Suspension upgrades on a budget?

[phpaul]

Lets say a fella had $500 max to spend on a suspension upgrade for the FJ.
 
Riding style is "exuberant" but WAY short of track-grade aggressive.  Kitted-out riding weight is ~215-220.
 
Biggest complaint at the moment is vertebrae-compressing shocks when hitting bumps/potholes.
 
Handling is okay for my skill level but not impressive.
 
Sag is adjusted as much as stock units (and my skill level) will allow for my weight.
 
What's the best bang for the buck?

[phpaul]

Are you doing the work, or paying for labour?

I've overhauled forks on older bikes, so I expect I could handle most upgrades.

[norcal616]

rebuilt OEM rear shock by Norwest and pattonme drop in kit for forks... might be a tad more than $500 ...

[koth442]

I opted for a ZX rear shock which may require new spring / rebuild depending if you can use the stock FJ spring or not.
 
I'm considering a drop in kit by pattonme or dropin kit from GP suspension. Overall I should be spending less than $500. But rebuilding the rear shock is not something the average person can handle, unlike a drop in fork it.

[betoney]

I would say at a bare minimum, get the correct spring rate for your weight. Nor west can do minor surgery on the shock and you can alter the air chamber and oil viscosity in the forks to get them close.
If you can afford it, I would say Norwest for the shock and Matt’s modifications on the forks. That would probably be the cheapest route to take.

[koth442]

I opted for a ZX rear shock which may require new spring / rebuild depending if you can use the stock FJ spring or not. 
I'm considering a drop in kit by pattonme or dropin kit from GP suspension. Overall I should be spending less than $500. But rebuilding the rear shock is not something the average person can handle, unlike a drop in fork it.

...you meant Stoltec (using a GP valve kit)? Drop-in GP cartridges are significantly more money.

Yes the valve kit. I believe you can buy them straight from GP? 

[koth442]

Yes the valve kit. I believe you can buy them straight from GP? 

I think Stoltec modifies these cartridges in-house, with GP parts. You need to send them your core in a swap. I'm guessing you saw this.

I have seen that, but I was referring to this. Stoltec might be cheaper as its a package deal. I haven't worked out the pricing. 

[koth442]

I have seen that, but I was referring to this. Stoltec might be cheaper as its a package deal. I haven't worked out the pricing. 

...and here I thought you were referring to a drop-in kit.

GP assembles the valving / shim stack for you (I think....) then its effectively a drop in. 
Or maybe I'm mistaken and it requires a lot more assembly.

[duhs10]

Forks by Matt's (@pattonme) solution is just swapping cartridges and springs. So not that difficult if you have any mechanical skills at all. Hes a stand up guy that will work with you as much as needed until you're satisfied. You can even send the forks to him to do the work if needed... just check with him about his time table first.

[smifff]

I'm pretty much the same weight as you,
 
I would fit pattonme drop in fork cartridges and correct rate fork springs first, the original shock doesn't feel as bad when the front works.
 
I fitted a rear shock first, because it was easiest, it improved things a bit but not as much as I'd hoped. Then the pattonme cartridges and springs, huge improvement.
 
I refitted the stock shock after the forks were done so the Wilbers could be revalved, another story for another time. I was surprised how well the stock shock worked with the forks sprung for my weight and damping that works.
My understanding is the stock suspension is not balanced front to rear, front springs are softer than the rear and a big part of the issue as standard is the poor spring balance.
I could be wrong though.
 
I can't offer an opinion on the rear, I've fitted a Wilbers which won't fit the budget.

[pattonme]

$500 all-in is going to be a little difficult. Stoltec has both remanufactured and upgraded cartridge option (swap out right leg guts) as well as (or did) just the "valve assemblies" option which is analogous to one of the GP suspension kits referenced.
 
the DIY cartridge swap option from me nets out to around $330 (bring your own tools, oil) and exchanges both cartridges. I could provide a "valve assemblies and misc parts" shimmed for your use for something around 150(TBD) but you'll have the joy of doing all the work which isn't entirely trivial.
 
I have half-dozen of ZX6 (high+low comp, rebound) shocks headed to Norwest for rework. Those will price-out to about 400 shipped with new EIBACH springs and internals rebuilt/revalved.

[phpaul]

$500 all-in is going to be a little difficult. Stoltec has both remanufactured and upgraded cartridge option (swap out right leg guts) as well as (or did) just the "valve assemblies" option which is analogous to one of the GP suspension kits referenced. 
the DIY cartridge swap option from me nets out to around $330 (bring your own tools, oil) and exchanges both cartridges. I could provide a "valve assemblies and misc parts" shimmed for your use for something around 150(TBD) but you'll have the joy of doing all the work which isn't entirely trivial.
 
I have half-dozen of ZX6 (high+low comp, rebound) shocks headed to Norwest for rework. Those will price-out to about 400 shipped with new EIBACH springs and internals rebuilt/revalved.

Great information, thanks! 
So which, in your opinion, is the bigger bang for the buck:  shock or fork kit?
 
Also, what might I expect to pay for cartridge(s) and springs matched to my weight?

[pattonme]

I would start with fork springs and damping fixes. A mediocre shock can be ridden around as previously opined by @smifff et. al. However jarring spinal inputs is generally the fault of the shock so fork fixes won't help in that department. If you *really* want to go all-in on least-cost DIY, I can provide say $20 worth of shims and you can re-configure the stack - the OE pistons aren't really the problem.
 
The $330 (netted) includes the springs.
 
 

[phpaul]

Okay, so I got the drop-in kit for the forks from Matt (Thanks!).
 
Watched a couple videos, picked up a couple hints, pulled the bike in the garage as it's supposed to rain for the next 2-3 days anyway.
 
Got the left fork off the bike, drained and disassembled, and now I'm ready to put it back together.
 
Except...
 

 
There's this part in the kit, and I didn't see anything like it when I took the old cartridge out. I've got a PM in to Matt and I'm sure he'll point me in the right direction when he sees it, but thought I'd check and see if anyone else has done this and knows what this part is and where it goes.
 
Thanks for any input!

[betoney]

That goes on the bottom of the cartridge in the bottom the fork. If you flip it over there should be a machined recess that the cartridge sits into. (if I remember correctly, its been almost a year)