What springs work on a Vanilla RC rear shock?

[Spunger]

My bro just got a Vanilla rear shock to replace his cheapo manitou one on his bike. He may need a new spring but......his manitou spring is the correct spring for his weight.

Will a swinger spring work on a vanilla RC shock? OR does he need to get a fox specific spring? It's a 7.5x2.0 rear shock.......and currently has a 500lbs x 2.29 stroke spring on it. I found on Ebay a 700lbs x 2.30 (which is what he needs, the 700lbs) and was curious if it'd work for his deal. If not......what size fox spring(s) work for the 2.0 stroke shocks?

Any help would be appricated!

[Nick]

If it's a 2" stroke shock, all you need is a 2" spring. Unless the spring is old you should be able to get 2" of compression from it without it binding onto itself.

as far as new springs there are two things to look at, the ID of the spring and the free length.

I'm not sure of the ID, but I know that a ti coil that would fit a manitou, avy, romic was too large to fit my RC. The Fox ID being smaller.

If he has a 2.29 on there now I'd guess he can squeeze another .01" on the shock. I'd also guess that even with the preload collar backed all the way off he might have to compress the spring a little to get it on the shock.

[davep]

Are yo talking about the old (no longer made) vanila RC or the newer (DHX like) vanila R?

The newer one (vanila R) takes the same spring inner diameter as the DHX, 1.37". The Manitiou spring is 1.43" I.D. This combo will work but you need to watch that the spring stays centered (side to side) as it can rub on either the shock body or resevoir. A pair of plumbing slip joint washers can keep it centered for about $1.

If you have an older 'classic' vanila RC....it is not going to work. The older shock took much smaller spring (1.25" or something similar).

[bikenweed]

I have a classic/retro/crusty/old/nonbling Vanilla R with a Manitou Spring from a brand new Swinger 4way. The spring is too big.

However, when I angle it just right, it works fine. I've been riding with the spring at kind of an angle since the Maxiavalanche last May. So far so good. Worst comes to worst, the spring will break. I don't think that would cause a much of a crash. The bike only has 4" of travel and the stroke is about 2", so it's a pretty low compression ratio. It's not recomended by anyone really to angle a spring onto a shock, but it does work.

So yes, the Manitou spring will work, but it's sketchtastic. I don't know if it will clear the pibbyback on the RC, but it probably would. Why didn't you guys just try it out yourselves? What bike is the shock going on?

[Lex]

I have a classic/retro/crusty/old/nonbling Vanilla R with a Manitou Spring from a brand new Swinger 4way. The spring is too big.

However, when I angle it just right, it works fine. I've been riding with the spring at kind of an angle since the Maxiavalanche last May. So far so good. Worst comes to worst, the spring will break. I don't think that would cause a much of a crash. The bike only has 4" of travel and the stroke is about 2", so it's a pretty low compression ratio. It's not recomended by anyone really to angle a spring onto a shock, but it does work.

So yes, the Manitou spring will work, but it's sketchtastic. I don't know if it will clear the pibbyback on the RC, but it probably would. Why didn't you guys just try it out yourselves? What bike is the shock going on?

You may have rigged it up to work but it probably won't work on a Fox RC. It will rub on the remote reservoir.

[Spunger]

So it looks like I'll try to find a Fox spring then. It's an older Vanilla RC (Not anything near the new ones)