Weak shocks on the Hardcores

[Shitfly]

Package was actually delivered, Canada Post has got some issues with the way they track packages apparently. Can’t say if it was the shock revalve, or the spring upgrade was the answer but had a definite improvement over the way it came from the factory. Only bottomed out once beating down the whoops

 

[tex78]

Ya I think the bigger spring helped

First ride there wasn't much for woops yet

But today there was, never bottomed out once that I felt

 

[Arctic 1000]

Does anyone know if the shock issue has been fixed on the 2021 Hardcore? I might be in the market. On the fence between a 2020 mountain Cat or the new Hardcore.

 

[Dawizman]

Does anyone know if the shock issue has been fixed on the 2021 Hardcore? I might be in the market. On the fence between a 2020 mountain Cat or the new Hardcore.

From what I have seen, yes.

I have a full set of 21 shocks on a 20 Hardcore I picked up last month. They seem to be all around better than the shocks that came on my other 20 Hardcore.

 

[06yamahaapex]

I have a line on a full factory series set of shocks from fox if anyone is interested not available to the general public.

 

[Arctic 1000]

Ok awesome thanks for the info!

 

[E-Zmoke]

Another alternative to the 229 and the ZBroz offerings. Some good reviews. Will be testing myself this winter.

https://stingraymods.com/shop/ols/products/stingray-mods-front-skid-shock-spring

How did the stingray spring work on your Alpha? Do you like it? I’ve been thinking about trying this spring as well

 

[tex78]

From what I have seen, yes.

I have a full set of 21 shocks on a 20 Hardcore I picked up last month. They seem to be all around better than the shocks that came on my other 20 Hardcore.

Seen on a arctic Facebook page

Guess the 21 are still the same

Looking up parts, says same numbers 20-21 also I guess

 

[Dawizman]

Seen on a arctic Facebook page

Guess the 21 are still the same

Looking up parts, says same numbers 20-21 also I guess

I don't doubt they are the same part numbers. I think they corrected whatever issue they had in production with the shock. We were doing 65kph across 2ft whoops last weekend for a few km and my rail never bottomed out once. On my '20 last year my wife bottomed out it riding slow on a far less whooped trail.

 

[06yamahaapex]

Cat kept the part number the same so ppl wouldn’t think there was an issue. Put a floor jack under the front of track on a 2020 and wouldn’t take the weight of sled. Put one under my 21 mtn max and it’ll lift the sled without flattening the shock.

 

[E-Zmoke]

How far did you crank up the new spring?? //uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20201101/8dc1883d481958c545ee38659d3f5c90.jpg

Are you trying to do backflips? Way too much pre load. Install the shock on the sled then adjust the pre load with the weight off the sled. 3-5 turns tight from nut contact should just pick up the slack and be more then enough pre load.

 

[tex78]

Are you trying to do backflips? Way too much pre load. Install the shock on the sled then adjust the pre load with the weight off the sled. 3-5 turns tight from nut contact should just pick up the slack and be more then enough pre load.

Mabe I got it too tight

But that there was not even one turn past spring load

 

[Mr Helmut]

That's where I got mine.

On a related note, it appears the 2021 sleds have revised valving, spring rate, or both. At least on the mountain max.

I have a set of takeoff shocks from a mountain max on one of my 2020 hardcores, and my backyard riding shows significant improvement.

Here's a picture from the dealership before they pulled the front shock. It no longer collapses under the weight of the machine.

//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20201014/d71a90cf4f6716c1fe8b4f7d28afebbd.jpg

Hi im new to the Forum. From Sweden I have a Hardcore 2020

Based on this post i took my front shock of the sled and went to a arctic cat racing team and asked if they could update it to 2021 spec but there was not any changes. The spring you have recommended in this thread is used by arctic cat racing guys on track where they jump. Not if you want to rider powder they told me. If you dont want it to digg you want the front skid damper to be as soft as possible.

However there is and updated if the damper hits thru on the 2021, there is a plastic part that takes the hit before the screw hits the alpha skid.

After discussions with the damper specialist i took a 135lb spring from arctic cat. Go as soft as you can without botoming out was there recomendation . Im 220lb

 

[Dawizman]

Hi im new to the Forum. From Sweden I have a Hardcore 2020

Based on this post i took my front shock of the sled and went to a arctic cat racing team and asked if they could update it to 2021 spec but there was not any changes. The spring you have recommended in this thread is used by arctic cat racing guys on track where they jump. Not if you want to rider powder they told me. If you dont want it to digg you want the front skid damper to be as soft as possible.

However there is and updated if the damper hits thru on the 2021, there is a plastic part that takes the hit before the screw hits the alpha skid.

After discussions with the damper specialist i took a 135lb spring from arctic cat. Go as soft as you can without botoming out was there recomendation . Im 220lb

Perhaps there were manufacturing issues with some of the 20s?

On both of my 20s if you jacked the sled as shown in the above picture, the shock provided nearly zero resistance, and would fully collapse under the weight of the machine.

 

[tex78]

Makes sense on the trenching with bigger spring rate

But bottoming out a rail breakages are not ideal either

Can you get and or find this part to stop bottom out

And will it still break the rail tip with it??

 

[E-Zmoke]

Makes sense on the trenching with bigger spring rate

But bottoming out a rail breakages are not ideal either

Can you get and or find this part to stop bottom out

And will it still break the rail tip with it??

It’s just a rubber bump stop that goes over top of the bolt head. It comes standard on the 21’s - I’ve had it on order for months. Still hasn’t shown up. With a revalve on my front shock and a heavier spring from Fox and my rider weight being quite light. I’m not too worried about bottoming. I have my FTS spring backed out as soft as possible.

 

[snochuk]

It’s just a rubber bump stop that goes over top of the bolt head. It comes standard on the 21’s - I’ve had it on order for months. Still hasn’t shown up. With a revalve on my front shock and a heavier spring from Fox and my rider weight being quite light. I’m not too worried about bottoming. I have my FTS spring backed out as soft as possible.

After breaking a rail I used a T-bolt so that there was zero bolt protrusion beyond the thickness of the limiter strap on either side - no more gouge marks on the rail.
Pictures somewhere in the Alpha section.
Also had shock reworked by Nextech, but still ran bout 70# air.

 

[Maynard4130]

So I’ve been reading this thread for a while now and thought I should chime in. I own a 2020 hardcore and I completely agree that the spring rates were not correct for a heavier or more aggressive rider. Apparently they also agreed which is why they changed the rates on a few of them for 2021. The rear skid spring rate has changed from 175lbs to 210lbs and the front ski spring rates went from 110lbs to 135lbs. I run an elevate kit on my sled and through some research, before I knew of theses changes, followed the recommendation of Ice Age to change the rear spring out to a 210lb. It’s not the current 2021 spring I used, the one I used was p/n 2704-010 (I did this before the info on the 2021 was out). I also did change the center spring to the 29 spring recommended on this thread. We did testing in Revelstoke on this setup. It handled much better on the bumps and never bottomed on jumps. When we took it into the trees to do some technical climbs I noticed it did want to dig. After a few climbs and some adjustments I found that having the spring as loose as you can makes a massive difference. The sled started to float on the snow but was still able to pop up when you needed it. FYI I’m running all the shocks on 1 when I’m in the powder. My fronts were still bottoming out on jumps on the way out so I picked up a set of the Zbroz dual rate front springs (for anyone who cares the main spring rate is 145lbs) and will be testing them this week in revy. Sorry if that’s long winded, just wanted to help if I could.

 

[Firecatman]

The 2021 rear spring P/N is 3704-785 for anyone wondering, I just installed it on my '20. It's also 2" shorter, 11" vs. the stock '20 spring which is 13" long.

 

[tex78]

Ya, I'm still using 2 on all shocks, not used to these clicker things lol

I'll try the clicker 1 on all when off trail next ride