Frankenstein projects

[Stoopidbot1]

I guess I could have made that a little clearer. That is what I meant, cut off the old mount from the frame and make new ones. I wouldn't even think of welding on the shock itself, the heat could very easily ruin the shock.

OK I was thinking I wouldn't want to ride on modified shocks. But I have seen your work and wasn't putting anything past your abilities.

[DirtDemon]

Your words are too kind sir.

[Sc0tt]

Very nice I may need to look at getting new shocks soon.

[Stoopidbot1]

I just sold my 450 stockers to Mellow Yellow.

Has anyone else heard of using a Banshee front shock on the rear of a 400ex? A guy on another site pulled it off. He says he loves it.

[DirtDemon]

Very nice I may need to look at getting new shocks soon.

Keep your eyes on e-bay. You can find good deals on stock take-offs from 450's for pretty cheap. They aren't as good as the better aftermarket shocks that are available for your bike, but the new gen. stockers are still way better. I also saw alot of killer deals on aftermarket units too.

[DirtDemon]

I just sold my 450 stockers to Mellow Yellow.

Has anyone else heard of using a Banshee front shock on the rear of a 400ex? A guy on another site pulled it off. He says he loves it.

A single front shock would be way too soft in back. The rear shock is designed to support about half of the wieght of the quad by itself, the front shocks split the other half among two shocks. Also consider the fact that the distance from the rear tires to where the rear shock mounts to the swingarm is probably three times the distance from one front tire to the mounting point for the front shock on the a-arm. This means the rear wheels have alot more leverage on the shock than the fronts ones do. I wouldn't be suprised if the rear end bottomed out just from sitting on it.

[Stoopidbot1]

They guy said it worked. He said that the Banshee fronts are only 5/8" I think he said longer than the 400ex rear. Not something I would personally try but hey...to each his own, right?

[wheeler0801]

wooooooot all about the chair yo bahah.

[DirtDemon]

They guy said it worked. He said that the Banshee fronts are only 5/8" I think he said longer than the 400ex rear. Not something I would personally try but hey...to each his own, right?

Indeed, everyone has thier own preferences, who knows, maybe he only weighs 85lbs, then he would need a softer ride.

[DirtDemon]

wooooooot all about the chair yo bahah.

Yes, I still get a kick out of it myself every time I look at it. Now, if I could only find the time to finnish it.

[DirtDemon]

Well, I realized I should have done a bit more research before purchasing those KFX 450 shocks, it just occured to me to check the setup on an actual KFX 450. Just as I thought, I had to move the lower shock mounts out about 2" in order to get the leverage ratio on the shock about the same as it would be on the Kawi. The last thing I wanted to do was hack up my brand new a-arms, but it turned out ok. Definately not as pretty as they were, but I had some black appliance epoxy sitting around, so at least I could touch up the new mounts so they match the rest of the arms.

[Stoopidbot1]

That doesn't look bad, unless you point it out to someone no one will notice.

Good job

[DirtDemon]

Thanks Bot. I just got the rest of it finnished up last night. I have to swing by my buddies weld shop next week and use his TIG machine to fix my radiator, I found a crack in the weld around one of the bottom post mounts. I think I will fix my other bumper too, the one I am using now is pretty crooked.

[Sc0tt]

Looks good to me I wish I had some rezzies on my LT.

[Stoopidbot1]

Looks good to me I wish I had some rezzies on my LT.

Pick some up. Get some take offs from a 450.

[Sc0tt]

I wonder how they would work with the difference in weight.

[DirtDemon]

Depending on how they fit on your quad, they could have a softer ride than on the 450. It all depends on how much leverage the wheel has on the shock. Moving the shock mount on the a-arm will soften or stiffen the ride. I just set mine up as it was on the KFX, my bike is a little lighter, not much, but the shocks are really set with a 150-170lb. rider in mind, I am about 215, so if they are stiffer that is good.

[Sc0tt]

Sounds good DD I might try and get some. I wonder if the KFX ones would be the best bet.

[DirtDemon]

The '07 and up Yamaha's have the best shocks IMO, I had bid on a set of those, but I got out bid, I picked up the Kawi ones because I got a good deal on them and they were virtually unused. I would look at every bike and find out which one has the most similar front suspension geometry as your LT.

[DirtDemon]

So, the good news is my rear brakes work again, and I got my radiator fixed. The crappy news is I found two new cracks in the frame. I removed the airbox to make room to get the welder all the way around, and wire wheeled the areas that need to be welded. I am hopefuly going to get off work early enough to get my bottle filled tomorrow so I can go back to the solid wire, the cracks are in the tail end/sub-frame area and the metal is thinner back there, so I don't want to use the flux-core wire in that area.

[Sc0tt]

Good luck!

[DirtDemon]

I took the old beast out for her first ride since I put the new shocks on her. It handes sooo much better, but now I think I need to upgrade the rear suspension to even the ride out a bit. Here is what she looks like all put back together. I had to edit it slightly as my friend decided that it needed a new sticker which some might find offensive. lol

[Sc0tt]

Looks great. I need to find me some shocks I guess.

[DirtDemon]

Thanks, I found it to be a good upgrade, it made a world of difference.

[Stoopidbot1]

I saw a guy who put LT-R450 shocks on all four corners or a RZR 170.(Polrais RZR for kids)

This thing is completely custom. the guy made long travel A-arms for it and everything. Those are the LTR shocks.

[Sc0tt]

That looks very wicked. I'll bet those kids have a blast with that.

[Stoopidbot1]

I don't have a Long Travel SxS. That 10 year old does!

His dad is a SxS race car designer/fabricator. He takes stock Rhino and stuff and gets them ready for short course racing.

[DirtDemon]

Lucky brat kids.

[DirtDemon]

I just put a '92 CR 250 ignition in the 500R, soo much easier to start now, and the top end performance is noticeably better.