Lesson learned

[afroman]

This weekend i went on a nice trip through all kinds of bush trails. when i started out my suspention was a little frozen but i figured it would free up on the bumps. after about 3 hrs and hitting the gas station it was looking like a low rider i tried banging the track over and over but it would not free up and when i rode it was making a rubbing noise which i thought was the track rubbing on the iced up tunnel. i deceided to take it easy on the way back figuring it would make the ride back to the truck. we were heading back to the bush trail through a smooth powdery field when i launched her off a snow drift i didn't see. got awsome air but when she landed it sounded worse with the rubbing. i stopped and noticed small pieces of rubber behind me. the back suspention parts were camed inside against the track. the bar that is suposed to stop this is gone the limiter strap is torn and two of my buddies that went to look for the bar brought me a hand full of parts each including track clips and bolts. we tried for about an hour to mc giver it back together with no luck. it took two sleds to pull it through the snow back about 1 mile to the nearest road. well now i guess i get to learn how the suspention works as i tare it apart. hopefully it wont take too long as the conditions are still perfect here in Manitoba for riding.

Any suspention advice would be welcome as i don't have a manual for my 96 EXT 580. Thanks

[hanson]

afroman-

Interesting... My 2002 ZR600 has been giving me a heck of a time this winter. I would call it lowrider syndrome also.

One of my friends suggested I shoot up all the zerk fittings in the rear suspension. Since I hadn't lubed the rear skid in awhile, it was worth a shot. That seamed to work for about a week and then it was back to lowrider status. I was assuming a shock and brought it into the dealer since I didn't have time to mess with it.

I just got the call today and they determined it wasn't a leaky shock but rather my springs in the rear were set on the weakest setting. Not sure why that would be, but they cranked them up and said to come pick up the sled.

We'll find out if that did the trick this week.

[ChuckN]

Hanson,

I had the same problem. It was indeed a shock, the rear one. The bad shock bent 2 parallel tie rods because of the added stress. I used a hammer and re-form them as they are made of soft metal.

Your dealer doesn't make much sense. The 3 settings are on a roller cam system and should not create the "lowrider" effect. All the springs do is make minor adjustments to compensate to the rider's weight and preference of the ride.

With a new shock the sled rides like a dream. Your machine has FOX shocks and they can be rebuilt. Beats paying for a new one, my Ryde FX was spendy and not re-buildable.

The best way to remove the suspension from the sled is take the 4 bolts out, lift the rear end up and support it and take the suspension out from the track.

To re-install it I found that it was the easiest to tip the machine on it's side and finesse the suspension back in. Fasten the 2 bolts on one side, tip the machine over again and fasten the other 2.

[afroman]

thanks for the tips. i removed the suspention last night. it was easy because its compressed like a pancake . when i go to reinstall it i noticed there is lower mounting holes will using these raise the suspention? and is there ant way to get more travel out of it? i also plan on turnning down the spring tention on the shocks because the thing is too hard and it trys to buck me off everytime i go over the bumps.

[ChuckN]

Yes, you can use the lower mounted holes. I have used the lower ones on all my machines. I had a '96 Cougar and the suspension was always rough until '97 models came out with ETT, which was a much better ride.

[afroman]

what is ETT and can I replace my suspention with an ETT without replacing the track?

[ChuckN]

Extra Travel Tunnel is ETT, and I believe it is a completely different suspension design than previous years like your machine. I don't know if the holes would line up or not if your were to find a used ETT suspension for an older sled.

As far as the track, it should be similar but you will have to cross reference that with a dealer to make sure.

[hanson]

I believe ETT refers to the tunnel specifically. The back end of the tunnel is kicked up.

I'm pretty sure the rear skid on the ETT sleds is different also. They have more suspension travel than the earlier, non ETT sleds.