Well I made an account to make this post so here goes.
Like many of you I was searching for a low-ish cost alternative to stock suspension for the ‘21 U-Force 1000. After finding my only option was Stage 1 Elka’s and my wallet needing a d-fib I ripped out my shocks and went to work.
So, the rough country M-1 looked adjustable and appealing enough so some conversation with those folks provided me two SKU’s that were within a 1/4in eye to eye stock. Here they are..
SKU: 301002 (Ranger 1000)
SKU: 301006 (Pioneer 1000)
Now, when these showed up I was disappointed to find the eyelet size was not going to work. I had two options tap the existing brackets on the machine for the bigger bolts or make a spacer. The first being a lot of work to get at the upper mounts I went to work making a spacer.
Now I don’t have the exact piece I purchased from Lowe’s but I basically found a steel pipe that fit the shock bolts snug and drilled the shock eyelets on the M-1 to accept the DIY spacer.
After that it was install time. The front end top brackets accepted the shocks no problem the lower brackets needed some widening via a punch and some elbow grease. Maybe not the best way but it worked. For the rear end the lower brackets accepted the shocks but the upper required washers to keep the shock front being able to walk along the bolt front to back. All in all wasn’t a bad deal.
After that I leveled the machine via the M1-Shock’s adjustment and let me tell you the ride was great compared to my stock stuff. All in all the project came in about half the cost of Elka Stage 1’s.
Take it or leave it, it worked, I am happy & I've got about 100 miles on the setup with no visible issues including some bouncing through the woods off trail during deer season.
If anyone wants a set of ‘21 U-Force 1000 stock shocks for a steal let me know. 525mi.
If you’ve been thinking about shocks I’d say it’s worth the cost and someone more handy than I could sure make a prettier version to do this with the brackets.