Freewheeler Air Shocks and rear shock lift kit Question.

[CapeTeddy]

Hello freewheelers, can I use a rear shock lift kit with the factory air shocks? I'm not even sure if this will help my problem. Sorry if this is posted somewhere already, I get bad headaches if I'm online too long due to health problems so I didn't search. I only ride short distances for same reason but anyway I just moved from Southwest Florida to a small town in Northern Florida. The area and some of the roads are rural with sunken holes, bad railroad tracks and high sewer caps. I try to avoid them but when I can't, it's a hard hit. The shock comes down hard and then bounces right back to normal. It's the initial hit that makes me wonder if I need something like a lift or new shocks. The ride on the regular parts of the roads seem smooth and I have the air shocks set to owners manual specs. I also carry an air shock pump if I need to adjust. So I was thinking lifts might help. I bought my 2016 used in 2019 with 16k miles on it so IDK how long the shocks have been on there. I tried the push down method like I do on my car and it doesn't bounce like they are worn. Not sure if that works on the freewheeler with air shocks. Like I said, it feels OK on normal roads but I'm no mechanic and what I think is normal might be wrong. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks.

 

[Jack Klarich]

A lift kit will change the steering and make it easier to handle

It will not hurt the rear ride

What you can do to soften your ride is run 22 PSI in the rear tires

See this link for better shocks and do contact Kevin about any questions you may have concerning shocks

https://www.dkcustomproducts.com/pro-action-dk-custom-14-harley-trike-series-shockstm.htm

 

[CapeTeddy]

A lift kit will change the steering and make it easier to handle

It will not hurt the rear ride

What you can do to soften your ride is run 22 PSI in the rear tires

See this link for better shocks and do contact Kevin about any questions you may have concerning shocks

https://www.dkcustomproducts.com/pro-action-dk-custom-14-harley-trike-series-shockstm.htm

Thanks Jack, I have bought from them before and will probably buy the lift from them too. I know they are on here a lot but I also wanted some riders opinions. If I don't hear from them on here, I'll ask them on their site. I'm not in a big hurry, just trying to see if it fixes my problem. I run 23 on the rear tires already and my ride seems OK, it's when I hit the bad bumps it hits hard and feels like the shock just went as far as it could. I don't hit pavement, just seems like the bottom of the shock. I don't know if that's normal when hitting holes or bad bumps because I didn't have this problem on the roads where I used to live. If it is normal then everything is alright. Even if it's normal I might still want to add the lift and I wanted to know if I had to remove the air shocks, add different ones or just add the lift to the existing ones. I can't afford the combo package or the pro-action shocks so that's out. Thanks.

 

[Jack Klarich]

Thanks Jack, I have bought from them before and will probably buy the lift from them too. I know they are on here a lot but I also wanted some riders opinions. If I don't hear from them on here, I'll ask them on their site. I'm not in a big hurry, just trying to see if it fixes my problem. I run 23 on the rear tires already and my ride seems OK, it's when I hit the bad bumps it hits hard and feels like the shock just went as far as it could. I don't hit pavement, just seems like the bottom of the shock. I don't know if that's normal when hitting holes or bad bumps because I didn't have this problem on the roads where I used to live. If it is normal then everything is alright. I still want to add the lift and I wanted to know if I had to remove the air shocks, add different ones or just add the lift to the existing ones. I can't afford the combo package so that's out. Thanks.

I will tell you the stock air shocks are junk IMO

H D has been using these types of shocks on baggers and trikes forever

My 15 and 17 Freewheelers never did ride as good as I thought they should, but my 21 with the oil dampening adjustable rear shocks are way better

I do believe they are a retro fit for all the early Freewheelers but they are not cheap

You may check for a set on Ebay , Craigslist or Amazon

There should be some take offs available, Best of luck on your quest for a better ride

The HD air shocks IMO are really a misnomer

They hold the body up more than they cushion the ride

Typically a shock takes the oscillations out of a spring so the wheels do not hop giving you a better ride

With the air shock you have no spring so the air shock has to do double duty, poor at best IMO

A coil over shock with adjustable preload and oil dampening is the way to go

I hope this helps you to find better shocks for your ride