shocks

[minneman]

Im wondering how do I know I need them serviced/changed/upgraded, or is there something im over looking?

I have an 02 panther 2up with just over 800 mi. seems real easy (compared to what I remember)to push down on the tail lite area and bottom out the sus. also it'll stay there (down), but will (with little help) pop back to the up position too (without my weight).

it used to stay up with my weight on it.

the springs are set to the heaviest setting.

[hanson]

Minneman-

My 02 ZR did the same thing last winter. I thought it was the rear shock but the dealer told me otherwise. Apparently the adjustment on my springs was as light as they go which made me wonder if this was something that loosens up the more miles you ride.

I haven't ridden it yet this winter so its only a matter of a few weeks now to find out if that was in case the problem.

Another thing I made sure to do while trying to figure out what was wrong was shooting some fresh grease into all the zerk fittings on the rear skid.

[ChuckN]

The shock went belly up. It happens, but your's seems a bit premature.

My sled had the same issue last winter, but mainly when it was really cold outside. I put a new shock in and it's good as new.

In your Panther you need to purchase a new shock. Those are not re-buildable.

[minneman]

Thanks guys, looks like an easy fix. (...any suprizes I should look out for..?)

what are the odds that the remaining shocks are shortly behind this one?

[MN Mike]

Wow, 800 miles, that is pretty early for failure but under certain conditions I would imagine it is possible.

I've had 2 sleds I have put the rear shock in, replaced the factory ones with new Kimpex and I was good to go.

I don't think I would worry about the other shocks too much unless you see something funny on them, that back one takes alot of abuse. Check the skid frame, make sure you don't have any cracks, bad bearings, check the hifax.

Mike