So Cal Suspension

I'll just give you mine. Yellow spring. Just pay shipping and it's yours.

This is on an Axis shock I'm rebuilding right now, but it will be identical to an elka. #1 needs to unthread. Elka might use a pin-type spanner wrench. You will need to clamp the rod end in a vice, and unscrew that retainer. #2 should also be a pin-type spanner, and will unthread the same way. You will need to spin the rebound adjustment all the way until it locks so you can apply force with the spanner. Remember everything will be loc-tite'd. #3 will consist of two tiny springs, and two tiny little balls in there... don't lose them... lol. there should be two o-rings... that's it. If you're not getting any leakage out of there, I would consider not disassembling that part. Might be more of a pain in the ass than anything. Those rarely go bad as they don't see as much heat, or any movement.

The G-series are VERY good shocks. They are Works' answer to Axis, Elka, and TCS. Very similar design with an IFP, instead of a nitrogen bladder. CNC machined piston, rather than a cast, and 5/8" shaft. Works really did a good job building that shock.

You need to completely de-pressurize the shock and drain the oil. Elka has had three or 4 different hand adjusters over the years. Post up a pic of it and I'll be able to tell you which one.

I've got a stock rear shock I'll make you a deal on. It's in good shape. Let me know and I'll send you some pics.

pm sent

My plan is this... I'm shortening the shafts an inch, and I'm playing with the idea of shortening the bodies an inch, as well. There are a few companies out there that sell a dual rate spring setup for these shocks, but by the time you pay for a revalve and re-spring, you might as well have bought some works... lol. I couldn't believe how stiff the valving was in these shocks out of the box. I softened the compression, as well as sped up the rebound a touch. I'll do most of the testing on my bike, and hope for the best. If it's a total flop, then it was a learning experience. As far as the stock springs go... I'm not going to shorten them at all, yet. With the preload backed almost all the way off on the shortened shaft, they have about the same amount of preload as they did with the adjusters cranked down. So I'll run it that way for testing, and if the springs need to be shortened, I'll have a local spring shop cut them down and re-"flatten" the spring. I'm spending a small fortune on trying to get these things dialed in, but if I can get it right, it'll be well worth it for 450 shock owners.

So, today I got my Jeffie Seats, LLC. seat cover in. I got the all black ostrich one. I am absolutely blown away at the quality. I've owned Cascade covers before... never again will I buy a Cascade cover. Jeffie Seats for the win for sure on this one! Way to go Jeff!!! I encourage everyone to bug the shit out of him, and have him make you a cover. I can't wait to get this thing on. BTW, any specific type of staples, or stapler I'm supposed to use? The stitching on the cover is amazing.

I have the PIAA bulbs. Side by side with the Tusk, the PIAA's are brighter, but probably not worth spending 35 bucks a piece on them, so those Tusk's are a viable option.

You will need to do a DC conversion, and run a battery. HID's draw a ton of current to get started, but once "ignited" they will only pull 35w each. The same as your stock bulbs. This is where the battery comes into play, to give them the extra "jolt" it takes. WAY brighter than stock, and the bulbs don't get anywhere near as hot. Great addition in my opinion.

LOL, let me clarify something. I am not gathering information to decide whether or not to run these shocks on my own personal bike. There are a lot of people who WANT to run these shocks, and I am going to be offering a solution to the known problems. As of now, I have 3 sets of 450 shocks that I am currently working on. One set has already been shortened 1.5" to fit perfectly with stock suspension geometry; so that cures the balljoint issue. I just want to be able to offer a shock set up for a specific type of riding. These shocks are valved VERY VERY stiff from the factory, and are damn near identical to a Works shock. Valving plates are interchangeable, so are their shafts and pistons. Seal heads are different, as works uses a thread-in style, and the 450 shocks use a snap ring, with a beauty cover. Both the Works, and 450 shocks use a nitrogen "bladder", rather than an IFP in the res. No, Pogo means that that the rebound/compression is too fast. Some people like having their shocks valved very light, and like that type of setup. I've set up hundreds of shocks with VERY VERY light valving. Typically we just call them "Coil Carriers". Can anyone else chime in with their personal experience? I guess the #1 question would be: If you could change anything about the way the shock handles, what would it be?

I appreciate the info! Any luck with the pics on the rears?

Just thought about another car that is fun as hell to drive. A Thunderbird SC. You can pick them up for a dime a dozen. Supercharged 3.8l v6. There's quite a big aftermarket for them. I used to have a 1990 35th anniversary SC. (hence the matt SC esc). Go check SCCOA.com, there's quite a bit of info on there about them.

The t-tops are nice, but a PAIN IN THE ASS to take on and off... The car should come with a mini ratchet in the center console, and there is one bolt in the outside rear corner that holds them on. If that bolt strips out... goodbye quiet ride. The car my cousin drives has one bolt stripped out. It's noisy as hell now... But still fun to drive, nonetheless.

My cousin has two matching ones. He keeps one around for a parts car, if that gives you an idea... TONS of fun to drive though. GN's are one of those cars that you pull up to the line with, and they don't expect anything. VERY cheap to mod, also. With a few mods to the turbo, and a front mount... those things will run in the deep 12's.

I believe T5 silencers will work. PM "JASONS" and find out what he's using. I know they are Toomey's, but not sure which kind.

I'm working on a project with some 450 shocks. I'm looking for people running STOCK arms with 450 shocks. My goal with this is to cure all the known problems with running 450 shocks on stock arms. 1) Is the shock to firm? too soft? Just right? 2) What type of riding do you do? 3) Do you ever notice the front end bottoming out? 4) Do you notice any "pogo stick" like effect with the 450 shocks. 5) Have you noticed any ill effects on your stock ball joints from running the 450 shocks? 6) How do these shocks compare to the stock shocks? Thanks guys. If I can get mine dialed in with the stock arms. I am currently re-valving mine to my spec, but I wanted to get some feedback on what others were noticing with theirs, so I can work out a few bugs on mine, and hopefully offer a solution to everyone's problems...

x2. Spending the money on revalving/respringing the stock shock is pretty much a waste. I hate to see people spend that much money on a poorly designed shock. You will be perfectly fine with the stocker, unless you ride REALLY hard, or like to jump big. When setting up your stock shock with an extended swinger, you want to set your ride height: After installing the arm, pull up on the grab bar so the suspension is fully extended and measure from any point on the bike to the ground, and write it down. Now put on all your gear, and sit on the bike. Have a buddy measure from the same point, to the ground; write that number down as well. Finally, get us much weight on the ass end of the bike that you can to fully compress the suspension, and take a measurement. Write it down. You want your "ride height" (with you sitting on the bike) to be set at roughly 30% of your total travel. If the bike sags too much, try cranking down the preload until you get the ride height about right. If you can't get it with the stock spring, you will probably need to hit up an Eibach dealer, and get a heavier spring.

That's some good advice right there. As far as setting up the shocks to run +2's, 90% of people can get away with just cranking down the preload a little bit to accommodate the extra leverage on the spring.

Right, it was an accident. Relax ladies... I know most of you like to take the opportunity to point out a mistake since you never make any... it was simply that, a mistake. So please forgive me, and you guys can get down off your high horse. =)

Was that an attempt at a joke, gone horribly wrong?

LOL, on a $14k shee, he uses $4 dollar heims? Remind me never to have that guy build me anything...

Alright, I feel like I could step in here... I just had the opportunity to open up an Axis MX rear shock today, side by side with an Elka Stage 3, and last week I rebuilt Eric's Works Quadstar Rear. Works is all around an excellent shock. They use a nitrogen "bladder" rather than using an IFP (internal floating piston, or dividing piston) in the reservoir. Axis and Elka are damn near IDENTICAL shocks in every aspect. Piston design, IFP design, valving setup, and seal heads. Elka and Axis mimic their setup off of 95% of high end off road shocks, such as Fox, and Bilstein. Neither one of them do anything out of the ordinary. The fact of the matter is, you can get an awesome ride out of just about any shock. If it is set up right, it can ride like a Cadillac. Axis, TCS, and Elka are almost identical shocks. VERY minor differences that do not affect the way the shock handles. Works shocks will be MORE than sufficient for 95% of us. Serious competitors might want to consider an axis, elka, or TCS. Overall seal tolerances is what makes the price difference in shocks. Works have a much more "lenient" seal tolerance than elka, axis, or TCS. Works shocks were designed to be economical. They were never designed as a high end shock, and shouldn't be treated as such. They will be better than any stock shock, ten fold. The average rider won't be able to tell the difference between a properly set up works dual rate, and a properly set up elka or axis dual rate. Eric is correct in the fact that triple rates are worthless on ATVs. Take a look at your spring sliders... let me know what the difference between the middle spring and top spring slider is. If it is any less than 1.5", that middle spring is worthless. It is a selling point. Nothing more, nothing less. As far as the comment about selling them on ebay and buying new, is terrible advice. Works are so economical to rebuild that it would make no sense whatsoever to buy new ones. For about 100 bucks out the door, each, those shocks will be brand new. When I rebuild a shock, I replace EVERY part that sees any wear, and if necessary, hone the body within spec, down to 3500 grit. In conclusion, works are a very viable option for the everyday rec rider. If you are going to be doing some serious jumping, or very hard riding, consider picking up a set of Elka, Axis, or TCS's. My opinions are based solely on what I see inside the shocks... I have had my hands in THOUSANDS of shocks, and I can tell you from experience, a properly set up shock no matter how expensive, will be 100x better than the stockers. The price of the shock doesn't always mean you are getting a better shock. Axis and TCS are 99.9% the same as Elka. If you want the Elka name, more power to you, but I think there are better options out there for the 99% of people. Of course, if you can get a set of Elka's for the same price as TCS's or Axis... jump on it. They are still one of the best shocks money can buy... but in no way are they superior to Axis or TCS. Disclaimer... I do not currently own ANY of the above mentioned shocks. I HAVE owned all of the above at one point, and have rebuilt/revalved more than I care to count.

Swooped in on that ostrich seat cover like who-dunn-it! I can't wait for my Jeffie Seats, LLC seat cover to get here...