[wildcat1959]

Anybody rebuild their shocks with Arctic Cat's synthetic shock oil or any other brand for that matter?
A/C has three weight grades for their oil.Since the Sno Pro valving is already pretty firm,i was thinking of using their light/medium oil.
The price difference between regular oil and Synthetic is not that great,so i think it might be worth the extra money...
Any suggestions out there???

Thank You !

 

[zr sled head]

I went the syn route for a couple of seasons but have since switched back to good old outta da bottle AC shock oil.............seems to work best / last the longest.

 

[wildcat1959]

I rebuild my shocks every fall,i have all the tools and equipment as i used to do some work for a local dealer a few years back.Still have a case of the good old regular A/C oil sitting around the garage and more O'rings than i will use in a lifetime.I was just wondering if there was an advantage with the synthetic stuff since everything lubricant wise is headed in that direction these days.Any info on the oil weight grade for a Sno Pro ???

 

[zr sled head]

In my case I didn't like how the shocks felt with syn in them as the good feel associated with having em freshly done seemed to fade after very little riding. Had them done two years back at a local A/C dealer with Cat oil, ran them that season and last racking up about 10,000 miles, sled still felt fine. When pulled down for o'haul this fall (broke a dial adjust line at the end of last year) the shocks were a tad low on charge but the oil looked good n clean. With syn it always came out looking well on the dark side.
I know most guys that rebuild shocks swear by syn, but in my experience it's not been "the cats ass".

 

[wildcat1959]

Thanks sled head,i guess i will use up the rest of my regular oil rather than spend $ 27.00 a liter for the syn stuff, especially since i have to pay
for my own oil now... lol
By the way,get any riding done yet??? I saw a few trailers from Ontario in St Michel des Saints last week. Conditions were good until last Thursday when it all started to melt.

 

[mk2g60]

I use synthetic oil in every shock that I service and would never switch back to a petrolatum oil.

 

[zr sled head]

Thanks sled head,i guess i will use up the rest of my regular oil rather than spend $ 27.00 a liter for the syn stuff, especially since i have to pay
for my own oil now... lol
By the way,get any riding done yet??? I saw a few trailers from Ontario in St Michel des Saints last week. Conditions were good until last Thursday when it all started to melt.[/b]

Nope, nothing as of yet.................fingers crossed.

 

[fastcat800]

I use nothing but Amsoil in all the shocks I rebuild. The synthetic never gets sludge in it like standard oil can get and it is less prone to absorb water. "O" rings and seals last longer too. It's only a little over $10/qt.

 

[zr84evr]

Amsoil makes some great injector oil, but their shock oil is junk in my opinion. My bottle got sludge in it sitting on my shelf. Not happy.

 

[nobog]

fastcat800, ZR84EVR; a classic case of "he said, she said". I have never seen, or heard of, any scientific study that compares shock oil in the real world. In the scientific world it is called a "design of experiments" and it would include all the variables. Since no one is ever going to do this - as some of the variables include: temperature, riding style, shock setup, shock make and model, wt of the oil, seal type, petroleum vs syn, storage time, etc, the point is moot in trying to "argue" which is the best shock oil. Find one you like - you might just like the color - or the cost, but the bottom line is new oil is better than old oil - we may never know which one is "best".

As my old boss said many times "if you don't know - don't say"

[email protected]

 

[peterk]

Amsoil makes some great injector oil, but their shock oil is junk in my opinion. My bottle got sludge in it sitting on my shelf. Not happy.[/b]

What did the sludge look like in your Amsoil? I have a couple of bottles with something that looks like vaseline in the bottom - not very pleased!

 

[zr sled head]

Amsoil makes some great injector oil, but their shock oil is junk in my opinion. My bottle got sludge in it sitting on my shelf. Not happy.[/b]

My shocks have never felt better / lasted longer since dropping Amsoil shock oil.

 

[zr84evr]

What did the sludge look like in your Amsoil? I have a couple of bottles with something that looks like vaseline in the bottom - not very pleased![/b]

Yep, Just like that.
Terrible.

Oh, and I'm not doing it for a he said, she said, notice I didn't say what I prefer to use.
I just wanted people to steer clear of this one. Most people have run into the same problem.

 

[zr sled head]

Yep, Just like that.
Terrible.

Oh, and I'm not doing it for a he said, she said, notice I didn't say what I prefer to use.
I just wanted people to steer clear of this one. Most people have run into the same problem.[/b]

Makes sense that it looked terrible when I had the shocks serviced..............thanks Robb.

 

[jughead]

Here's your info on AC shock oils:

Med light syn (rec. for cross link shocks only) is a 5wt. oil

Standard ACT oil
lower performance than syn.
good for average trail riders, replacemnt for light syn in positive sensitive shocks (will stiffen ride)
7wt. oil

Medium syn.
7 wt. oil
replaces light wt., if stiffer ride is needed
comparable to standard oil, with longer performance

Light wt. Syn.
2-3 wt. oil
positive sensitive shock oil
use in place of standard oil if ride is too stiff

hope this helps you out.

 

[peterk]

Makes sense that it looked terrible when I had the shocks serviced..............thanks Robb.[/b]

Mine actually looks fine in the shocks after one season of hard riding - I switched to Amsoil last year and used it in about a dozen shocks. I've just found two bottles of light weight with the sludge (bottles were opened last season and sat over the summer). My opened bottle of medium did not have sludge.

Amsoil is also a bit harder to bleed than my previous oil. Not a big deal if you take your time, but may result in poor shock performance if you don't take more time than usual.

I'm very happy with the performance of the oil in my shocks, just worried about what this sludge is.

 

[wildcat1959]

Which one do you use for the rear suspension shocks,the medium syn ??? I have the sno pro suspension on wy 03 ZR and I do a lot of jumping with my sled.
Are there any other brands that are acceptable as well...
I was wondering about motocross shock oils???

 

[peterk]

Which one do you use for the rear suspension shocks,the medium syn ??? I have the sno pro suspension on wy 03 ZR and I do a lot of jumping with my sled.
Are there any other brands that are acceptable as well...
I was wondering about motocross shock oils???[/b]

I use medium in Fox/ACT shocks and light in HPG Doo shocks. Only other oil I have used was Carver performance oil - I was very happy with it and used it for about 6 years. Switched to Amsoil because I needed a lighter weight for the HPGs.

If you are riding a ZR hard - you should get a revalve. There is a lot more potential in that suspension than the way the factory set it up. If you do your own shocks drop me a PM and I can suggest a vavle stack.