These are some of the preliminary shots and photos of the kit and bike.
I should have a complete installation sequence up by early next week.
I am showing photos that should give you an idea of what is involved.
The lift is a full three inches and will take the average installer about
1.5 hrs for the first one and about an hour for the second.
This is what we started with.
Here are all the parts, (from top to bottom), you have the front brackets
these are very simple they simply relocate the front shocks. We have been
successful in getting lift by relocating the shocks changing up the way
the coil loads and reacts to the unit's weight. We have used this method
on the Grizzly and the King Quad and have had excellent results.
In the center of the table just below the front brackets you will see two
sway bar relocation brackets. If the sway bar is not properly realigned you
will have binding and handling problems so we address that with
these brackets.
On each side of the sway bar brackets you will see the lower rear shock
mounts which are bolted to the control arm. Next you will
see the upper rear shock mount brackets. Last is the rear brace for the upper
shock mounts.
Shown is the rear half of the lower shock mount. You will have to remove
the rear control arm cut the rear half off then grind this area smooth.
I have always tried to avoid things like this but Yamaha left us no choice.
You will have to grind this bracket for boot clearance no matter what. You
may retain this part and weld it back in if you decide to go back to stock.
I do not think you will want to do that after riding in the unit with the
kit installed.
Here is the lower shock mount bolted to the lower control arm.
This shows where the rear bracket bolts in. One small note, you will have
to remove the muffler hanger bolt so you can pull the muffler over to get
the bolt (shown in the channel right above the upper control arm) into the
hole in the frame. If you will remove the bolt the installation will proceed
smoothly. Do not try to install this bolt without removing the hanger bolt
or you WILL speak very negatively of me.
This is a shot of the rear brackets installed with the brace in place. You
can raise/lift the bed with out any contact to the brackets or brace.
I shot this while the kit was being installed on the rear. You can slide
the bucket with about two inches to spare from end to end.
This is what we have as a finished unit. We have 29.5 Swamp Lites installed
on the ITP rims and the only thing we had to do was trim the plastic at the
front of the rear wheels. As you can see here if you did not know it was
trimmed most people would never know.
Bike rides and handles great. I fell in love (if that is possible) with
the unit when we first tried out the kit.
No axle change neccessary.
No axle bind even at full extension.
No rubbing or scrubbing while twisting it up.
(Other than the plastic contact
on the rear flare with the 29.5s, which are inflated to 30")
Very stable in off camber situations. Felt like it was glued to the ground.
