There's a whole Facebook group dedicated to pimping out Ozarks. I personally don't get it. A dropper is always a good idea, any other upgrade simply isn't worth it on these bikes.

But some people go nuts. I would not be surprised that there's several thousand dollar Ozark builds out there. It's a weird group.

The general rule of thumb for forks is plus or minus 20mm travel. Taller fork equals slacker geometry. Go too tall and handling is going to get weird.

There's also tons of reports online of people breaking the head tube off their frame landing a jump on a rowdy hardtail that's way away from its design. You're on an Ozark, just because it's heavy doesn't mean it's super tough. I think it'll handle some trail riding but I wouldn't put that bike into a situation where you need a big fork.

I ride a 160mm fork on a hardtail, it's a sweet combo, but it's not an Ozark.