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Hi Tim, Happy the video helped, I need to start making more How To videos I have 40 plus years working on vehicles and bicycles as a mechanic.

I have never seen that issue on any of the three forks with that kit, I have always used a heat gun though.

Thanks, If you have never been its an incredible place

Good eye !

Thanks Noah! They are both good systems, I like the Smashpot better for the additional oil, noise damper on the spring and the bottom out control. They also offer a Fox 38 kit which is my next fork.

Yes any kind of suspension grease like SOS is fine, the seals are fine unless you have a couple of seasons on them then I would change them out.

You remove the piston assembly and replace it with a coil spring. The red shrink wrap is to keep the coil noise down when its being compressed in the leg.

Happy to hear that the video helped, its a great kit!

Thanks Bill I am happy it helped you out, the Smashpot kit will be killer in a Fox 38 !

How has it been in the 38 since install?

@@symmetricon1982 Softer feel on top and mid. A little added weight but it's worth it IMO.

Hola y feliz de que te haya gustado el video! Creo que el grande te quedará muy bien y el vástago original estará bien. Me encanta mi Heckler y la uso todos los días que puedo, los amortiguadores de bobina son mi actualización favorita.

Thanks! I have not been out to Toro as its been closed for a while but hope to scope it out next couple weeks. I am down to replace that flag, will let you know when.

I used to patrol all the jeep trails in the Sierra National Forest in the late 80' and 90's, never belonged to that club but do runs in the summer with Clovis Independent out of Fresno. The Vorsprung kit is sweet, going to move up to a 38 at some point and will install it in that fork. It makes a clunk on some of the big hits but I notice they have a rubber sleeve now which should keep things quieter. Are you in the SC club?

The current battery is 750w, the 500 was on the original Heckler which also tan 27.5 wheels and did not have a Mullet option.

Hi Joe, yes we do! I busted my hand up last weekend on a jump. Hoping to ride in the next week or two, I have Wednesdays off if you are around.

Thanks Ron, once you remove the caps you have an open hole to the stanchions so any air is released. My fork does not have the pressure release valves which does not matter as there is no longer an air spring in it :) The 38 will be sweet with the Smashpot kit, at some point I will upgrade to one for rigidity.

I have the E-Factory 38, smashpot went in last week, best upgrade ever !

Hey Aaron, that snap ring is what holds the piston (Air spring) assembly in, since we are removing that and installing a coil in place of the Air spring that retaining ring serves no purpose. I put everything in a zip lock bag but once you have some miles on the fork with the coil the inside of that stanchion tube is no longer smooth from the coil rubbing it so you really can't reinstall the Air spring assembly as it might not hold air.

@@rsanoian Ok thats what I thought. Just wanted to make sure. I have the PUSH ACS-3 on another fork that re-uses it since they have the air bump stop. Now I can start getting this build finished!

@@AaronWhitt82 I have had some PUSH kits and do remember having to install the snap ring. Quite a different design and I like the Smashpot kit a lot better, the more oil in the Stanchion the better.

@@rsanoian That’s why I went with the Smashpot this time, plus PUSH only makes their kit for the Fox 36. I ended up using Motorex 10wt for the coil side.

Theres no beating a coil for small bump compliance, this kit is very simple and reliable. If you are worried about weight then Air is going to be lighter but you have to carry a pump and fiddle with it a little more to get it setup right. I raced DH in the 90's and early 2000 and everything we had was coil so I am used to the ride and don't care about the small weight penalty.

Your Bronson looks sweet, if you like the way that bike rides you will love the Heckler. I would definitely get a coil for the rear. I have another video coming out soon on the new Cascade Components links for the Heckler that let you run a longer stroke shock and also bump up the progressiveness.

Thanks Aaron, I am going to put a 38 on the front at some point. With the 38 and DHX2 coil in back you are going to love it, stock its a fun, poppy little bike but the Rock Shox Air shock and VP do not work great together for all around riding. In the chunky stuff the coil in the back makes all the difference.

@@rsanoian Yeah I think it should be a pretty good combo! Trying to figure out if I should run a linear or progressive coil spring, but leverage ratio already seems pretty progressive on this bike especially in low setting so I’m thinking Fox SLS spring. I did a 45lb spring for the Vorsprung as I’m about 180lbs with gear and that’s what was suggested.

@@AaronWhitt82 I am 200 kitted up and running the 50lb with 160mm and its perfect full travel but with the bottom out assist I love it. Try the SLS and if you find its bottoming I would run the MRP Progressive springs, they make an adaptor to use them on the DHX2 I had those on my previous bike and they were awesome.

@@rsanoian Good to hear! I got an email back from Santa Cruz today and they suggested using the Fox SLS spring. Spring rate calculator I’m around a 525lb spring so I’m going to try a 550lb spring. I currently have a Cane Creek progressive spring which I was using on my Trek, but I’ll have to get a higher spring rate. Think I may try both springs and see what I like best & how the bike performs.

I have some friends in the UK that had the same problem, they are in short supply over here. The shop I bought mine from sold hundreds of Levo's last year but was only allocated 9 hecklers for the whole year. The Levo is a great bike, I don't think you missed much. Check out Cascade Components I am running their links on my bike now with a longer stroke coil shock and its incredible how much of a difference the links make.

All good here thanks. It's the 36 that came with the Heckler, all of their forks are the EMTB version. The Smashpot kit will work in all of the 36 forks, when I talked to them last time. I think it will also fit the Fox 38 but not positive. Give them a call, they are super cool to talk to.

@@rsanoian Thnx for taking the time to get back. When I was looking into the Push brand coil it mentions that its incompatible with e rated forks. So i figured perhaps with Smashpot it would be the same . Thanks for clarifying that it works with e rated forks. 👍

@@kinnectedmtb3209 I have a PUSH ACS in my previous Fox 36 but the Smashpot kit is so much better. Very smooth and never bottoms out harshly even though I am getting full travel.

It's a well rounded bike, now that I am running coils front and back its a magic carpet ride!

Thanks! Its been great, ride it every weekend have a lot of hours and other then the firs cable getting pinched have had no other issues.

Thanks Danny, you are going to love the coil !

Yes for me it was night and day, I have since sold that bike and have a 2022 Santa Cruz Heckler with a Fox 36 and installed the Smashpot kit which I like even more the the Push kit. Check out www.vorsprungsuspension.com/ I have also installed a coil shock on the back of the Heckler, so much more plush and no more bottoming out.

​@@rsanoian awesome thanks for the reply! whats the reason why you like the smashpot more than push?

@@dannnyw111 The Canadian dollar right now is going to cost less, the kit lets you run anywhere from 150-190mm with the spacers that are included and it runs a lot more oil in the leg than the PUSH kit, a lot more. I have a video on the Smashpot kit I am just finishing up and will have up in the next week.

Thank you!

Thanks, I actually managed this trail and all the others in the Sierra National Forest in the 90's, drove Swamp lake 1-2 times a week for close to 10 years. Since the reroute around Mud Lakes that is the most technical part of the trail. If you want to go up Rooster rock then go in from the Mckinley Grove Road side. We typically go in from the Dinkey Lakes Wilderness side, take Rock Creek Road and follow the signs. If you go this way you will hit Swamp lake, then Grouse lake and then go down Rooster Rock. In the 70's and 80's I used to go with my dad to Mud Lakes but that is private property now and thats where the reroute happened and is the hardest part of the trail now. Still nothing big if your rig is built properly.

@@rsanoian thanks! 1-2 a week sounds serious - I wonder if you were a ranger scouting the trail? Any reason why you go from Dinkey Wilderness side as opposed to northbound? I was thinking of running northbound - first camp near hatch lake, then push to grouse, and then to swamp. Just wanted to be able to stop somewhere midway or turn around if it gets too much. I’ve heard multiple people say that rooster rock and the squeeze between two large rocks near the north gate are the hardest obstacles - what do you think? The trail doesn’t appear to be like rubicon to me, where obstacles just never end but transition one into another.

@@vladd5291 I was a Ranger/LE driving a 1988 Wrangler that we did a bunch of work too. It was on 33's at the time but the trail has a lot more holes now and 35's would be the minimum although a good driver could get through with 33's. The re route is the hardest part and its short, I would not compare it to Rubicon but there is not much on the Rubicon I consider more difficult than swamp. When I was patrolling I was going the whole trail in a day just crusing, I lived a Dinkey Creek. Take as much time as you want, its a beautiful area.

@@rsanoian thank you for sharing your experience! We’ll attempt the trail, and see how it goes. Some of our trucks are on 33s (land cruiser, 4runner) and some on 35s (military G wagon). Might just do as much as we can, and do some fishing and relaxing. Based on what I heard, getting down to the actual Swamp Lake (route 26E221) is a big hurdle, so is it better to camp near Grouse Lake instead?

@@vladd5291 Swamp is easier to get into from the Dinkey Lakes side than Grouse, to get to Grouse you have to go through the hardest section and up rooster rock then you get to grouse, then next is swamp. Getting to swamp is easy, V rock is the only hard spot and its just a squeeze. You could drive into swamp and the scope out Rooster Rock, there are a couple of other hard spots after Rooster, mostly off camber and just picking the right line.

Me too, I love Marks! Gus is awesome, I am going to get him a gift card to Total Wine so he can buy some beer. Airplane needs some love, plan on going out there soon with some tools to do give it some much needed love.

@@rsanoian I’ve never met him but he’s done great with marks. I’ve ridden with Keller fitzwell and Garcia. Dudes are super fast and good dudes. They do some good work too. They weed whacked airplane last week.

@@whatthefutchemtb4155 He is a great guy, I have run into him every weekend for the last couple months. We end up talking for quite a while, that's great to hear they are working Airplane. I am going to weed whack Coyote Springs next week as its super overgrown and thats my way from Marks back to Pipeline. Gus does not even ride MTB's ! I think he was telling me about Keller, is he the one boosting that jump and landing up on the bench?

@@rsanoian when do you usually ride?

@@whatthefutchemtb4155 I have Wednesdays off this month so I am out there every Wednesday this month and then either Saturday or Sunday. What about you? Are you riding with a group or club?

Do it!

No name, there were some cool features but the BLM has a person named Karen that is running around with a chainsaw and shovels and destroying anything we build. She tore it all out a couple of weeks ago, Are you local???

@@rsanoian I get knocking down things that are interfering with the normal trail flow, or causing issues for rain runoff (both days a year that we get rain anymore) but I don't understand the need/desire to tear out features that aren't causing problems. Yeah, I'm local.

@@rsanoian Too bad they don't put that same level of effort into normal trail maintenance.

@@a2b958 Exacatly, I was out at Toro park and they were putting in new water bars and doing trail maintenance. MORCA seems to be a bunch of cross country geeks with no skills and want everything to be flat and wide...

Thanks Angelo, I used 20cc of the Motorex 10 weight oil that push sells in each of the legs. I have used 10 weight in pretty much all of my forks since the early 90's. You can try the 5 weight they sell but don't think its going to make much of a difference unless you weigh less than 150lbs. I ended up going with a spring weight one level below what they recommend to get for my weight to get the full 170mm of travel.

Thanks David, both of us run the Pro Comps they are top notch! My family has always run BFG Mud terrains since the 80's and I would not think of switching back after running the Pro Comp MT's.

cool! glad to hear. I have about 500 miles on them so far and did shuteye on them at 14 PSI .... and they did great

Thanks Tracey! I really enjoy going there and hanging out with you guys, I did not have a lot of footage so need to start filming more when we go there :)

Thanks Bro!