[Brocbeau]

might go calmini when i get $$$$

[felix]

I have the 3" Calmini kit in my SWB vit (89), and a 2" BL from justcruizin from here. I used to have a 2.5" procomp lift which wasn't all that great except for the dropped cross member which made the geo perfect.

I have to say, for the money I paid ($2150 inc free ARB compressor, this was last year) it is an excellent kit. If it is installed correctly and to how Calmini specifies, you should have no dramas with the kit. You run into problems when you have the pinion angle setup wrong (therefore extra stress on the shocks themselves) and it breaks shocks. I have heard of the front diff centre mount being drilled incorrectly, and I did run into some problems in installing mine. However, When i took my diff out again to do the sump I had no problems in putting the whole lot back in... so I don't know what was going on there.

It is a comprehensive kit with great control arms that take a beating! The bushes in my experience split around the edges where the arms cut into them on full flex but that isn't much of a problem really.

I'm running 32" BFG MTs with no scrubbing at all. To run tyres this big though you need to reinforce the steering box mount on the chassis rail, fix your low range ratio and I recommend upgrading the brakes to LWB spec.

With the Calmini kit you end up with a very capable car for relatively low money. I surprise alot of people with where the little bastard will go- it had a complete standard drivetrain (ratios inc) and went pretty much anywhere I pointed it.. till i starved it of oil and it died. BUT now that means I get an auto and 2 litre

[royce]

Heaps of people have had calmini and chucked it in favour of OME springs and struts, they jsut work better

an easy buget path to get what you want would be

first up PM Bruce on here and get some of his spring spacers, this will lift you up a little bit and help get the guards away from the tyres, you really need a bumpstop spacer or bodylift to sort it properly but worry about that later

then when you have some more money to spend and you have thoroughly driven to the end of the capabilities of what you have now (vits will go very far with little mods) then grab yourself some OME front struts, some OME springs (lots of options depending on what preferences you have) and do some research on some longer rear shocks, lots of option thre from expensive ranchos to cheap commodore shocks from supercheap, then combined with a simple mod called a strut flip youll get between 30 and 50mm more lift, a lot better ride and a heap more flex, you may also need some camber pins but these are cheap from whoever you get to do a wheel alignment.

enjoy that stuff for a few years, really that will take you more places than a lot of web wheelers and accesory posers will have you beleive, while you save for the next step cause its a biggy

going up to 31's can be pretty easy, going up to 31's and making sure crap doesnt blow up on command takes a bit more work

first up youll need a bodylift, there are ways to get around it on a vit but its not for street driven cars and just_cruisins kit is cheap and easy to fit.

so now you have the room for the tyres grab whatever you want to fit and see if you need to trim your front guards a bit, thats pretty common

now to make it last, the alloy font diff in a vit is pretty shit, they go BANG pretty easy so youll want a steel setup from a GV, which youll need to take to a diff shop to get your gears fitted and you may as well chuck an airlocker in while your at it

now youll relise its pretty hard going in low range with stock gearing so wait till some trail tough transfer gears are on sale and stick them in and enjoy the crawly goodness

now youll be smashing up front CV's on command (its fun to do) so chuck a Hilux CV conversion kit in and be bullet proof

then youll relise youve spent more on mods than the car cost and way more than its now worth and wonder why you didnt jsut stick with a basic ome lift and some slightly bigger tyres like the smart people on that intenet forum told you to

[atari4x4]

IMO, you should keep you 30's, grab the calmini kit & wheel the piss out of it & learn your 4wd until your ready to start upgrading. eg bodylift, 31's, lockers, gears etc...

[Joe]

Bucket wrote:

joseph wrote:

Bucket wrote:

Hmmm, the one I was looking at getting was http://4wheelonline.com/Products.aspx?C ... tId=103931 which ends up being about 1400.

Idealy i'd like a 2" body and 3" suspension kit, but hmmm

If thats 1400 in aussie dollars thats pretty damn good i payed 1740 from 4wdu.s.a

Yeah, AUD.
Are you personally running this kit? If you are, any pros/cons to getting it?

I had it in my last vitara and loved it so much im getting another kit for my new one
For what you get in the kit its worth the coin even if ya replace the struts and shocks

[Joe]

Hey atari what happened to ya avatar pic???????????????

[atari4x4]

joseph wrote:

Hey atari what happened to ya avatar pic???????????????

i dont know, i'm guessing some mofo stole it....

but it's there now? WTF is going on!

[Joe]

atari4x4 wrote:

joseph wrote:

Hey atari what happened to ya avatar pic???????????????

i dont know, i'm guessing some mofo stole it....

but it's there now? WTF is going on!

Fuck knows at least they gave it back

[Bucket]

atari4x4 wrote:

IMO, you should keep you 30's, grab the calmini kit & wheel the piss out of it & learn your 4wd until your ready to start upgrading. eg bodylift, 31's, lockers, gears etc...

True, true....and I think that's exactly what I'll do.

Been working flat out last 2 days installing roof insulation for a bit of money. Wasn't bad.....but I just got news that all 4 wheel bearings have gotta be replaced, and that Repco has priced them at 65AUD ea/rear and 100 ea/front.

I was thinking at work today about trying not to go overboard on my zook, and maybe even buying something like a lux without rego (when I get full time employment ) and doing that up or something over time.

Oh, and I have NO plans on chucking out the 30s....Buckshots go hard for the coin there worth! (AKA free because they were an 18th prezzy hehehe)

[Joe]

Bucket wrote:

atari4x4 wrote:

IMO, you should keep you 30's, grab the calmini kit & wheel the piss out of it & learn your 4wd until your ready to start upgrading. eg bodylift, 31's, lockers, gears etc...

True, true....and I think that's exactly what I'll do.

Been working flat out last 2 days installing roof insulation for a bit of money. Wasn't bad.....but I just got news that all 4 wheel bearings have gotta be replaced, and that Repco has priced them at 65AUD ea/rear and 100 ea/front.

I was thinking at work today about trying not to go overboard on my zook, and maybe even buying something like a lux without rego (when I get full time employment ) and doing that up or something over time.

Oh, and I have NO plans on chucking out the 30s....Buckshots go hard for the coin there worth! (AKA free because they were an 18th prezzy hehehe)

hilux just have fun with ya vit

[Bucket]

@Felix: Thanks for that! I think I might stick with a 5" lift. 6 would be good, but a looot of people reakon 5" of lift is better then 6". Plus, if i'm just going to be using my 30" muddies for a while, I don't have any real reason to go that high.

@Joseph: Oops, did I say Hilux? I just get carried away when I start searching around for 4x4s lol. I love having fun with my zook!

Gunna purchase a 2" BL soon I think, then search around for some sort of locker I can get for the rear. hrmmm, so many decisions!

[Joe]

@Joseph: Oops, did I say Hilux? I just get carried away when I start searching around for 4x4s lol. I love having fun with my zook!

Gunna purchase a 2" BL soon I think, then search around for some sort of locker I can get for the rear. hrmmm, so many decisions![/quote]

good to hear man

[banga]

Bucket wrote:

If only I had more money. I got plenty of time on my hands.

Really gotta focus on getting a lift kit though, cos this scraping isn't doing anything good. Then find some lockers for the read diff :s

if you go direct with calmini and get them to ship it it will cost bout 1500 odd at the moment thats with the exchange rate the way it is dont pay 2200 from snake racing

[atari4x4]

i don't know if calmini will sell direct any more, flick them an email or even give them a call to see what their story is.

Fraud Wheel Drive U$A in Perth will probably be the cheapest in Australia, but he's an utter nob head in my opinion.

[Bucket]

Well im gunna have to hold off on the suspension lift

I gotta get all my wheel bearings done, and my starter motors gone too. I'll just get a BL and then wait and get the Calmini next year.

[Jamie]

check your wheel bearing prices with somone like motor traders, here in Mt Gambier, might be cheaper. Repco, in my experience are good at ordering the wrong stuff.

[banga]

atari4x4 wrote:

i don't know if calmini will sell direct any more, flick them an email or even give them a call to see what their story is.

Fraud Wheel Drive U$A in Perth will probably be the cheapest in Australia, but he's an utter nob head in my opinion.

they still do i emailed them the other week it worked out about 1400 converted with shipping then you pay tax on it when it get here

[Bucket]

I just sent them an email myself too, to see what they'd say.

Just got my starter motor out and I've taken it to get reco'd. Pretty corroded

[Bucket]

Got it back and the auto electritian said the solenoid casing was full of crap and that he replaced the drive in it....all goes well now.

Now to purchase some bearings and get them in before christmas!

Also, i've noticed that on the side where the wheel catches occasionally that the gap between the panel and the tyre (closest to the door) is about 2 fingers wide and on the other its 3 easy. I got a 28pt check and it come back clean, but is it possible i've knocked something back a little bit on that side?

[atari4x4]

check out the position of the struts in the engine bay, there are 2 "windows" where the struts come up into the engine bay.... see if the strut tops are both sitting in the same position!

[Bucket]

Will do! Hopefully ones just lower, but I don't think that'll be the problem, because it right hand side seems to be sitting further back, not further down....but I could, and probably am, wrong.

[Bucket]

It seems that the strut tops are both in the same position at the same height.

One of my mates suggested it could be the sub frame, and dad said it could just be a collapsed/collapsing strut. Neither are really sure so who knows!

Ah well, at least the starter motor is going, and I purchased rear bearings from repco. Gunna look at them tomorrow to see if I can put them in myself or if I need a mechanic. Repco is telling me that the front bearings will need a whole hub kinda replacement. True?

[Bucket]

I've also emailed Calmini and 4wdusa about the Calmini lift

Calmini has priced the 6" combo super articulation kit at $1,442.66 USD (inc freight) which is roughly $1600AUD, BUT they said something about paying tax on it when it enters Australia and I got no idea how much that would slug me.

4WDUSA have priced me at $1945AUD + $129 in frieght, not to mention they only have 2 kits coming mid January and want a deposit so I can secure myself the last one....seems a bit pricey.

[steak_knife]

Bucket wrote:

It seems that the strut tops are both in the same position at the same height.

One of my mates suggested it could be the sub frame, and dad said it could just be a collapsed/collapsing strut. Neither are really sure so who knows!

Ah well, at least the starter motor is going, and I purchased rear bearings from repco. Gunna look at them tomorrow to see if I can put them in myself or if I need a mechanic. Repco is telling me that the front bearings will need a whole hub kinda replacement. True?

No, just bearing's & seal's.

Rear's can be a bit tricky if you haven't done anything like that before, at least get some one who has done them to show you how.
I have seen a thread in here showing how to do the rear's, just had a quick look but couldn't find it.

[Bucket]

steknig wrote:

Bucket wrote:

It seems that the strut tops are both in the same position at the same height.

One of my mates suggested it could be the sub frame, and dad said it could just be a collapsed/collapsing strut. Neither are really sure so who knows!

Ah well, at least the starter motor is going, and I purchased rear bearings from repco. Gunna look at them tomorrow to see if I can put them in myself or if I need a mechanic. Repco is telling me that the front bearings will need a whole hub kinda replacement. True?

No, just bearing's & seal's.

Rear's can be a bit tricky if you haven't done anything like that before, at least get some one who has done them to show you how.
I have seen a thread in here showing how to do the rear's, just had a quick look but couldn't find it.

Cheers!
I'll head over there in the morning and tell them that then. "cos Steknig said so" will be my reasoning.
Dads gunna give me a hand. He's replaced the bearings on his BJ70 a few times over, so I guess it'd have to be similar. If not, i'll just go to the mechanics or something instead of ruining my car.

Oh, they also gave me an app for a tradey card. 10% off transactions, woo!

[steak_knife]

"cos Steknig said so"


That should work!!

[Bucket]

Does anyone have any idea how the "pay tax on arrival to Australia" works, and how they calculate how much they wanna slog me?

Sorry, they just dont teach you this shit in highschool.

[Bucket]

Took my rear axels out and had to take them to the mechanics to get the bearings pressed out and new ones put on dammit.

Also tooks some (phone) pictures of the gap I was talking about.

Left front side (no scrubbing):


Right front side (scrubbing):




And just some other photos I took while I had my phone out


Baby on the blocks:


Homemade snorkel:


What type of suspension is this called?:


Dads BJ70:


Swan Lake (Portland Dunes):


Mates sister's Zook stuck. Only 2wd aswell:

[atari4x4]

Bucket wrote:

It seems that the strut tops are both in the same position at the same height.

i was talking more about the position of the strut top front to back & left to right...

[Bucket]

atari4x4 wrote:

Bucket wrote:

It seems that the strut tops are both in the same position at the same height.

i was talking more about the position of the strut top front to back & left to right...

Ah ok, my bad. I'll go check them later.

Mechanic had to cut the old spacer and bearing off my axels and they wont be ready till Monday arvo.....dammit!