I came home toady and found two packages at the front door. One had our DG exhaust silencer, the other had the Bombardier DS650 shocks. I couldn't wait, so I headed to the shop. There is a massive difference between the stock Xfire shocks and the DS shocks. They are barely over an inch longer, but they are beefier and have much larger springs - which creates the first problem. They look a lot longer in the picture, but the one side is sagging because the shock is not connected. I reshaped the mounts as I did on the rear, but the springs will not clear the frame or the top mount because of the circumference. I will have no choice but to fab new mounts. I want to save the stock mounts, so I will probably make something that will bolt onto them. No welds.




The exhaust silencer will fit, but I will have to leave it as seen the the picture below, or modify the kickstart mount so it will fit more level. The inlet of the silencer is slightly curved and only offers two positions. Up like the angle below or almost straight out the rear. I kinda like it shooting upwards (it will clear the frame under a load), but have not decided for sure. It sounds VERY GOOD giving the exhaust a much deeper growl. Sounds very similar to a 4-stroke race bike with an aftermarket pipe. When I finish it, I'll make a short video clip so you can hear it.

looking good man

Front shocks are done. I didn't have to fab mounts after all. Upon closer inspection I found that only one shock wasn't going to clear the mount - the passenger side. The mount was welded further back and a little further 'up' on the frame at the factory. This pulled the shock too close to the bottom of the mount. I ended up just grinding the mount a smidge, just enough to give about a 1/8" clearance for the spring. It worked. All I need to do now is prime and paint the mount to prevent rust.

I have the springs preloaded at about 4 threads from the softest setting. The front sag is spot on when you sit down in the seat. We gave it a test ride this evening. Much better ride and I feel more confident with the kids riding the kart hard.

that looks good, how long are those shocks?

The DS shocks are longer than the stock Crossfire shocks. The set that I have measured 19.25 inches eye to eye. The Crossfire stockers are 18 inches eye to eye. With the preload adjusted, the buggy sags within a 1/2" of stock shocks. The buggy gained about an inch of ground clearance too. If the wheels come off of the ground, the lower a-arms will touch the frame, but I don't really foresee any problems arising with that. We'll know more in time.

Here's a very short clip of them hitting a ditch in our yard. You cannot tell from the clip, but it's about 14" deep. With the preload a little too stiff the wheel left the ground. After adjusting it softer, the passenger wheel never left the ground. The suspension just soaked it up.

http://lakotacam.com/video/xfire_air.wmv

In the future can you make your videos shorter, I'm spending too much time on this site as is. Those shocks look great. Did you change out the back?

Greg

Ha, if they get any shorter than that one, you won't be able to blink!

Yes, we installed the blaster shocks on the back as well. We did those first.