Freezetron

Well I hope to have my finances all planned out for the next coming month to pick up my 5T. I'm definently getting a better charger, Outerwears air filter and pull start cover so I can help protect my baby right from day one.

But I am curious if its worth going the extra mile for shock covers either the outerwears or the socks that various people use on their bajas. My 5T is gonna be used to bashing and all around fun, I don't plan on running it through pure sand or insane amounts of mud for any reason.

What are peoples takes on these? I'm basically wondering if they are worth it to protect and extending the life of my shocks between rebuilds or do they cause more problems then they prevent? Some local Baja guys say they tend to bind up and get ripped/shredded to easily and don't use them. Whats your take? Thanks all for your incite?

Foxy

IMO, shock socks are invaluable if bashing hard. The 5b shocks are not the best sealed on the market, and by design articulate a lot (long travel). Therefore, the shafts get coated with oil, dust sticks to the oil, wears the o-rings, making the leak worse, and contaminates the oil. This is extra irritating simply because the Baja shocks don't take regular silicone, requiring motorcycle fork oil instead, which personally is a pain to get locally for me. Considering the low cost and the fact they look great, it's a no-brainer if you ask me.

As for which ones, personally, I don't like those baggy ones that look like your shocks are wearing flame painted cargo pants, I prefer the tight spandex ones, and I have a trick to fitting them too... Take off the springs and fit the sock only on the spring, then put the spring back on the shock. That may sound straightforward and obvious, but I've seen quite a few people trying (and failing) to pull them up over the entire shock assembly. Here's a pic of my old baja wearing its socks.

Freezetron

What about which type of outwears pre-air filter are you guys using? The drawstring one or the spandex one? Which one works best and or lasts longest?

Foxy

Bottom image, far left (black) is the one I was using. It has an elastic drawstring which is not a closed loop and must therefore be tied. It annoyed me. I wish I'd gone for one with closed loop elastic that could simply be pulled on and off.

hndaman1

My Feedback: (6)

For the shock get the BAD horise.....they are the best so far on the market.. and for the airfilter cover the draw sting outwears seems to be better IMO, cause it gives you more room to work the cover over the filter... I like it ..