Hey so this weekend i am going to hopefully finish my SAS swap on the sidekick. I was wondering i have purchased does-tech shocks and read on forums that people flip them upside down. Why is this? what performance is gained?

bump

Some shocks work 'inverted' or 'non-inverted' and some can handle either way. With the entry level DT shock, I don't it'll work right. I'm thinking it'll starve the valve for oil and act real soft.. Maybe why people want to do this? But... then you're not getting real dampening and at speed, this could be dangerous.. but this is all "supposings" Give DT's tech line a call and ask them!

Doetsch Enterprises
515 Raleigh Avenue
El Cajon, CA. 92020
info|removethispart|@doetsch-shocks.com
Office:  619-442-7300
Fax: 619-442-7307



Let us know what you find out.

-Eric

Looks cool? No really, I remember back in the day, we used to flip our shocks on our race bikes to get less unsprung weight on the axle. That was before Fox Res shocks came along. I doubt if that makes any difference on an off road rig though.

If you plan on running off road at all I would be worried about small rocks getting lodged in the shock and damaging the inner rod (the the shaft that can be seen on struts that comes out when the shock or strut is stretched like when flexed off road)   

In drag racing, we would do it because it affords us more room to place wider, meatier tires on the rear. Because of the use of over-sized tires in off-road rides, I'm assuming it's the same. It's cheaper and easier than buying offset wheels or making other modifications to accomplish the same thing.

Hope this helps. Yes to unsprung weight savings, thats true. But the #1 reason to flip the shock (can) on top with the off roaders is to get the shock (can) out of harms way. A single post is much less of a target to hit "AKA" ruined by a rock then a large oil filled can. Know theres a piston moving up & down in this can & a nice dent will take it out. It's that simple. #2 Back in the day we all ran "boots" on our shocks & Doetsch still supplies them with most shocks. If you off road in the wet stuff they became a problem as water/mud would get in the small vent holes (located on shock boots) & sevearl days after your off road trip the dirt & mosture in still inside. Now the boot keeps the muck in & gravity has all this sitting right where the chrome shaft moves through seal into the shock. If you park it for a while in this cond. Rust will for sure screw up the shafts & a oil leak at the seal is next. My shop would see this far to much & people wanted the shock warrenty to cover it. Doetsch & the other manufactures would not cover a shock that is in this cond. Soooooooo we flipped them. Muck at the other end. Mosture still a problem but better. Now desert veh.s worked fine(dry). Over the years shock seals have been improved to wipe off the dirt that the boots wer'e install for & WA LA problem solved. P.S. Always check with the builder to see if inverting the shock is part of the design to keep the piston in oil & prevent it from foaming internaly or worse.  

Well said. Good info. I stopped using the boots the first time I did maintenence and found them filled with muck. Same with fork gaitors on bikes long ago when they still had them, just a place for crap to gather. I never though of flipping the shock to let the boots drain. But I really like the idea of getting that " oil filled can "  further out of harms way. Great tip.
So, are Doetch Tec shocks ok to run upside down?

Thanks, that makes sense. I guess that i do not have to worry about it then because my shocks are all mounted on top of my axles, so it will be pretty hard to hit them. lol

Like Eric said previously. Not all shocks can properly run inverted.  They need to have a 2-way valve internally to allow the entire unit to be lubricated. 
And like Eric said...Call DT and find out for sure rather than taking a guess or someone's word on a message board.