alright, i'm about to put my front shocks completely together after having just mocked a few things up....

'07 wide glide, by the way...

here's the thing: the progressive springs i bought (11-1525) come with pvc spacers (about 3 inches long) ....and the springs themselves are about 3 inches longer than stock (this is understandable considering they are progressive shocks and are probably designed to compress in the tube for a better ride)

...so what the hell do i need the spacers for?...original springs that came out of the tubes didn't have any spacers in there.... do i need them?

 

I'm not the expert but I have them in my front00 fxdwg. you are correct about the diff in length. I do believe you need the spacer for installand they provided 3 in. so you can cut it down to 2 or slam it w/1??? someone will gladly correct me if wrong, do I have vegas odds?

 

You are correct - you cut spacer to level bike out, had to cut mine down quite a bit when I also installed 11" rear Progressives.

 

So, I'm curious, can you leave the spacers out completely and it will be totally slammed? Or? I may want to lower my front after I install my 412's. How about some pics when you're done, js?

 

hhmm, the directions say that the spacer is installed under the tube cap to adjust preload if the spring doesn't become flush or extend beyond the top of the tube....says nothing about using them to "lower" the bike or level it off

...i'm gonna call progressive today, and i'll post what they tell me

 

alright, i just got off the phone with progressive.... the tech told me that if the original springs that came out of the fork tubes didn't have any spacers (which they didn't) then i won't need the spacers that came with the new ones- since they're only used to set "pre-load"....not to lower ...he said that if upon installing the new springs they rise above the top of the fork tube where the tube cap screws on, then the "pre-load" will adjust automatically and i won't have any need for the spacers...

 

You can't lower the bike by shortening the front springs/spacers. Doesn't work that way. All that would do is change the pre-load. If you're willing to experiment you can fine tune the suspension action by changing pre-load.

Also, it sounds like you have the wrong springs. The new spring/spacer package should be about the same length as the old one. 3" in length is a lot for a fork spring.

The stock springs you removed are progressive, just like the new ones. The purpose of that type of spring is to have a nice soft cushy ride on relativly smooth pavement and light loads. With a little bit of compression, the spring rate is rather low/soft. As you compress the spring more, it becomes heavier/harder. If you have a lot of spring pre-load, you've already lost the soft part of the spring. You've wasted your money. You might as well buy a heavy duty single rate spring.

Place the stock spring back in the tube, and compress it like you are installing the cap. Now remove it and put the new spring in the tube. Compress it the same way. Do they feel about the same?

I replaced my front springs with the Cadillac Suspension package from Race Tech. The new springs are a little bit shorter than the old ones. I used a spacer to get the same pre load and length.

 

Great info js and bob! So, tell me, are you guys replacing the front springs for more preload, or looks, or performance? I'd like to let the front end down a bit like Chipstah was saying,maybe just getting different fork springs don't cut it? Also, are you guy doing this on '07 Dynas, are '06 the same?

 

hi bob....well, the guy at progressive assured me that indeed, i have the correct springs.... he said that they're longer because of the wide application, and that their meant to compress more than the stock springs for a firmer ride

also, website states that the 11-1525 springs is for an 07 wide glide as well as any other 06 and 07 dyna....AND vrod applications

...and lab, i'm doing it for more pre-load and performance.... i don't want to lower the front at all...i want to keep things as stock as i can....and remember, this is a wide glide front end i've put on my bob

 

lab - doing it (on my '07 bobstah) for performance AND looks - if it was just looks, there's cheaper and easier ways to lower the front - just slide tubes up into the trees.

Chip