F3 limited

[AsphaltEagle]

Will adjusting the front shocks alter wheel alignment?
My 2018 F3 Limited sits very low in the front. Much lower than my friends F3 limited. Both spyders shocks adj nuts are in the same the location. the bottom of the nose on his is 3.75 in from ground. Mine is 2 3/8 in..i have to be very careful of high areas.
Don't see why mine is so low. His is a 2017 F3 limited.
Any ideas?

 

[RICZ]

Following.

 

[bmccaffrey]

Following also

 

[Tango]

Hopefully the Captain will see this and respond. He's an alignment guru here. :thumbup: Tom :spyder:

 

[Peter Aawen]

...... My 2018 F3 Limited sits very low in the front. Much lower than my friends F3 limited. ........
Any ideas?

Does yours have a 2-up rear shock while his doesn't? Any other rear suspension differences?? Raising the rear on these things can make the nose/pointy end lower.... :sour:

As for adjusting the front shocks, YES, doing that will alter the front wheel alignment; but it'll probably only impact the toe in-out alignment 'a little' & that's fairly easily corrected by someone like CaptJim from Squared Away. hyea: However, raising the front end too much will definitely alter the Camber Angle and there's no easy way to fix that! :shocked:

Still, it really sounds like there might be something else going on up front to cause your Spyder's ryde height problem, and that is really what needs to be identified. Maybe it's just that your shocks/springs aren't up to the load you & your machine have put on them; or maybe they were just too light from the factory - possibly they're a dud set that didn't ever get 'set' correctly to carry the load at the specified ryde height?! If you can't get all this resolved under warranty, then you might need to look into fitting heavier/better (& potentially expensive) A/mkt springs & shocks, but I'd be chasing the warranty approach first! :dontknow:

Good Luck :thumbup:

 

[merlot]

as pete says raising or lowering the shock will affect camber......https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSFmUmVWBp0

your wheel should be at 90deg to the ground(or close to it)

you can check it with a big square off a flat surface(or just eyeball it)

my 2016 sits up 4 1/2 inches off the ground

both your bikes seem too low

if nothing is wrong then your wheels will be laying in at the tops(-ve camber?)eg. shock has been wound down

yours should be worse than your mates(both bikes will wear the inner edge of the tyres)

if you wind the shock up to get the camber right then just remember...adjusting the left shock affects camber on the right wheel, and vica versa (ask me how i know....i messed around for ages til i found that out)

or just wind them both up the same amount

then once you get the height correct,and the camber(as they are both connected),take it in for alignment

this is what mine looks like at 4 1/2 inches ground clearance

 

[Mikey]

Is your bike older than your friends, have you owned yours from new? Every shock is a charged unit, may be your shock have lost it, or some of it! And they are sitting more on your spring! When you put your hand on the front of the bike, and push down on it, dose it have a little bounce at the top! Or like Peter was saying maybe there's some thing going on different in the rear tipping the nose down!

 

[RICZ]

Merlot....When you say "winding the shock up" is that tightening the spring....or?

 

[Mikey]

Merlot....When you say "winding the shock up" is that tightening the spring....or?

Yes It will tighten the spring!

 

[Highwayman2013]

I ran my front preload all the way up. I may have gained 3/4 to 1" of additional clearance. I cannot tell any change in alignment by riding it. I got tired of bottoming out going into gas stations and driveways.

 

[troop]

I bought/installed the occasional two up shock when I purchased my F3-S. After I installed the shock, I ramped up the front shock preload a few turns so they're 50% tighter than OEM. Still have a few turns before fully compressed. I'm not going to tighten them up any more, as I'll be installing a stiffer swaybar over the winter. I'll get it laser aligned once the swaybar is on and I have the front shocks dialed in.

 

[Peteoz]

Yes It will tighten the spring!

Mikey, I know very little about shocks, but wouldn’t winding the shock UP be loosening the spring, elongating the shock and thus raising the body at rest, while winding the shock down would tighten the spring and lower the body?

Pete

 

[merlot]

when you wind the spring up,you are not compressing the spring
what you are doing is elongating the shock so that the bike sits higher

the spring is taking the weight of the bike and this dosent change so spring compression dosent change no matter what you do

to stiffen the front you need heavier spring or take a coil out of the equation(doc humphries insert)

to raise the front(set static sag) simply wind the spring up which makes the shock longer(compressed spring length remains unchanged)

the trade off here is you must be aware of changes to the camber(i aim for 90 degrees)

BUT...if you're a heavy guy using the wrong spring,the the "dynamic sag"(when you sit on the bike) may still set the bike too low,so no ground clearance still
in this case you fit a heavier duty spring then reset static sag(the height of the bike)




to answer the OP original question"does winding shock up affect alignment?
i set alignment for a real man(140kg) and gave his bike 3mm toe in unloaded
when he sat on the bike i took another shot and got 1.5mm toe in

so yes...lowering the bike causes the front wheels to splay out(toe out)

i now only set bikes with the punter on board and aim for around 1.5mm toe in


Ashphalt Eagle
you need to wind your shocks up(noting camber)then take it to someone who knows front ends(Squared Away?) and get a proper alignment
but get the height right first

russ



ADD. i just had a look at my front shocks(only had this bike a week) and there dosent seem to be much adjustment on these shocks(not like the Elkas)

if you cant adjust height enough then i would say the spring is too weak(sagged)and you may need new springs

 

[Mikey]

when you wind the spring up,you are not compressing the spring
what you are doing is elongating the shock so that the bike sits higher

the spring is taking the weight of the bike and this dosent change so spring compression dosent change no matter what you do

to stiffen the front you need heavier spring or take a coil out of the equation(doc humphries insert)

to raise the front(set static sag) simply wind the spring up which makes the shock longer(compressed spring length remains unchanged)

the trade off here is you must be aware of changes to the camber(i aim for 90 degrees)

BUT...if you're a heavy guy using the wrong spring,the the "dynamic sag"(when you sit on the bike) may still set the bike too low,so no ground clearance still
in this case you fit a heavier duty spring then reset static sag(the height of the bike)




to answer the OP original question"does winding shock up affect alignment?
i set alignment for a real man(140kg) and gave his bike 3mm toe in unloaded
when he sat on the bike i took another shot and got 1.5mm toe in

so yes...lowering the bike causes the front wheels to splay out(toe out)

i now only set bikes with the punter on board and aim for around 1.5mm toe in


Ashphalt Eagle
you need to wind your shocks up(noting camber)then take it to someone who knows front ends(Squared Away?) and get a proper alignment
but get the height right first

russ



ADD. i just had a look at my front shocks(only had this bike a week) and there dosent seem to be much adjustment on these shocks(not like the Elkas)

if you cant adjust height enough then i would say the spring is too weak(sagged)and you may need new springs

When you put more pressure on the spring you are basically stiffing the spring, when you want more pressure out of a spring then you would put one of Doc's cheater in and get the same effect, or get a spring with a higher load value! You can only stretch a shock till it hit the end and cant go any further! If you need to get taller you have to get a shock that is longer end to end! We may be saying roughly the same thing, but like you said, if you don't have the load on the bike(rider) then you are just adjusting for the load of the bike then what do you have then, you sit on it and it go's to hell!!

 

[AY4B]

Your Spyder needs to be around 4 inches off the ground. Tightening the springs will raise it up. If you are heavey like I am you need heavier springs. Elka sent me heavier springs and I installed them myself. once I got them on I tightened them up by feel, turning the nut that tightens up the spring to where I had good contact on both springs. I then guessed I needed X amount of turns on each spring. Installed them, set the front end down and measures my clearance. I kept raising it back up to add more turns till I got the 4 " clearance. It should work the same with the stock shocks.

 

[AsphaltEagle]

I weigh about 220. I measured ground to nose distance sitting level with no weight on bike. My 2018 limited with 5000 miles is about 1 inch lower than my buddies 2017 limited measured the same way.
Btw, i never ride single, wife always with me. So now not sure if i should run the shock nuts up or not. No where around here to have alignment done.

 

[Peter Aawen]

Is it still under warranty? If so, then I reckon that a visit to a dealer should probably be your first step. Maybe you could check on the unladen ryde height of a few other F3's while you were there?? :dontknow: Worth a shot, isn't it? At tthe very least they should be able to tell you if your Spyder's ryde height is within spec?! Good Luck! :thumbup:

 

[merlot]

yes ...run the nuts up (unless your wheels are already at 90deg to the road)

alignment will be affected minimally

get alignment when you can but dont worry over it(the later models are fairly close now)

russ

 

[troop]

Hmmm.. Totally spaced out the forward weight shift I gained from installing the occasional two up shock. Being a 235/geared guy, I'll likely ramp up the shock nuts all the way. I'll be curious to see how the bike handles come spring with an upgraded swaybar and Q5 front tires installed. I will get it laser aligned come spring.