Lonestar Racing Teryx MTS Suspension Kit
THE BACKGROUND
We recently talked to Lonestar Racing about their affordable MTS (Mid-Travel Suspension) kit, which starts at an affordable $1,970 for A-arms and tie rod extenders. You will need to add extended axles, but Lonestar gives you the option to source them for yourself if you can find them cheaper, otherwise they will supply you with 300M axles for $250 more. 300M is a strong material- so strong, that it’s commonly used on aircraft landing equipment. These are not complete axles- you will have to install the stock CV joints onto the new axles per Lonestar’s instructions.
As far as shocks go, you have almost limitless options. The stock shocks will fit the MTS kit, but the valving and spring rates will be too soft for any fast-paced trail riding. If rock crawling is your game, you can dial in the compression and preload on your stockers and go to work for cheap! Race Tech can revalve and respring the shocks for around $500. If you don’t want to re-use the stock units, you can go bigger for a price premium. Lonestar has three levels of Elka shocks ranging from $1,870 (4 shocks) to $3,665. This price will go down- Elka recently lowered the price of their UTV shocks, so by the time you read this, the price should be significantly lower for the Elkas. If you want Fox Shocks, plan on spending between $1,600 and $2,200 for four shocks. We tried the kit with both the stock shocks and the top-range Elka Elite shocks to see what kind of difference we could make with shocks.
Plan on spending a whole day on the kit if you’re doing it yourself. The instructions Lonestar provides with the kit are great, but it’s a ton of work! A trick we found when installing the front balljoints is to file the powdercoating out of the hole that the balljoints sit in; this will make them slide in easier and seat better as you install the circlips. Building the axles is messy, but not too hard; make sure you have CV banding tools to get the bands tight, or the boots will leak all over your brand new suspension kit! With three people, it took us about 5 hours to install the whole kit.
THE ARMS
Lonestar’s MTS kit widens the Teryx by 3 inches per side, which is perfect for all around trail, dune, and desert work. The kit also places the arms 1” further rearward to alter the wheelbase, increasing the stability. After we installed the kit, we cranked down the preload and compression on our Race Tech gold-valve converted shocks and went out for a test run. The kit not only looks downright phenomenal, it really works to give the Teryx a more stable feel in the corners and the bumpy stuff. Gone is the tippy feeling; having the extra 6” of width makes it feel like a whole different machine.
Installing the kit went flawlessly; Lonestar’s parts are top-notch quality and fit like OEM components. Even with the shocks sprung and valved too soft for the kit, it handled trail garbage very well. The reason the shocks will be too soft is that the longer A-arms put more leverage on the shocks- think of it like this: try to turn the steering wheel of your UTV while holding on to the very center of the wheel. Then, try to turn it by holding on to the steering wheel’s rim. It’s much easier to turn it when there is more leverage; this is what the longer arms do to your shocks. This also increases wheel travel- the MTS kit is good for a RZR S-like 12 inches of wheel travel on the Teryx!
After testing the kit with the stock shocks, we bolted on the Elka Elite remote reservoir shocks. First off, the Elkas look beautiful- the mix of red, black, and grey anodizing adds a custom look to the suspension that we love. Mounting the remote reservoirs is easy, but takes more than two hands. Once they are mounted up, you can adjust your preload settings to get the Teryx to sit level. We left ours about a half-inch higher in the rear to account for it squatting under acceleration.
Out on the trail, we went through 6 cycles of the same trail, adjusting the high and low-speed compression and rebound of the Elka Elite shocks. This is a match made in heaven- we got the Teryx dialed in to a level that was both extremely comfortable and stable in high-speed G-outs and whoops. The Lonestar MTS kit and Elka Elite shocks absolutely transform the feel of the Teryx- it now feels lighter, more responsive, and is a lot more fun to drive. It will charge whoops like a RZR S, and still retains the ability to use the large bed! Adjusting the shocks is extremely easy, as the high and low-speed compression clickers are large, tool-less billet types that you turn with your hands. From the kit’s settings, we went in 3 clicks on high speed compression in the rear, in 4 on low-speed, dropped the preload 0.5 inches, and quickened up the rebound one click. Up front, we increased low-speed compression 5 clicks and quickened up rebound two clicks. This gave us a level feel that didn’t dive too much under braking.
THE VERDICT
What a difference! The Lonestart MTS kit added almost 5 inches of wheel travel, and we improved the quality of the shocks with the help of Elka. The kit is much more affordable than +5 or +6 kits, which can reach well over $6,000 for arms and shocks. Larger kits add more wheel travel, but also cut down on power with more weight and drivetrain length in the axles. They also make it tougher to fit the Teryx in a trailer. The MTS kit is a perfect compromise, and we are very happy with the results.
RATING: *****
PRICE: $1,970 plus shocks and axles
CONTACT: Lonestar Racing; www.lsracing.com, 800-457-7223 , Elka Suspension; www.elkasuspension.com, 450-655-4855
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