suspension set up

My technique is to dial in a bit too much rebound so that when you stand over the bike and quickly compress and then pull up on the shock or fork the wheel lifts off the ground. Then I slowly speed up the rebound a click at a time until the tire just stays on the ground when you pull up. That way, the shock is working to control the wheel, but not so much that it "Packs up" or squats through stutter bumps. Now, I'm not a suspension pro, and it seems like all the professionally tuned suspensions that I've felt use way too much rebound for my taste.

First off, make sure your sag is actually set correctly - http://www.trails.com/how_872_set-suspension-sag-mountain-bike.html (note that you want ~30% sag on a DH bike, not the 20% they mention)

Big Bird wrote: My technique is to dial in a bit too much rebound so that when you stand over the bike and quickly compress and then pull up on the shock or fork the wheel lifts off the ground. Then I slowly speed up the rebound a click at a time until the tire just stays on the ground when you pull up. That way, the shock is working to control the wheel, but not so much that it "Packs up" or squats through stutter bumps. Now, I'm not a suspension pro, and it seems like all the professionally tuned suspensions that I've felt use way too much rebound for my taste.

I'm far from a pro, but I do like the feel of a slow rebound. Keeps the bike nice and planted on landings etc. As you point out, if you ride a lot of choppy rough stuff, you may have to speed it up a little, if you do find that it packs down...

I am just sitting under 30% sag and my springs feel good.
The front is feeling better but the rear feels as though I am sitting back in the travel witch i wanted but it seems as though it's not compressing much afterwards on small bumps ect.
note i haven't road it on proper trails yet just around on some smaller stuff.
Also thanks for the help bturman my forks are feeling much better.
Any tips with the shock would be great.