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Minimum air pressure for Vanilla DH?

bomberboy11

Monkey
Jul 15, 2005
665
0
At a computer...duh
Does anybody know what the minimum air pressure is for the old Vanilla DH shocks with the remote reservoir? Someone told me 250 psi which he supposedly heard from Fox, but that makes the shock not even move. It feels best if I run under 100 psi. Since it will come up anyway, it's on a Stab Primo, 170 lb rider with a 500# spring on the shock. I have the air volume at about half of its max. Any Fox Tech's on this board? Would the guys from PUSH know? Maybe I should just get it PUSH'ed if it's possible? Thanks for any help.
 

Percy

Monkey
May 2, 2005
426
0
Christchurch NZ
The manual for mine says maximum 300psi, minimum 225psi.

It also says do not operate shock with no air in it, and a bunch of other stuff!

Actually I have the manual in PDF format, you want me to email it to ya? :D
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
Percy said:
The manual for mine says maximum 300psi, minimum 225psi.

It also says do not operate shock with no air in it, and a bunch of other stuff!

Actually I have the manual in PDF format, you want me to email it to ya? :D
Exactly. 225 minimum. If your shock is not moving, try a lighter spring.

the incredible edible internet

Scroll down to the 2003 vanilla DH docs.
 
Jul 17, 2003
832
0
Salt Lake City
Actually, wait a minute, if this is a Vanilla DH with the AVA can or whatever they had for one model year, then I guess I'm the idiot here. Is this a true remote-resevor Vanilla DH with the larger, adjustable can or just a piggyback Vanilla RC?
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
James | Go-Ride said:
Actually, wait a minute, if this is a Vanilla DH with the AVA can or whatever they had for one model year, then I guess I'm the idiot here. Is this a true remote-resevor Vanilla DH with the larger, adjustable can or just a piggyback Vanilla RC?
DH yo. Totally different beast. Larger eyelets, Larger shaft/oil displacement, "low speed compression damping" (prolly not far off what became adjustable propedal) and the AVA sleeve. Best shock I've ever owned.

 

bomberboy11

Monkey
Jul 15, 2005
665
0
At a computer...duh
Yeah it is the remote res. one, not the piggyback. Does anybody have experience with them specifically on the Stab Primos though?? I'm already running below the recommended spring rate for my weight (500# instead of closer to 600# - 170 lb rider like I mentioned above). I still cant get it to sag very much at all, nowhere near 1/3 of the stroke with that pressure. Also this is with the air chamber at about half volume - don't know if this makes a difference. I rode it with 110-120 psi in it today on a flowey smooth run with a fast rockgarden in it and it felt about right. Never felt like it was close to bottoming, but I could be wrong.

I took a look at the manuals on the Fox site, all they did was tell me how to mount it. There a different one up there I'm missing??

Percy and kidwoo - what frames are you running yours on? I'm guessing DHR for kidwoo. Maybe different suspension rates should use different air pressures?

Thanks for all the help guys, guess I'll have to mess around with it a little more. Still kind of puzzling how I'm using way less air/spring and it's still feeling like a pogo stick.

** On the note of the larger bushings, does anybody in Santa Barbara, SLO, or San Jose have any of the extra large diameter ones they would sell me on my trek up to Northstar this week, or know any shops that would carry that? Maybe someone with a 450 lb x 2.80 spring as well?? My upper eyelet bushing is worn and causing a tiny bit of annoying "backtravel" slop in the shock.
 

vitox

Turbo Monkey
Sep 23, 2001
2,936
1
Santiago du Chili
hey for that bike and a shock with a big valve i would say 450 or 500 sounds like the right spring for you, maybe with a vanilla rc you should be using a stiffer spring.

maybe if you dont have enough sag, try with 450, and close the air chamber a little.
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
bomberboy11 said:
Yeah it is the remote res. one, not the piggyback. Does anybody have experience with them specifically on the Stab Primos though?? I'm already running below the recommended spring rate for my weight (500# instead of closer to 600# - 170 lb rider like I mentioned above). I still cant get it to sag very much at all, nowhere near 1/3 of the stroke with that pressure. Also this is with the air chamber at about half volume - don't know if this makes a difference. I rode it with 110-120 psi in it today on a flowey smooth run with a fast rockgarden in it and it felt about right. Never felt like it was close to bottoming, but I could be wrong.

I took a look at the manuals on the Fox site, all they did was tell me how to mount it. There a different one up there I'm missing??

Percy and kidwoo - what frames are you running yours on? I'm guessing DHR for kidwoo. Maybe different suspension rates should use different air pressures?

Thanks for all the help guys, guess I'll have to mess around with it a little more. Still kind of puzzling how I'm using way less air/spring and it's still feeling like a pogo stick.

** On the note of the larger bushings, does anybody in Santa Barbara, SLO, or San Jose have any of the extra large diameter ones they would sell me on my trek up to Northstar this week, or know any shops that would carry that? Maybe someone with a 450 lb x 2.80 spring as well?? My upper eyelet bushing is worn and causing a tiny bit of annoying "backtravel" slop in the shock.
Yeah mine's on a turner dhr.

Back out that AVA sleeve ALL THE WAY. Kona bikes are pretty good about having progressive suspension rates. You don't need any of the chamber reduction. That's for orange and bullit owners. ;)

I cranked mine down about a third in right before I went to ride a trail with a lot of drops...it's nuts how much of a difference that AVA sleeve can make.

On the hardware...... My shocks came off of team intense M1 bikes which have wider spacing for the reducers on one end....which I could machine down to fit mine. The other end had the wrong size bolt diameter so I had to get those from fox......and then grind down those too. I have to say though.....I've had the same reducer hardware on my bike for a year and a half now......unheard of on DHRs. There's something to the bigger hardware. See what fox has laying around. These shocks were stock on a few Konas they may still have some goods.
 

bomberboy11

Monkey
Jul 15, 2005
665
0
At a computer...duh
After messing around with some linkage programs, I found that the Stab Primo has a linear, if not slightly falling rate suspension. The Stinky's are progressive, but the Stab Primo is designed not to ramp up towards the end of the stroke by itself, which is probably why the shock came on the bike. Guess I'll figure it out before Northstar this weekend.
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
bomberboy11 said:
After messing around with some linkage programs, I found that the Stab Primo has a linear, if not slightly falling rate suspension. The Stinky's are progressive, but the Stab Primo is designed not to ramp up towards the end of the stroke by itself, which is probably why the shock came on the bike. Guess I'll figure it out before Northstar this weekend.
My bad.

The only Konas I've ridden were the stinkys and the older DH bike.....both with straight vannilla RCs which felt really nice......no blowing through the end stroke. Maybe you're right about the models that came with the DH shock. Anyway, I'd still mess around with the sleeve some and see what you get. If you want I can ask a buddy of mine how he had his setup. He had the model with this shock last year. This is the red frame right?