2021 defender limited max - elka stage 3 or 4 ? Help !

[DefenderMax]

2021 defender max limited 

Looking for some advice. Been doing a lot of reading on the stock shocks and upgrading to elka on max hd10. Many say it’s a game changer. Doesn’t seem that stage 5 is necessary. The 3 is the most popular and based off the 5 and the 4 adds rebound to the features of the 3. 

a: worth it?

b: what stage ?
 

anyone have experience with this ?  I have stock susp setup with 30” efx motoclaws on. 
 

some advice would be helpful ! ? It’s just mainly used on trails and as a weekend warrior  

 

thanks 

Edited April 3, 2021 by DefenderMax

[Andystoy19]

I ran the Elka stage 2 on my Outlander 1000 and felt they were a huge improvement, so far I have stayed with stock shocks even though the springs are cranked to maximum and I have a battle armor lift for clearance on 30" Cryptid tires. The ride in my opinion is quite good and I don't bottom out in the holes in the muskeg. Check out my thread in the garage builds section for more information.

IMO contact Elka directly by phone or by email and ask them what they recommend based on what you want to improve, they are very responsive and will answer your questions honestly. You probably would be happy with a stage 3?🤔

[DirtRider]

DefenderMax,

I'm picking up my Defender Limited on Saturday, so I've been spending the past few days looking around on the web for things that would be nice to put on the new machine.  I looked at Baja Designs LP4 and LP6 lighting, Rigid lighting, 29" Bighorn tires, and just got off of the Elka web page.  I had found stage 1 shocks for a Defender on their web page, but didn't realize you could get the higher end shocks as well.  So it was good to see this thread.  I haven't decided yet on Elka's for this machine, but have used them on several other machines over the years.  They build good quality shocks, that is for sure.  I have found that the setting I have most frequently needed to adjust are preload/ride height, high speed compression damping, and rebound damping.  Elka is pretty smart with their marketing, because in order to get those adjustments you need stage 5 shocks.  I cant see anyone putting stage 5 Elka's on a cruising machine like a Defender though.  Maybe stage 3 would be a reasonable compromise.

If you go with the Elka shocks be sure and post a follow up.  I would be very interested in hearing how they work out.