Mini ATV front Suspension

waynev · 11-11-2009, 08:15 PM

Well i finally got some time to get to the shop today with my spare set of mini atv shocks that i won on the auction.
First step was to see if i could lighten up the spring rate a bit as the springs are very stiff on the front end of these little machines.
It was a bit tricky to compress the springs to get to that nut but the arbour press came in handy.......

Well that made it much easier, i used a big washer that i had cut out of 1/8" aluminum and then cut a slot up to the center, i then used a screwdriver to pry the spring back and inset that disc then the arbour press made easy work of compressing the spring so i could get my 17mm wrench on the nut and then used a 19mm to turn the end off.

I found these springs to have way too much preload on them and yeah don't worry about these shocks becuase they aren't, it is a shaft inside a tube and that's it, they work on spring only.

I ended up cutting 3/4" off the end ( the one with the tighter spring spacing ) and reassembling the shocks. Before i cut off the springs there was no way in hell i could move these shocks with my two hands pushing against each other, now after removing the 3/4" i can now compress the shocks with my hands 5/8" and my bathroom scale spring rate tester comfirmed this.
Before cutting, the stock shock took 95lbs to move 1/2" and 190lbs to move 1", after cutting the rate dropped to 60lb for the 1/2" mark and 120lbs for the 1" mark.

So far these results look promising and i'm hoping to get them installed this weekend.

I also reversed the direction of where the tight coils were from the way the shocks came, here a pic of the finished shocks and the washer i used to disassemble.

I'll keep you posted on my results after mounting on the quad.

11-11-2009, 08:15 PM	#1
waynev Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: London, Ontario Posts: 1,097	Mini ATV front Suspension Well i finally got some time to get to the shop today with my spare set of mini atv shocks that i won on the auction. First step was to see if i could lighten up the spring rate a bit as the springs are very stiff on the front end of these little machines. It was a bit tricky to compress the springs to get to that nut but the arbour press came in handy....... Well that made it much easier, i used a big washer that i had cut out of 1/8" aluminum and then cut a slot up to the center, i then used a screwdriver to pry the spring back and inset that disc then the arbour press made easy work of compressing the spring so i could get my 17mm wrench on the nut and then used a 19mm to turn the end off. I found these springs to have way too much preload on them and yeah don't worry about these shocks becuase they aren't, it is a shaft inside a tube and that's it, they work on spring only. I ended up cutting 3/4" off the end ( the one with the tighter spring spacing ) and reassembling the shocks. Before i cut off the springs there was no way in hell i could move these shocks with my two hands pushing against each other, now after removing the 3/4" i can now compress the shocks with my hands 5/8" and my bathroom scale spring rate tester comfirmed this. Before cutting, the stock shock took 95lbs to move 1/2" and 190lbs to move 1", after cutting the rate dropped to 60lb for the 1/2" mark and 120lbs for the 1" mark. So far these results look promising and i'm hoping to get them installed this weekend. I also reversed the direction of where the tight coils were from the way the shocks came, here a pic of the finished shocks and the washer i used to disassemble. I'll keep you posted on my results after mounting on the quad.
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