Work on snowmobiles

So im heading up to lake of the woods fishing on wednesday. And my snowmobile which I just bought (used) specifically for fishing seems very soft in the back. The guy I bought it from had shocks put in a week before I bought it. I called the place he had the work done (I have the receipt)and they guy didnt seem to concerned or take much responsibility. No names as of yet, I will give him a chance to hopefully redeem himself. But, if hes gonna act like the dillweed I think he is and not take responsibility for these bad shocks im gonna need a place that can help me out in short notice. Please help with any ideas of who does snowmobile work in st paul or northern parts of the cities. Thanks so much to you all!!

more info is needed, if it’s soft it could be that you need to stiffen the rear springs, usually just an adjustment. When you sit on it you should use about 20% of the suspension, if it settles more tighten the springs up.

Unless they are coil over shocks the shock plays no part in a “soft” feeling. If they are coil over (rare on snowmobiles except for front skid shock) compress the spring more by turning the ajustment.

My assumption is that it is a simple adjustment of the 2 coil springs on eachside towards the rear of the skid. (there are generally 3-4 settings for rider weight)

BTW shock dampen the rebound rate of a spring so as not to “launch” the slead from the spring rapidly rebounding from a compression. In some high performance shocke you might find that you can dampen the compression as well.

So it is possible the seller/Tech is not the “dillweed”

My best guess is for you to locate the rear coil springs. One end of the spring will have a long arm the other arm will be short. You should find the short arm is riding on a plastic or metal block that can be rotated to compress or losten the tension of the spring.

This video should help you locate the springs… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ColEYNjVG3k&feature=related

I expect a LOW report. -Mark

Yeah im far from an expert on working on sleds its actually my first one. But I had a buddy show me the spring adjustment and it was on the highest setting. He seemed to think the shocks werent “charged”. The sled when pushed down wont pop back up. Thanks for the info though!

Chances are your coil springs are shot The shock absorber has nothing to do with rebound. Good luck

If the shocks are rebuildable: They may not be charged – or the seals may be bad and will not hold a charge, the shocks are filled w/gas-N2. I rebuild my shocks every year, but I ride my sleds 2-3K a year. If you are over 200LBS a revalve may me nessary to have a decent ride.

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Chances are your coil springs are shot The shock absorber has nothing to do with rebound. Good luck

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Shocks do have a lot to do with rebound, they controll it rebound rate.

It is possible that the shock has water that leaked into it and froze. That will make the shock inoperable (not allow suspension to compress or rebound depending on situation.

Sorry for the bad luck. What slead is it and gas or hydrolic shocks? -Mark

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Chances are your coil springs are shot The shock absorber has nothing to do with rebound. Good luck

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I think they both (shock and spring) work agenst each other.

Good shocks have some rebound and are responsible for assisting the springs to lift it that final couple of inches. Make sure you are testing with nothing under the skis or rear end. Most likely a combination of both but on all my selds with rebuildable shocks the first sign of worn shocks is exactly what you describe. I bebuild them and problem solved. Springs do wear out though.