I’ve been around this hobby for over 20-years now.  In that time I have seen a great many products, intended to revolutionize the standard oil-filled shock/suspension and guaranteed to improve performance come and go.  MIP has now entered the suspension reinvention realm, with their patented Bypass1 Valves.  Not just a redesigned piston, MIP has created a fully customizable valve system that is easy to install and takes suspension tuning to a new level.

How They Work-

The Bypass1 Valves are designed to allow oil to flow around the octagon shaped pistons during rebound dampening as the valves seal the 6-holes in the piston at this time. Since the pistons are octagon shaped they have much less contact area with the wall of the shock body thus reducing operating friction.

For compression dampening, the thin valves are forced open by the flow of the oil as the shock is engaged.  When this happens, oil flows through the 6 shock holes and orifices.  The size, or number of valves used is how compression dampening it tuned. The harder the jump or bigger the bump, the more the valve will open to allow the shock to compress/react faster. In short, the valves that can be easily changed for fine tuning help create different compression and rebound dampening effects.

Installation-

I received a Bypass1 kit (12122, $32.00) for my TLR 22; the kit contains four octagon shaped pistons that have 6-holes each, and an assortment of blue and tan valves.  As per the instructions, I disassembled the stock shocks, removing the stock pistons, and reassembled from the bottom up using 2 blue valves, a tan valve with the octagon shaped piston with 6-holes on top.  I refilled the shocks with 30-wt oil, bled and reinstalled the shocks onto my 22.

While I built my 22 shocks as per the Bypass1 directions, the valves can also be reversed to increase pack as the shock compresses.

Keep checking back as I test the TLR 22 on a variety of surfaces and conditions with the MIP Bypass1 kit installed.

Pictured above – The Bypass1 Kit for the TLR 22

Pictured above – The Bypass1 Kit for the TLR 22 unpackaged

Pictured above – The stock piston has been removed from the shock shaft and the Bypass1 system is ready for installation.  Two thin blue valves (.005″) and 1 tan valve (.004″) followed by the octagon piston with 6 holes.

Pictured above – The shaft is together with the 3 valves, new piston and it ready for reassembly.

Pictured above – The shafts have been reinstalled in to the shock bodies and they filled with 30wt oil, as per the instructions.  The shocks are sitting in a Foam Shock Rebuilding Stand from Trinity as the oil settles so all air bubbles can escape.

Pictured above – The shock shaft is securely held with the help of these STRC Shock Shaft Pliers as the shock ends are screwed back on.

Pictured above – The rear shocks are done and ready to be re-installed on the TLR 22