Heavy Duty shocks from WSW for my 2006 Mastiff

[Big Ted]

So this post is about the new heavy duty shocks I bought for my 2006 Mastiff from Curtis over at Wild Steed Worx. Without a doubt, the BEST money I have spent on the bike and HIGHLY recommend them to others. It’s a bit embarrassing that I never realized this, but I bought my Mastiff used and was told it was 100% stock. I had just assumed then that the existing shocks were OEM and the “issues” I was having were just normal for the bike. The “issues” I was having were the bike bottoming out hard on bumps in the road and scraping my big radius pipes on the pavement while leaning into turns.

After some research I decided to go with Curtis’s heavy duty shocks and its as if I bought a brand new bike the ride is so improved. Long story short, the previous owner installed some progressive shocks and lowered the bike a couple inches. This is what was causing the scraping in the turns and the shocks were not able to handle the weight of the bike and me – I’m a bigger guy – causing it to bottom out frequently.

These new shocks from Curtis/WSW put the bike back in its intended riding position/height, stopped the scrapping and bottoming out and just made the bike so much more fun to ride. I would highly recommend Curtis and Wild Steed Worx for help, advice and parts.

 

[awg]

And there you go!

 

[Rottweiler]

How hard was it to change the shocks?

 

[Mr. Wright]

How hard was it to change the shocks?

15 minutes. Support the bike with a scissor jack and replace them one at a time

 

[Big Ted]

I wish it only took me 15 minutes, but I’m old and fat and my back hurts all the time. That being said it took me an hour and a half and 3 beers.The hardest part for me, since my jack isn’t the greatest, was having enough leverage on my torq wrench to tighten the shock bolts to 100ft/lb. Hard to do with 3-4” of “wiggle room” laying on my side on my driveway.

 

[Mastiff Rider64]

I wish it only took me 15 minutes, but I’m old and fat and my back hurts all the time. That being said it took me an hour and a half and 3 beers.The hardest part for me, since my jack isn’t the greatest, was having enough leverage on my torq wrench to tighten the shock bolts to 100ft/lb. Hard to do with 3-4” of “wiggle room” laying on my side on my driveway.

100 ft/lb??? I watched a video on youtube of Curtis himself changing a set of shocks on a K9 and the guy asked him what you torque the bolts down to and Curtis himself says there is no torque setpoint just tighten them up as tight as you can....

 

[pknowles]

100 ft/lb??? I watched a video on youtube of Curtis himself changing a set of shocks on a K9 and the guy asked him what you torque the bolts down to and Curtis himself says there is no torque setpoint just tighten them up as tight as you can....

For a reference you can use a torque chart for the size fastener being used.

 

[Rottweiler]

I wish it only took me 15 minutes, but I’m old and fat and my back hurts all the time. That being said it took me an hour and a half and 3 beers.The hardest part for me, since my jack isn’t the greatest, was having enough leverage on my torq wrench to tighten the shock bolts to 100ft/lb. Hard to do with 3-4” of “wiggle room” laying on my side on my driveway.

Okay a hour and a half not bad.
Yeah I'm old and fat.

 

[pknowles]

Quick search found this.

 

[Jersey Big Mike]

100 ft/lb??? I watched a video on youtube of Curtis himself changing a set of shocks on a K9 and the guy asked him what you torque the bolts down to and Curtis himself says there is no torque setpoint just tighten them up as tight as you can....

100 ft/lb??? I watched a video on youtube of Curtis himself changing a set of shocks on a K9 and the guy asked him what you torque the bolts down to and Curtis himself says there is no torque setpoint just tighten them up as tight as you can....

The manual for the 08, section 2-42 states 100ft/lbs for the shock bolts with locktite 2760 (red)

 

[Big Ted]

Those are all good references. In my case it was simple - Curtis supplied excellent installation instructions with the shocks. Those instructions Curtis supplied stated to use 2760 loctite and the torq spec of 100 ft/lb. I have the service manual for the bike and used it to verify Curtis' instructions and it checked out.

That said, I also agree with the youTube video comment - 100 ft/lbs is about the same as "as tight as you can..."

 

[Jersey Big Mike]

Those are all good references. In my case it was simple - Curtis supplied excellent installation instructions with the shocks. Those instructions Curtis supplied stated to use 2760 loctite and the torq spec of 100 ft/lb. I have the service manual for the bike and used it to verify Curtis' instructions and it checked out.

That said, I also agree with the youTube video comment - 100 ft/lbs is about the same as "as tight as you can..."

Well, I wish that 100 lbs was as tight as I could get it.
A few years ago I replaced the shock and turned the bolts till I figured I'd have maybe 80ft/lbs on them, I still had force to go but opted to swith to the torque wrench from the regular box wrench. Lo and behold, I was already at 100ft/lbs on 3 out of 4 bolts.
Remninds me why I've broken so many bolts in my life time -- luckily Im weaker now so I do think this will be a worry when I replace the transmission shortly.