[Xelvic]

This is for the X model. It seems that dealers have been putting the shocks on backwards. Front shocks on rear and rear shocks on the front. Mine is this way. I'm going to be changing tomorrow. No wonder why my ride was stiff up front. You should have the 5 tight coils on the rear, and the spread out ones on the front. Here's a couple of pics to show you what I'm talking about. The pics show the way the shocks should be. Barbara, I know you were saying yours rode stiff too. This might also be your problem.

 

[dieselpowered]

Good find Jordan, such a simple oversight. Makes you also wonder what else is not done correctly, ie. fluid levels, belt tension, ect.

 

[BLR]

This is for the X model. It seems that dealers have been putting the shocks on backwards. Front shocks on rear and rear shocks on the front. Mine is this way. I'm going to be changing tomorrow. No wonder why my ride was stiff up front. You should have the 5 tight coils on the rear, and the spread out ones on the front. Here's a couple of pics to show you what I'm talking about. The pics show the way the shocks should be. Barbara, I know you were saying yours rode stiff too. This might also be your problem.

Hey thanks Jordan... we were going to go for a ride this afternoon, but you know one beer leads to another which leads to another, well you know the rest of the story... we will check it out Sat...thanks for the INPUT...Barbara

 

[LBR]

Jordan....just now checked our shocks and if what your posting is true, this could be part of Commanders issues....OURS ARE ON WRONG TOO!!..the 5 tight coils are on top on the fronts instead of the rears.......nice catch man.....may be a wrong instruction sheet to the dealership assemblers....Lance

 

[Xelvic]

Yep, seems they did it to a lot of them. I'm going to change them out tomorrow and see how it rides. It should be a lot smoother. The rear suspension is way soft right now. When I take off under hard acceleration the back squats down.

 

[Hillbilly]

Wow! after reading this I went to the garage to have a look at mine. what do ya know... five tight coils on top and on the front. seams mine was assembled wrong also. What's up with this and is there any way to verify (maybe with Can-am) which shocks go where? Not questioning your find Jordan. I would just like to know for sure before I tear into my dealer with this issue. I'll correct the problem myself, just want the dealer to know their not putting these things together right. Thanks for the find man!

 

[Razorback Dave]

Im wondering if this could be a problem with the XTs as well hah. Gonna check tommorrow.

 

[Odyknuck]

When this issue first came up I called my dealer to make sure they went on in the correct position. Sure enough they had put them on wrong and had to correct it. The funny thing is that the reason they thought they had them on wrong was that they could not get to the rebound adjuster. Knowing that all you had to do was rotate the shock end 180 degrees to expose it, I just let it go lol. In any event they are on correctly.

 

[Xelvic]

Well it's 8 am and I'm just starting the job. I'll let you guys know my results after the test ride. The only way I verified this was reading the forums and looking at the pics on Can-am's site. It makes sence though. The back should be stiffer than the front because that's where all the load shifts too, especially if you put any weight in the bed. Wish me luck!! I hope it doesn't take all day. It looks like it is an easy fix, but I've fell into that trap before.

 

[Ignore Amos]

Well it's 8 am and I'm just starting the job. I'll let you guys know my results after the test ride. The only way I verified this was reading the forums and looking at the pics on Can-am's site. It makes sence though. The back should be stiffer than the front because that's where all the load shifts too, especially if you put any weight in the bed. Wish me luck!! I hope it doesn't take all day. It looks like it is an easy fix, but I've fell into that trap before.

When I ready your post last night I had to go to the garage and check...phew...I was relived to see they properly installed... I figured they were since it has handled really well...but just had to check for piece of mind..

Still open for riding sometime..I'm going to San Manuel on Saturday but open Sunday...digging Reddington but open to something else..ever been to Mile Wide on the west side out near Desert Museum? starts there and ends up in Arivaca...huge variety of terrain but not technical..

 

[LBR]

Was it US27 that posted the bad nose-dive in their testing field??....wondering if his were wrong also? We will nicely notify our dealership today so they can bird-dog the wrong install issue and maybe pinpoint the reasoning behind it..

For the couple of you that frequent the other site, what is the general consenseous over there about this???..........Lance

 

[Hillbilly]

I've got a call in right now to Fox on this. Waiting for their reply. Guy told me he would contact the engineer over the Commander project and get back to me.

 

[dieselpowered]

I also have a message into Can-Am as well directing them to this thread.

 

[Xelvic]

When I ready your post last night I had to go to the garage and check...phew...I was relived to see they properly installed... I figured they were since it has handled really well...but just had to check for piece of mind..

Still open for riding sometime..I'm going to San Manuel on Saturday but open Sunday...digging Reddington but open to something else..ever been to Mile Wide on the west side out near Desert Museum? starts there and ends up in Arivaca...huge variety of terrain but not technical..

Still waiting for my tags so I can ride somewhere other than my backyard. I already got stopped once by a game warden for riding without my OHV tag. I called MVD and they still don't have my commander in their system. Once they do, I can get it street legal. I know Reddington Pass they have check points that they check to make sure your legal. Should be only a couple more weeks.

 

[Xelvic]

Ok, I just finished. Took about an hour and a half to complete. Just pushing on the suspension with my body weight feels much better. I'm going out for a test ride now. Will report back soon.

 

[dieselpowered]

Excellent, that did not take long at all...looking forward to hearing the results!

In addition, here is the assembly of the front and rear suspension:

 

[Xelvic]

OK, just got back and WOW what a difference! The first thing I noticed was the body roll was cut in half. The front suspension soaked up the bumps much much better. The rear was still to stiff for my liking though. I read up on the suspension settings last night. I never had a suspension system that had all these adjustments. So I took a flat blade and a 17mm wrench with me. I played with the settings going over the same trail section each time. I got it dialed in perfect for my likings now. My high speed adjustment is set all the way soft. I think it's 12 clicks to the left from factory. It won't go anymore, so I know I'm all the way soft. My low speed is set 10 clicks to the left, and my rebound is set at factory. Even with my settings so soft I still have less body roll. These setting took all the jarring I was getting from going over volley ball sized boulders.

 

[dieselpowered]

Fantastic news Jordan, happy to hear it was a quick fix!

 

[Xelvic]

Another way to tell, is the manual says the X spring lenght should be 12.2 in the front and 14 in the back with no load. I jacked the Commander up and measured mine, and sure enough they were backwards. I'm all good now though!!

 

[driverdawg]

I also have a message into Can-Am as well directing them to this thread.

I will be finally be picking up my X next Friday and I shot an e-mail to my dealer to my sure it was put together correctly.