for some reason the front adjustable shock seems stuck .....with the sled on the ground the shock moves with suspension travel but is not responding with the quick adjuster......the front of the skid isn't on the ground......it's like the limiter strap is tightened all the way but the strap is real loose.....anyone else ever have this happen?.....i don't have time tonight but i was thinking of disconnecting the bottle?.....i really didn't want to pull the skid as i just rebuilt everything last year and didn't do a lot of hard miles last year.......any ideas would be real appreciated

I turfed that whole system last year. Sounds like you have an air lock in the bottle. If you loosen off the cap on the bottle below the turn handle it should correct itself. Be aware though that there is a seal in the plunger that easily becomes defective and may allow oil to pass over it and render it useless.

Do yourself a favour and buy a conventional shock. The CCE system costs more $ to maintain than its worth.

Separator piston failure.
Did your CCE get AC's separator piston update? If so, it may have failed again. The Fox separator is superior. Find one from an '99 or earlier dial-adjust. Carvers may still supply them. That's who provided mine.
A durable Dial-Adjust system depends on two things.
1) a competent shock service guy with knowledge of that system and the technology to do it right.
2) sled set-up. and this is key. the sled must be set (limiter strap, springs, etc.) so it handles well with slight understeer. This is your speed/drag set-up. Now crank in the dial not more than two turns for incredible ski bite. This is the twisty carving set-up. NEVER turn the dial in more than a couple turns from first resistance. It's not necessary and doing so is an invitation for failure come the first hard hit the skid takes.
We get thousands of miles from the dial-adjust before it's annual service is required. I dare say that those who've bailed on the system either didn't have a shock guy that new jack shit or never took the time to set-up the sled correctly. In fact we know folks who buy up the systems on EBay (Fox systems preferred) and install them on their Firecats, Rev's and Renegades. They're a great tuning tool once understood and applied correctly.

Good Luck and enjoy!

Muskoka800 is correct. I have fixed many of these shocks and I still have Fox seperator pistons in stock and can get more from the distributor if needed. Give me a call ....... Dave http://home.comcast.net/~davearctic/DLS.html

am i right in thinking the separator piston is in the dial bottle and that i do not have to remove the shock and reservoir to remedy this......my dealer had just rebuilt the shocks about 1500 miles ago.......dave, could i ship you just the dial or do you need the whole setup......i really didn't want to pull the skid because i am losing the garage that i can use sunday.........

thanks
mike

AGREE WITH MUSKOKA 100%.....................I get thousands of trouble free miles between rebuilds on mine, very reliable but only if used properly.

extxp2, I would have him do all of your shocks again, they should be done every year unless you ride like a Pansy!

The seperator piston is inside the shock, not in the adjuster. You need to remove the adjuster and the shock to rebuild the front track shock. They always have to be done as a complete assembly.

When i mic the seperator pistons they come out the same dimensions. so please explain why the fox 1 is so much better, when they measure the same.

The machined groove for the O-ring is narrower, stops the o-ring from rolling / causing a leak.

I've never actually visually compared the two. Just brought the FOX one to my shock guy with my shocks and collected it all later. If I recall it's something to do with the width of the o-ring groove when comparing the FOX with the CCE's separator. I've never seen AC's update.
I'm told the FOX unit has less tendancy to cant/tilt allowing oil to bypass.
Mine was updated at about 1500 miles during which time I'd had no issues. 3600 miles since and still no problems.

Ok i just measure the fox ifp that i have and the act ifp that i have. the dimensions as as listed. they are the same. So can sombody please explain why the fox is better? This is the internal floating piston inside the remote res. from a fox, and from an act.


ACT IFP

over all height .650
wear strip groove width .210
Wear strip groove diameter 1.353
O-ring groove width .165
O-ring groove dimeter 1.222
Total diameter 1.436

FOX IFP

over all height .650
wear strip groove width .210
Wear strip groove diameter 1.353
O-ring groove width .168
O-ring groove dimeter 1.222
Total diameter 1.436

The earlier (2000/01) units had no issues which leads me to assume AC either changed em in '02 or had some sort of mfg problem. Remember seeing em side by side and recall the o ring groove was far too wide which caused the o ring to roll / leak.

I am sorry but the act ifp i measure is from a 2002 zr800cc

Here are the various pistons:

Its might be hard to see in the pic, but the "ZR fix" piston is the same piston with a thicker o-ring. The Fox is does not rock on the shaft like the ACT, preventing the oil from getting by. Some new ACT pistons will feel tight, but will wobble pretty early in their life.

Note that there is a Fox piston out there that looks like the ZR that was used in some of the ZR sno-pros - this is not the one you need.

The 2001 ZRs had problems too, if you put a Fox piston in the 2001 you need to add a spacer, part #0604-802 to make up the missing piston height or the bypass ports will blow oil right past the piston.

I have a complete Fox dial adjust I might part with if someone needs it.






Are you measuring IFPs? We are talking about the seperator piston in the top of the shock.

Ok I am glad that sombody has clarified this issue. The ifp has nothing to do with the problem then. it is the seperator pistons that are different. Everbody has been saying that it is the ifp that is the problem and that is not the case. Thank you for explaining the issue.

I had the same problem a while back. Do yourself a favor, pull it out and get it rebuilt. I know it sucks but its gonna have to happen...

Really doesnt take long, only a few bolts and its out as long as you hoist up the back and pop off the rear springs.

Mine had only an O ring go bad in the dial adjust....

Works great now.