I fully expected to have to get both new springs and a lift kit but I was hoping the springs would raise the RZR enough to not need the lift kit. Pretty easy job for a novice hack like myself. No major incidents or heartache in the process.
A few things I learned:
– You need the spring compressors. Without them, this would have been a major pain.
– You will gain some ride height, but it isn’t a huge amount.
– Ernie and the Shock Therapy team are awesome! They gave excellent advice, great feedback and the springs were at my doorstep in 3 days!!
Here are a few pics to tell the tale!
The kit came well packaged and with plenty of swag to boot!
Everything was well labeled also!
The old ride heights were 8.5" in the rear and 11.5" in the front.
The comparison between the new springs was impressive, especially when comparing the front springs
The total gains in height were 1.5" in the rear and 3" in the front.
Side view before change!
Side view after change showing new height (The dotted line is the previous silhouette) (Determined by superimposing the shots taken from the exact same vantage point).
I completed the install on Friday night in about 4 hours and we took the RZR out for an easy ride up Peru Creek and Chihuahua Gulch trails to see how she ran.
The ride was definitely smoother…significantly so in fact! The RZR took the bumps and rocks with a lot less feedback. The RZR did tend to lean a little more than before when turning. Plus the sag in the rear when hitting bumps was more pronounced. I caught myself bottoming out on rocks I wouldn’t have in the past.
Both of these facts are to be expected when dealing with a softer suspension and are a fair trade off when you consider the weight the RZR is carrying (I’m 6’5" and 275lbs alone. The wife and all of the gear we carry adds another 250lbs easily).
I guess I’ll be on the phone with Ernie tomorrow morning to get some suggestions for a lift kit and go from there. I’d definitely buy them again.
