Pro-Tip: The shock shouldn't rebound on it's own, that's what the spring is for. The shock should stay collapsed if you let go of it... If it DOES rebound, then there is still air in it, OR it is over-filled with oil. When filling the shocks, one should fill it almost all of the way to the top with oil, stroke the rod to bleed it without letting the piston gulp any air, then very carefully fill the rest of shock with oil as you slowly move the piston to the very TOP, not allowing the piston to gulp any air. The proper amount of oil is when it's perfectly level with the top of the shock body when the piston is at the very top of it's stroke. If you have the cupped rubber seals that cover the entire hole of the shock body, then the proper oil level is right to the top of the underside of the seal with no air under it. The utter importance of this is because the rod takes up volume inside the body as it goes further into the shock. So, if you fill the shock to the top with oil when the piston is at the BOTTOM of the body and then cap it, there will be NO extra room inside for the rod to take up space when the shock is fully collapsed, it will build pressure inside as the rod goes further into it, and your shock will rebound like that. It will also leak, or blow caps off during big bumps if it's over-filled like that. If your shock rebounds because it has too much oil in it, pull the rod all the way back down, loosen the cap just past the seal, tilt the shock at a 30° angle, and slowly press the rod all the way in letting the extra oil escape past the loosened cap, once the rod is all the way in and the excess fluid has ran out immediately tighten the cap back up before you move the shock from the 30° tilt. If the shock rebounds because there is still air bubbles inside of it, pull the rod all the way down, take the cap off, put the shock body in a vice or something else that will hold it straight vertical, let it sit for 15-20 minutes until ALL the bubbles disappear, carefully stroke it to remove any more air, then add more fluid as described above and try it again. It can be a fine balancing act to get just the RIGHT amount of fluid in the shock but once you do, your shocks will be silky smooth, your vehicle WILL respond to any chassis adjustments, and your suspension will work awesome. So many people fill their shocks wrong, including me, until I found the proper way to do it. Many people at the track wonder why my suspension works so well, and this is EXACTLY why it does. So many people that I've helped out with "un-tunable" suspensions were COMPLETELY cured by simply properly filling their shocks. 👌
Thanks very much for this. I rebuilt my Element Enduro shocks just by doing it the way i thought they should be done, and they performed terribly and had lots of air. I re-done then, using this video as a guide and now they're silky smooth and performing great. They weren't pushing the piston back by themself when i first done them but it was just me not knowing the proper technique.
Thanks for the Trail Tips !!! Quick question - Spencer Rivkin’s video on shock maintenance has him suggesting there should be no rebound if possible - he says he likes his race shocks “dead”, but these trail shocks are recommended to have some rebound after refill. Is this difference race vs trail?
No. Any shock should NOT rebound on it's own. That's what the spring is for. Shocks rebound if they're too full of oil, or if they have air in them still. One simply can't adjust their springs correctly if the shock itself is acting like a spring. Let the shock be a shock, and the spring be a spring.
Idk man shocks on real cars rebound on their own. The point of the shock is to slow the movement of the spring but it just rebound on its own. When u have the weight of the car with out the spring the shock shouldn’t rebound.
@@davelowets yeah i fill both n slap'em together quicksmart..move the piston up n down a bit and slowly tighten till they are sealed...seems to work ok
Pro-Tip:
The shock shouldn't rebound on it's own, that's what the spring is for. The shock should stay collapsed if you let go of it... If it DOES rebound, then there is still air in it, OR it is over-filled with oil.
When filling the shocks, one should fill it almost all of the way to the top with oil, stroke the rod to bleed it without letting the piston gulp any air, then very carefully fill the rest of shock with oil as you slowly move the piston to the very TOP, not allowing the piston to gulp any air. The proper amount of oil is when it's perfectly level with the top of the shock body when the piston is at the very top of it's stroke. If you have the cupped rubber seals that cover the entire hole of the shock body, then the proper oil level is right to the top of the underside of the seal with no air under it. The utter importance of this is because the rod takes up volume inside the body as it goes further into the shock. So, if you fill the shock to the top with oil when the piston is at the BOTTOM of the body and then cap it, there will be NO extra room inside for the rod to take up space when the shock is fully collapsed, it will build pressure inside as the rod goes further into it, and your shock will rebound like that. It will also leak, or blow caps off during big bumps if it's over-filled like that.
If your shock rebounds because it has too much oil in it, pull the rod all the way back down, loosen the cap just past the seal, tilt the shock at a 30° angle, and slowly press the rod all the way in letting the extra oil escape past the loosened cap, once the rod is all the way in and the excess fluid has ran out immediately tighten the cap back up before you move the shock from the 30° tilt. If the shock rebounds because there is still air bubbles inside of it, pull the rod all the way down, take the cap off, put the shock body in a vice or something else that will hold it straight vertical, let it sit for 15-20 minutes until ALL the bubbles disappear, carefully stroke it to remove any more air, then add more fluid as described above and try it again. It can be a fine balancing act to get just the RIGHT amount of fluid in the shock but once you do, your shocks will be silky smooth, your vehicle WILL respond to any chassis adjustments, and your suspension will work awesome.
So many people fill their shocks wrong, including me, until I found the proper way to do it. Many people at the track wonder why my suspension works so well, and this is EXACTLY why it does. So many people that I've helped out with "un-tunable" suspensions were COMPLETELY cured by simply properly filling their shocks. 👌
Thanks very much for this. I rebuilt my Element Enduro shocks just by doing it the way i thought they should be done, and they performed terribly and had lots of air.
I re-done then, using this video as a guide and now they're silky smooth and performing great. They weren't pushing the piston back by themself when i first done them but it was just me not knowing the proper technique.
This company is the BEST! Thank you for the info
God I love these videos! I actually look forward to Tuesday’s now 🤙🏽😆
It’s like you are wizards! How do you always know what my next maintenance chore is? How did you know I plan to rebuild some shocks today? Fantastic!
Thanks for the Trail Tips !!! Quick question - Spencer Rivkin’s video on shock maintenance has him suggesting there should be no rebound if possible - he says he likes his race shocks “dead”, but these trail shocks are recommended to have some rebound after refill. Is this difference race vs trail?
No. Any shock should NOT rebound on it's own. That's what the spring is for. Shocks rebound if they're too full of oil, or if they have air in them still. One simply can't adjust their springs correctly if the shock itself is acting like a spring. Let the shock be a shock, and the spring be a spring.
Agree ! you can’t be accurate with springs if there is random rebound
Idk man shocks on real cars rebound on their own. The point of the shock is to slow the movement of the spring but it just rebound on its own. When u have the weight of the car with out the spring the shock shouldn’t rebound.
Oh man.... I could have done with this 5 days ago! I'm horrendous at shocks
U not doing the proper way of bleeding
your still going to have an air pocket in the cap...thats why i came ...to see if you could solve it.
Pro Tip:
Put a drop of shock oil in the center of the cap right before you put it on.
@@davelowets yeah i fill both n slap'em together quicksmart..move the piston up n down a bit and slowly tighten till they are sealed...seems to work ok