I have herd of alot of unhappy customers with the 450 shocks. They are not valved for a raptor. They are valved for a YFZ which is almost 70 lbs lighter than the raptor.
Instead of the axle get some G-force rear axles for 90 bucks and be dont with it. Put that money towards some good shocks.
I agree with Preddy. I got yfz shocks for my raptor and wasn't happy with the results. After a few rides, I bought some '08 raptor shocks and am much happier.
dmx...IMO, you will not get the raptor to feel like a yfz. If you enjoy the yfz, perhaps that's the quad for you. The yfz feels planted cause it's lighter and lower. It's not any wider than the raptor. It's just a more nimble quad cause that's what it was designed to be.
My YFZ shocks work great, no complaints for a cheap suspension upgrade over the stock pogo sticks. As for the weight of the rappy versus the YFZ, I don't think thats an issue since rider weight can easily make up for the diffrence on the shocks (IE 220lbs rider on a YFZ, 150lbs rider on a raptor = same load)
Just my .02
Aaron
I agree to an extent. However, isn't a larger percentage of the rider's weight on the rear shock? Also, the yfz shocks have a shorter shaft in them. This reduces the amount of shock travel and lowers a quad that is 50 lbs heavier. The amount of distance the quad now has to keep from bottoming out the shock has been reduced and the added weight even further reduces the shock's ability to prevent this. At least this was my experience with yfz shocks. I'm sure riding style and weight of the rider play a large factor though.
I ran the yfz shocks for only a few rides. During this time I put countless dents in my lower a-arms and frame. Not little nicks, these are 1-2" deep dents. Also completely trashed the stock plastic engine skid plate. This happened cause I kept bottoming out while jumping and hitting rocks while riding cause my quad sat lower. Although I ride in the northwest part of the country and it has some very rocky areas. Since I got my '08 shocks, this problem went away. The quad sat back up where it should be and I stopped bottoming out the shocks.
Perhaps my experiences are a little out of the norm because of the riding conditions I encounter. I'm sure smoother dirt trails or track wouldn't be too bad.