drlguy Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 I purchased YFZ450 shocks tonight.I believe they are off of a 04 or 05 (not sure how to tell.) I took the springs off and inspected the pistons and seals. Everything looks good (no obvious leaks). Does anyone have any service or performance suggestions for these shocks? Also I would like to strip and repaint springs. What kind of paint would work best. Flexible paint? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrMeyer Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 If you strip the finish your will have to watch out to not get them on the seals. They are a harsh cem for a reason. If you want to repaint them. I would sand blast them if you can and tape off all the parts that have seals. If not then you can try some good'ol hand job action on the shock with some sand paper. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
So Cal Suspension Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 If you strip the finish your will have to watch out to not get them on the seals. They are a harsh cem for a reason. If you want to repaint them. I would sand blast them if you can and tape off all the parts that have seals. If not then you can try some good'ol hand job action on the shock with some sand paper. Hope this helps. I think he was referring to just painting the coils themselves, not sure though. As with any paint job, prep is ALWAYS #1. Sandblast, and wipe down everything with alcohol before you paint. Obviously PC would be the best bet, but good quality paint should do the trick. As for disassembling the shocks. This is my forte. When you opened the shocks, did the shock oil smell bad? Even though shocks aren't leaking, if the oil has broken down significantly, the shocks are useless. The best way to tell if shock oil is bad, #1 it will stink. Bad. #2, if you rub some of the oil between two clean fingers, and it leaves a "metallic" residue on your fingers, rebuild the shock. All shocks have a Teflon band that surrounds the piston protecting it from wearing, and acting as a "bearing" on the inside of the shock body. The metallic residue that will be left on your finger i microscopic pieces of that Teflon band that wore off during normal use. The more of the band that wears off, the more oil "sneaks" by the piston, rather than being forced through the valving plates. Thus losing compression and rebound. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drlguy Posted January 10, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 I think he was referring to just painting the coils themselves, not sure though. As with any paint job, prep is ALWAYS #1. Sandblast, and wipe down everything with alcohol before you paint. Obviously PC would be the best bet, but good quality paint should do the trick. As for disassembling the shocks. This is my forte. When you opened the shocks, did the shock oil smell bad? Even though shocks aren't leaking, if the oil has broken down significantly, the shocks are useless. The best way to tell if shock oil is bad, #1 it will stink. Bad. #2, if you rub some of the oil between two clean fingers, and it leaves a "metallic" residue on your fingers, rebuild the shock. All shocks have a Teflon band that surrounds the piston protecting it from wearing, and acting as a "bearing" on the inside of the shock body. The metallic residue that will be left on your finger i microscopic pieces of that Teflon band that wore off during normal use. The more of the band that wears off, the more oil "sneaks" by the piston, rather than being forced through the valving plates. Thus losing compression and rebound. Good luck! I took the springs off of the shocks. The springs are pretty chipped up so I am going to sandblast or strip the paint off of them. I have been trying to find a decent paint to use on my front end suspension components. Has anyone had luck with using a rubberized truck liner coating on control arms, springs, bumper, etc? As far as rebuilding the actual shocks themselves I didn't do anything to them yet. Is there a tutorial or info on how to rebuild them? There are no leaks and they seem to function well. Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drlguy Posted January 10, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 I took the springs off of the shocks. The springs are pretty chipped up so I am going to sandblast or strip the paint off of them. I have been trying to find a decent paint to use on my front end suspension components. Has anyone had luck with using a rubberized truck liner coating on control arms, springs, bumper, etc? As far as rebuilding the actual shocks themselves I didn't do anything to them yet. Is there a tutorial or info on how to rebuild them? There are no leaks and they seem to function well. Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrMeyer Posted January 11, 2010 Report Share Posted January 11, 2010 Yeah I have used the rubberized truck liner spray with luck... I have painted the elka springs on my rhino because they where off of a race rhino and looked really bad. I have one season on them from the dunes and they still look like I just painted them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drlguy Posted January 11, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2010 (edited) Yeah I have used the rubberized truck liner spray with luck... I have painted the elka springs on my rhino because they where off of a race rhino and looked really bad. I have one season on them from the dunes and they still look like I just painted them. Yeah I'm looking for something more durable. Ive never had any long term luck with paint or powder coating. It looks good for a few months though! Edited January 11, 2010 by drlguy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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