[vman]

I would guess that we are talking about the distance to the skid plate when we talk about ground clearance, what else? My Z6 was really low and I lifted it 2", I didn't take measurements before because my thoughts were that whatever it was I needed more and whatever I gained would help. The 2" lift got me quite a bit, so much so that my 7-year-old asked me why it was higher when I brought it home, now being proud of my new raised machine I decided to climb underneath and actually get some measurements and I was surprised to find that the clearance to the skid plate was 9 1/2" front and back which is what the factory specifacations call for, now I am trying to figure out why it was so low to start with. My tires are worn and ready for replacement the rears are worn down at least 1/2" and the fronts about 3/8" and my shock preload is not much more than enough to keep the springs from rattling around which I know affects the height, but I am wondering if my shocks which are DNM are factory, or if they were changed out by the first owner and might have a shorter extended length, if anyone can tell me the extended length of the factory shocks I would appreciate it. With the compression at full soft and the preload minimal I can bounce the front and get the shocks to compress, the rears don't budge when I jump on the bed and I am 230#, is this normal for the rear?

[chuddly]

Lets get a couple things out of the way first.  The compression and rebound settings have nothing to do with the ride height so we can ignore those.  Those setting only dictate how the shocks react when moved and ride height is a static measurement. Preload has a whole lot to do with ride height so yours being set to soft (that is how I run mine also) has likely dropped your ground clearance down quite a bit.  I am doubt the previous owner would put shorter shocks in but maybe they did???  I can get you a measurement of fully extended front and rear shocks tonight when I get home as a I have a separate spare set with only about 200 miles on them sitting in my garage (why you might ask...I dont know is the answer LOL).  Also what kind of lift did you put on?  If you put spring spacers on (metal or plastic spacer that rides between the preload nuts and the springs) then you likely did yourself little to gain much ground clearance as you could have simply cranked your preload up to gain that ground clearance.  Now with those spacers you gained the ability to put MORE preload on the springs and gain MORE ground clearance than you previously could but you will feel the harshness in the ride of the machine if you choose to do so.  Your tires being worn do have a part to play in this along with their air pressure and I suspect that if you are noticing they are worn it is more than 1/2" worn.  They always go faster than you think they have.  The rear being so stiff is not "normal" and is all in the amount of preload you have in the shock.  You normally either run a soft front AND rear set up because you like it that way or you run a firm front AND rear set up because you like it that way.  A mix causes the 2 ends to handle completely different and takes different driving styles to tame.  Mixing the 2 will only result in a worse handling machine.  I suspect your rear end bucks over bumps if it is set that stiff while your front end squats over bumps if its set that soft and when you go over whoops or chatter the nose goes down and the back end bucks or skips and it looks like a muscle car with a TON of rake in it LOL. 

So lets get to what you really want out of the machine and I can help you with what you NEED to make that happen.  Are you just wanting more ground clearance?  What kind of suspension feel do you like (soft? Firm?)?  What kind of riding do you do (Trails, mud, rock crawling, putting around the yard?)?  Anything else done to the machine that you know of so far?

If you can get me answers to those few things I can get you dialed in to where you want to be.

[NMKawierider]

I can say that the DNMs are not the factory shocks so the length may be wrong for the machine. I can also say from what I see on your preload, it is way less then any CFM shock I have ever seen so it too is way too light.

[chuddly]

NMKawirider....There is no such thing as saying "your preload is to light" its not a right and wrong answer.  Its a matter of preference on how much preload to run.  But yes I agree the lack of preload is a reason for the extra low ride.

[REDRIDER]

lol my preload is backed off allllll the way at the moment.

[NMKawierider]

NMKawirider....There is no such thing as saying "your preload is to light" its not a right and wrong answer.  Its a matter of preference on how much preload to run.  But yes I agree the lack of preload is a reason for the extra low ride.

IMO..he says its just enough to keep the springs from rattling..that's too light to be anywhere close to the factory height specs ...wouldn't you say?

[REDRIDER]

NMKawirider....There is no such thing as saying "your preload is to light" its not a right and wrong answer.  Its a matter of preference on how much preload to run.  But yes I agree the lack of preload is a reason for the extra low ride.

IMO..he says its just enough to keep the springs from rattling..that's too light to be anywhere close to the factory height specs ...wouldn't you say?

weird if its just enough to keep the springs from rattling but he can't get them to bounce with him jumping on the back of the  machine... Are the shocks seized in the bore??

[NMKawierider]

NMKawirider....There is no such thing as saying "your preload is to light" its not a right and wrong answer.  Its a matter of preference on how much preload to run.  But yes I agree the lack of preload is a reason for the extra low ride.

IMO..he says its just enough to keep the springs from rattling..that's too light to be anywhere close to the factory height specs ...wouldn't you say?

weird if its just enough to keep the springs from rattling but he can't get them to bounce with him jumping on the back of the  machine... Are the shocks seized in the bore??

That or the a-arms are seized on the bushings. I know mine was a lot harder to flex when they were seized on the sleeves and just turning in the a-arm tubes. I know on mine for the back to get the right ride height the preloads look to be cranked 1/2 way down the threads...like this:



And they have to be all the way backed off to make them loose enough to get the retainer out so at least for a 53, this is normal-looking. The ride is pretty good for a 53 too the way I have the comp and rebound set...not bad.

But..my front preloads look like this..which is less then what his show:

[chuddly]

I agree the preload he said is not enough to get it to factory ride height.  But to light is all subjective LOL

[NMKawierider]

I agree the preload he said is not enough to get it to factory ride height.  But to light is all subjective LOL

Your right...I should have started it differently. But he does have different shocks so...who knows what's going on...lol.

[chuddly]

NMKawi...i love our discussions back and forth LOL.  I think the 2 of us are more alike than what we know LOL

[Cosmosdan]

I haven't seen those shocks on a z6 before. I can give the oem length if needed to check them. Checking the a arms are free is easy and should be done too. FYI, the RZR 800 shocks I put in ride way better than stock and gave me a little bit of clearance too.

[NMKawierider]

NMKawi...i love our discussions back and forth LOL.  I think the 2 of us are more alike than what we know LOL

Lol..I think you are right.

[vman]

The picture of the front shock was taken before I did the lift and was only to identify the shock, the picture below shows the bracket with the 2" lift , it also shows the bracket for the link raised 2' as well, I used the same type of bracket to lift the rear 2" but I did not alter the links and the rear sway bar is disconnected at this moment. My rear shocks had very little preload to start with and I just backed it all the way off after I did the lift to try and get a softer ride. I understand what compression and rebound do and only gave the compression setting as a reference point as to how the shock was set up in regards to the harsh ride issue and not in regards to the ground clearance, likewise, I mentioned the tire wear because I understand the ground clearance is 1/2" less because of it, I also understand that preload is the only adjustment that will give me more height but with the back being so stiff the last thing I need at this point is a lot of preload.

I do trails, some rocks, and asphalt, rarely sand or mud, I like the softer ride and the way it acts crawling over rocks. I will be changing my 26" tires which are probably 25" at this point for 27's which will get me another inch of clearance and I would like to crank in enough preload to get another 1 1/2" and hopefully still maintain a soft ride, all of this  should give me a ground clearance of 12" plus or minus wich I will be happy with.

I will pull things apart this weekend and measure the length of the rear shocks and check the a arms to try and figure out what is going on, if I can get the length of the factory shocks and what would be considered the factory preload that would help a lot.

[chuddly]

Got ya.  I just went into as much detail as I did on my first post because not everyone understands what the settings on shocks do.  You seem to have a good grasp on it though.  I got busy and forgot to measure my shocks last night so i will set a reminder and do so tonight.  My measurements will be with 0 weight on them and unmounted from the machine just as an FYI.