had a good A-B comparison.
Initial set up:
I followed FAST recommendations and set the rear air shock for 4-5" sag when sitting on sled. This ended up at 60psi for me (190lbs) pretty close to the chart they supply with the M10 air.
The front shock was set at 50psi per the chart supplied.
The FRA was set at 1.5 per the chart.

First ride as adjusted above:
Lot of choppy trails with various Moguls some real bad - rode late when trails were beat up.
I was not impressed at first - the sled kicked really bad - hit mogul good compression then it would kick you off the seat on the re bound. It was not bottoming out just had a lot of kick back.
Long story short, I dropped the rear shock gradually until I got to 50 psi, better all around but still had KICK BACK, really had a lot of sag so I did not go any further with the rear shock pressure.
Then I started to lower the front shock, WOW when I got down to 40 or so PSI the kick was not nearly as bad and the sled was a lot more stable overall.
That is as far as I got, did not adjust the FRA (set at 1.5) but will experiment with it now that the shock pressures are close.
Then I rode my buddies stock Viper, now I understand the M10 advantage, his was ok over stutter bumps but when I hit Moguls bang, hard into the hole and harder out.
Seems with the M10 the faster I rode the better it handled the moguls. Takes getting used to, slower is just roller coaster, faster and the skid does not over react kind of just skips from mogul to mogul. There is a limit of course to this, but I never bottomed the M10, the stock one hammered a few times when over pushed.
The M10 air shocks are a PAIN to adjust, have to lay on the ground and reach up under to attach the hand pump. Real fun getting to the fittings when the snow is packed under there.

Overall I am very happy. Need to fine tune more, lower front and rear PSI maybe, I never bottomed it at 50 rear / 40 front so I think lower until bottom and then up a few PSI?

Anyone else with M10 air experience?

Let me know your set ups

Thanks
Mark
 
Hey Mark,

I have been out twice now with my new M20 on a 2003 Viper. I rode for a year with stock and the difference is night and day. To get through the choppy stuff with stock the only way I could manage was to stand up - the stock skid was not friendly at all. With the M20 I have also found that the faster you go the better the skid performs. My buddy, who generally takes the lead and is a much more aggressive rider than myself rides a new 800 cat. When the rough stuff appears he slows down so much that the roller coaster begins. I now find myself lagging quite a bit behind so I can take a nice run at the rough stuff. At reasonable speeds you barely notice the moguls at all. That being said I did notice the rebound that you were talking about. I weigh about 165 lbs and have the front air shock dialed into about 45 lbs with the rear about 50 lbs. I will try a lower front pressure and get back to you. That may be the final tweak that I need. Overall the FAST skid is amazing, I barely stand up at all now, sweat less, and enjoy the ride soooo much more.
 
m-10 air wave on srx 136

In response to the reviews on the m-10s I installed an airwave 136 on my 99srx this fall. With my gear on I tip in at 280. I started with 70psi in the raer shock to maintain 4" sag and 50psi in the front shock. Keep in mind the airwave has no fra adjustment so all you have is air to play with. I also was getting bucked off the seat in the whoops. I lowered the rear shock to 66psi and was still like a bucking bronco. The next step was lowering the frt shock to 45psi. Much better. I finally settled at 35psi which is quite a lot lower than fasts paperwork states. Now this thing sucks up whoops like nothing Ive ever had and Ive had several m-10s with all sorts of shock setups. It really does work. The last ride we did was 500mi and I noticed the leading edge of the hifax right where they begin to curve around the skid were really wearing. I pulled the limiter strap uo 1 hole and I think it took care of the problem. I also think with so much air in the frt shock it would not give in at all to a bump and was keeping constant down pressure against the track in the frt. Overall I am satisfied with the skid, the frt air shock is a pain to adjust but now that Ive got it I set I wont have to mess with it on the trail. This thing eliminates stutter bumps that normally irritate me on the trail. The big moguls are still there but it cushes you right through them with ease.
 
i have an airwave in my viper for the last 4 years and love it. i weight about 265+ with gear on and have the rear shock set at 75lbs. i just have the spring fox shock up front with the limiter strap pulled up 1 full hole. over 3000 miles without having to change the hyfax so far. when you are on the gas in the bumps, they just disappear.
 
I see Fast sells just the front air shock for older m-10's and I wonder if any of you guys know anyone using that setup?I see the front air shock comes on standard m-10's now.I have thought maybe that would be a nice upgrade for my 136" m-10, any thoughts?I believe its like $349, I didn't think that sounded horrible.
 
Fast is only 4 blocks from my house, so I always run Q's by thier lead tech Brian. Great customer service!
So yes, you can add the front airwave or the rear airwave in the older m-10's. I have 2 metric's and for the one in the srx I put a airwave in the rear.

Also don't foget you can also adjust the Flex piston setting to keep from bottoming out. I have mine it position 4.

Was holding onto my Rear Ohlins M-valve clicker shock until I was sure of the airwaves ride, but 200+ miles later and I'm very happy with it. So the Ohlins m-valve will be posted for sale now!
 
Also you can order the braided extension air line for the shocks, but the again, once the air pressuer is set, no real need to adjust them again.
 
sounds like you are real happy with it on your SRX Chazz. i'm thinking of adding the M-10 air or the Expert to my SRX next winter. i see from reading that the AD Xpert transfers better with less top end loss. wondering if this is true. how is the top end of your SRX after you added the M-10?


:letitsnow
 
my next sled with definitely have one too. keep the viper for the kids and get a new 4 stroker and take it to FAST. after i rode a sled with one, i won't go back.
 
I have the 1.25 ripsaw and with the m-10, I did lose some on the top end, but I'm not a lake racer. So what little I did lose is not noticable on the trail when going corner to corner and besides, the ride more than makes up for it!
 
WOW - I didn't think dropping the extra 5 lbs was going to make that much of a difference. During an 8 hour ride Saturday I put the final tweaks in the M20. I dropped the air in the front shock to 40 lbs and the rear to 45 lbs (down from 50). It felt like I may have bottomed out a few times so on the way back I put another few pounds back into the back only. An hour later I couldn't believe how much action that few pounds took out of the suspension so I dropped the rear pressure to 45 again. Fast is not kidding when they say a few pounds can really make a difference. Jumping up and down on the sled would make you think that there is way too much travel in there to be set up properly but with my weight of 165 lbs I didn't bottom out at all during the remaining hours of the trip and the skid literally ate up all the stutter bumps. I'm really glad I read this thread. And I thought I had an amazing setup before Saturday ;)

Now for a question: It was pretty warm here on the weekend. Right around the freezing point. Does anyone have experience with air shocks and varying temperatures? Will I have to recalibrate the shocks when the temperature drops?
 
03Viper said:
WOW - I didn't think dropping the extra 5 lbs was going to make that much of a difference. During an 8 hour ride Saturday I put the final tweaks in the M20. I dropped the air in the front shock to 40 lbs and the rear to 45 lbs (down from 50). It felt like I may have bottomed out a few times so on the way back I put another few pounds back into the back only. An hour later I couldn't believe how much action that few pounds took out of the suspension so I dropped the rear pressure to 45 again. Fast is not kidding when they say a few pounds can really make a difference. Jumping up and down on the sled would make you think that there is way too much travel in there to be set up properly but with my weight of 165 lbs I didn't bottom out at all during the remaining hours of the trip and the skid literally ate up all the stutter bumps. I'm really glad I read this thread. And I thought I had an amazing setup before Saturday ;)

Now for a question: It was pretty warm here on the weekend. Right around the freezing point. Does anyone have experience with air shocks and varying temperatures? Will I have to recalibrate the shocks when the temperature drops?
Click to expand...

yes, that is what i have noticed. it usually isnt' much though
 
chazz, you have the 2 assault shocks correct?
and how does this ride compare to the m20? just wondering if you had the chance to compare both rides because your close to the teamfast factory.
 
Had an Xpert X but now ride M20 Air. If you want top end only go X but anything to do with tail riding M20 along with the words " C ya "
 
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