Does anyone know where I can purchase a pair of Walker Evans Velocity front shocks? They come standard in the rear of the new Indy XC but not on the front. I was so impressed with these shocks when we demo'd the sled back in Feb, that I'm looking to install them on the front of my new XC. I know the '18 and up IQR's have them but can't find anyone who sells them. Here's some info about them:
Walker Evans Velocity Shocks Introduced on Polaris 600R Race Sled
The biggest improvement on these shocks over the standard WEs is the position of the piggyback resevoir. Mounted much lower on the shock body, the resevoir is now below the full travel of the shock piston. This allows the shock to have two very different performance ranges; plush for the first bit of travel to be compliant in the small chatter bumps but stiff once the piston has travelled past the resevoir orifice. Imagine a shock that can be set up soft for comfort and ease of powder carving but still has the ability to absorb the big hit from that drop you just pounded without bottoming.
As an added bonus, this low mounting of the resevoir allows the Polaris engineers to turn the shock 180 degrees and hang the piggyback on the INSIDE, close to the bulkhead. This helps centralize the weight (one of Polaris favourite buzzwords) as well as help to protect the piggyback from damage. Snocrossers need this protection because “rubbing is racing”, but this will work equally well for the tree riders among us who don’t like hitting expensive shiny parts with sticks.
Had them on my '16 Night Lightning. Not much better than stock. The Velocity shock is a big step above all other shocks on the market now. (I'm sure I'll get flak for this comment...)
Relocating the reservoir down on the shock has really changed the game. No one else does this. They may even have a patent on this. They are readily available for the SXS market. Rave reviews from those guys.
I'm just not sure on the length that they use on the IQR and if it will work on the Indy XC. I'll try contacting WE directly as some of you have suggested and post what they tell me.
Lenn, go directly to Walker Evans, they are great to deal with and alot cheaper, and you will know what you have, not like buying a set of 600r shocks off eBay. Last week I received my XCR valved Hi/Lo shocks, $400 for the set and also few other goodies that I wanted! They were considered 2nds or blems, but to my wallet and eyes they are as good as new, they were even custom built for my IQ with the longer eyelets to make up for the length difference as the Axys actually has shorter shocks than the IQ.
Lenn, did they come with springs and hardware? If you order from Polaris the do. Just wondering. My local shop is dealer for walker and takes care of me well.
Not saying yours didn’t work better than stock but, my 18 assault has them on it and my sons does not and it is a night and day difference in ride quality and they rarely bottom. Hands down best upgrade I did on mine. Keep me posted, I am a walker dealer so maybe I will try a set if you find out they will fit. Reservoir half way down is kinda the same effect the needle has in the hi/lo shock, keeps getting stiffer the further shaft travels.
Rear skid was fantastic...I wouldn't touch anything there....the front suspension is the weak link. Stock shocks are typical overvalved W.E. per Polaris specs. The progressive nature of the Velocity shocks mounted on the front will make this sled a home run. I talked with W.E. today and they are going to get back to me. I'll post as soon as I hear.
We are a walker evans dealer. We can get anything built. Have a lot of parts in stock. The sled dealers here have nothing in stock. And none of them rebuild shocks.They just want to sell you a new shock at Polaris prices. We can get you back on the trail fast if you break something? We have shafts, bodys, heads, valving, etc. in stock.
have shocks from N.Y. and M.I. right now on the bench. one needs a body. we have it.
how these work is somewhat like the needle shock's in the needles there is a bleed hole in the shock shaft. only at the very end of the stoke 1-1 1/2" left it totally blocks the bleed hole off and you are just on the valving which has to be on the stiff side. on velocity shocks the shock uses the floating piston in the reservoir during about half the stroke. and can be valved way softer. then it goes by the hole off and is just on the valving but here's the twist. the gas pressure is in on the other side of the internal floating piston. and now that pressure pushes on the compression valving making it hard to over come and stiff for the big hits. so you get a very cushy ride in at least half the range of the shock. big difference in these over the needles.
That’s what I figured they were doing and putting better parts in them. I see you can buy them right from we for 425 a shock. Not a bad price considering the qs3 is like 1200 bucks for a set of 2
That sucks that they put these awesome shocks on for you test riders, you give amazing reviews, then the sled I order gets crappier shocks? Is this correct?
Hi/Lo shocks work the same way but use the needle to stiffen up at bottom of stroke. Velocity works like the old position sensitive fox shock. Seems to me your going to go right from cushy to really stiff in the instant the valving goes past where the res is located unlike the needle hi/lo's which get progressively stiff as needle travels into the shaft. Hi/Lo's are cheaper and more likely you will find dealers with parts in stock for them.
I think there is a big issue with these as front shocks where are you going to get different a arms so they will fit? See how the race sled a arms were redesigned to clear these new shocks with the resi in the middle. Does the axys chassis have more clearance?
Pretty sure they will fit no problem, the res goes to the outside on these Indy/Axys sleds and possibly the A-arms on the race sled are designed for strength and protection with the way they are mounted in the 600r.
if Polaris has an alternate shock/arm set-up for XC racing with this chassis I would anticipate there would be an alternate part look up for an XC set-up with these shocks. time will tell, I haven't seen an update on the Poo race site yet other than the Soo kit for the IQR. Snowmobile Racing Tips & Forms | Polaris Snowmobiles
I will have a set coming. I will know shortly if these will directly bolt in? They weren't sure? walker evans wants me to try the race valving then a # of stacks they are going to give me. There are $475 per shock. there were trying to steer me towards the hi/low shocks as they said they work very close to the velocity's? I think the issue is going to be valving in these as only the race shocks have been tested.Once i get them i'am going to tear them apart and see what they are truly doing on these. and look closely are the valving.
Mounting these on a stock Axys front end won't be an issue. The reservoir is much lower on the shock than a regular WE shock.
Got this info is directly from Walker Evans.
The res will go on the outside just like the stock shocks, the res will just be a few inches lower or closer to the spindle. Shocks don't care if they are turned inside out, backwards, or upside down and I'm not trying to be a smart@##. And after looking at your pic, you got me thinking if you could even put the res in and mount it upside down? Rick can play with this and let us know.
Understood. I guess I was taking the packaging in a very literal capacity (resi packaged near the top/inboard just like the race sleds for better mass centralization).
Either way, it'll be interesting to see what guys make work.
Ironically, the front end on my 2015 has always been excellent in my opinion/experience...so if these are THAT much better I'll be extremely impressed.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Hardcore Sledder
8.8M posts
150.5K members
Since 2002
A forum community dedicated to snowmobile owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, trails, riding tips, modifications, classifieds, accessories, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!