The nut on the end of the piston of my DHX 5.0 has unfortunately fallen off, does anyone know the order of the shim stack on the rebound/ compression side. I’ve got a good idea from a few web sites but have yet to find a definitive answer and want to get them in exactly the right order.

Found a few links on mtbr but none are just what I need

Thanks,

Gareth

It depends on a few factors including the shock size, frame design and your weight.

Drop LoCo an email he was very helpful when I had silly questions about my shock.

i would ask about on mtbr, lots of info there. i did strip mine down a while back but cant remember the order now.

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=588813

Any use?

Thanks xiphon, had a look through this but does not show order of shims. Would like to find out more generally about suspension tuning but there seems to be little on the web about this (or that i’ve found so far)

Click for bigger

Washer

10.30×0.38mm
15.25×0.25mm
22.85×0.38mm
22.85×0.38mm
22.85×0.38mm COMPRESSION
12.70×0.25mm
20.25×0.25mm
22.85×0.25mm

Piston

17.85×0.38mm
17.85×0.38mm
17.85×0.38mm
15.25×0.25mm
15.25×0.25mm REBOUND
12.70×0.25mm
12.70×0.25mm
10.30×0.38mm

Small Washer

The above list is a pretty standard list of shims that I use on our race dampers. The 2 shims nearest the piston on the compression stack control the low speed then the next is a spacer. The spacer is next and this gives you a softer low speed before they then hit the next shims. The next shims are the high speed control. On the rebound side there is no spacer shim so there is a lot more progression and gives you more low speed damping. The 3 x 17.85 dia shims are pretty standard as a way to get a lot of low speed control.
Probably not much help but if you can find the shims to match the general idea of the above stack then you wont be far wrong.

Neil,

does that apply to any suspension design or just one specific type, i.e 4 bar, single pivot?

Not sure about specific type but its just looks like a standard way to get some low speed softness on the compression side and having a load of low speed damping on the rebound side. Easiest other way is to drill a small bleed hole in the piston but that affects comp and rebound aswell. Ive been building dampers for nearly 20 years, mainly Penske and Ohlins and recognised the shape of the shim stacks.

If your stuck then I shouldn’t think you will go far wrong with a simple pyramid setup. Do you know which shims are from the compression side and which are from the rebound side?

interesting raed, any pix of shim stacks so i can visualise what is being talked about?