Ok all if you can, help me out here...so even though I am a newb when it comes to softail suspension i know my rear shocks have been lowered a bit. I'm thinking about an inch....not slammed but lowered for sure. I have threads poking through to the front of the bike and it appears i have one of the many lowering kits installed. (Check the pics) def not stock
...Although it looks great and so far seems to ride and handle ok, I am looking to return the bike to stock height for better handling and clearance...

My usual local wrench I've been using for years recently started a new gig working nights so hes been kinda unavailable for now so I thought I'd go to another indy by me and see if these are able to just adjust back to stock height without much fuss. He told me that this setup i have is non adjustable and that I'd have to replace the shocks or install another kit that is adjustable....to be honest he didn't seem too sure so he had to check something inside to confirm...idk....anyway if yall can check these pics, I've tried to capture it all from back to front and then a pic of the whole setup....let me know if I can adjust these back to stock....thanks!

 

The shocks can absolutely be adjusted... That new Indy you consulted doesn't know what he is talking about... or you totally misunderstood what he was saying..

 

Using your pic to show adjustment points:

 

Lastly, here is the adjustment page for a 2003 Softail service manual...



This might help you realize why the shocks seem to adjust backwards, this helped me to understand:

Softail shocks work opposite how other Harley shocks work.

When you sit on a Dyna/Touring bike, and the seat goes down, it's shocks compress... They work in compression to absorb bumps

When you sit on a Softail bike, and the seat goes down, it's shocks extend... They work in extension to absorb bumps

 

Thanks for the reply. Yes I got the concept of them being "backwards" lol in regards to the orientation of the shocks and how they operate, and for sure it wasn't a stock setup, that I knew. Just exactly how this adjustment is achieved or possible with my setup. This guy said this particular setup I had is not adjustable and that I'd have to switch the kit to an adjustable one or get new shocks....then he said he had to make sure what I had was in fact what he suspected....I said to myself then yeah he doesn't know what he's talking about in this case.

Again im not overly well versed in this suspension but is what you're describing with the canister and spanner wrench to adjust preload/stiffness as opposed to height adjustment? I'm not looking to change the preload just wanting to raise the rear back to stock height.

 

Also I see another jamb nut on the other side of the main shaft, as it mounts to the frame, as well as the cap and nut on the other side of the frame. This looks like the arlen ness kit but it seems to me that there's an extra nut on the tire side of the bike as the swing arm bolts to the frame.


This looks very similar to what's in there as it steps up in size threading into the canister but there are jamb nuts on both sides. Am I making sense lol? Now I'm confusing myself!!

 

These softails have very little "stroke" to their OEM shocks.... The preload and the height are connected... More preload, higher seat... less preload, lower seat... You can't change one without changing the other with a just an adjustment of the OEM shocks...

 

Those are used to lower the bike on OEM shocks..... I believe they replace the same piece on the OEM shocks, I've never used them... They move the adjustment scale in a way that lowers the bike, without the need to totally lose all preload......

The nuts on the rear end of the shock are for mounting.... the nuts on the forward end of the shock handle the adjustment...

Spend time going over the videos and the page from the service manual I posted... you'll get it...

Good luck with your suspension set-up/mods....

FWIW... Progressive makes a shock that you set up when you install, but then it has a dial for easy pre-load changes between single and 2-up riding... They get great reviews, but they're not cheap...

 

Ah...ok, so if im looking at this correctly, if the canister plate gets adjusted out (counter clockwise) towards the locknut to increase preload and raise the rear?

 

Yeah I apologize, I think I'm not explaining it clearly l. I know of the bolts that mount the shocks on the opposite end with the loops, I am talking about these two locking nuts on the threaded side #4 and #2. On the stock setup I don't see a nut where #2 is here only the large jam nut against the cannister...


So let me ask this lol....loosening #1 and adjusting nut #2 out to reduce the amount of threads that stick out past #1 wouldn't raise the rear without messing with the cannister?