[cnj]

Of the three major players for OEM replacement on an XTZ, what is your opinion? I'll be making the purchase in the next week or so. So?????

 

[Darryl89]

I love my King Off-Road Racing Shocks. Got piggyback fronts and remote reseviors on the rear. They feel great in the rough stuff and King is probably one of the most popular shocks for BAJA racers as well as many other desert racers.
My 2nd vote would be for Fox Coil-Overs from DragonFire Racing.

 

[Johnny]

I like the walkers

 

[Darryl89]

Johnny, I haven't had a chance to see WER in action or to feel their ride. How are they compared to the Kings or Fox's? Are they dual rate springs like the Kings?

 

[Split]

my kings rock... Cant say about WER but they seem a cheaper price-wise. Fox are a bunch of jacka$$3s to deal with...went round and round with them. Not sure about the quality or ride of their stuff tho..

 

[Mustanggeek]

Is the brand of shock more important or knowing how to tune them? They all seem like they will work great.

 

[cnj]

Is the brand of shock more important or knowing how to tune them? They all seem like they will work great.

Nope. Brand has nothing to do with it. Suspension is all about functionality. Tuning.......well, I had the Walkers (come standard with compression adjustment) on my Prowler 650, and to be honest, I couldn't tell any difference in the full firm to full soft compression settings. I think it is all really in the valving.

 

[Desertcat]

Nope. Brand has nothing to do with it. Suspension is all about functionality. Tuning.......well, I had the Walkers (come standard with compression adjustment) on my Prowler 650, and to be honest, I couldn't tell any difference in the full firm to full soft compression settings. I think it is all really in the valving.

I have a friend that has a 07 650. It has your typical four seat cage for the kids. He up graded to W/E shocks all the way around. He has been playing with the adjustments and said that he really does not notice any difference.

 

[sandchris]

My thing with aftermarket shocks is the valving.Of all the brands out there I only have heard of three that have been tested and have info on how they work.The walker evans have been available for cats since 07-08.The kings since 08.And works since earlier this year.Just from listening to some guys from this forum and other guys out there it sounds like the kings and the walker evans spent some time on the valving and have them pretty close.The dual rate kings I am sure are nice.The single rate walkers are probably priced better though.If you buy another shock that the valving has been a guess on you will be leaving a lot to chance.You might even have to pay someone to work on the valving to reach the shocks full potential.

 

[az_adobe]

After breaking an OEM shock on the way to crown king with 3 kids in the back and a full cooler I went with WEs. I noticed a big difference in going to the WEs, as compared to the OEMs, especially with the kids in the back.

I left them alone for a while and then evetually got around to setting them the way the guys I bought them from told me too. But in all honestly Im not sure I can tell a difference in the settings, but then again I havent played with it too much. I was just very happy that when my 3 kids are in the back Im not always bottoming out like I was. And hopefully I wont break another shock.

 

[Darryl89]

I had a chance to run my XTZ this past weekend pretty hard with the King shocks. After the initial 20 miles, I lowered the front springs down slightly and then ran the rest of the day and night.

They were awesome, easily outhandling the RZR that spent most of the day trying to keep up with me. I ran just about every type of desert terrain, hillclimbs, sandwashes, fire-roads and dodging pinon trees. The XT tracked well, never felt out of control and absorbed the soft stuff without notice and took the hard hits without beating me up.

The ITP BajaCross Tires and ITP Beadlocks performed great too. You could tell the 8-ply tires were a bit stiff, but when my girlfriend hit a cactus at 45mph, I was quite glad for having that extra toughness.

I'm sold on the King Racing Shocks, best money I've spent on the XTZ.