[stocker]

Hi guys and girls.

Im stocker and im new to these forums so please forgive me if these questions have already been answered somewhere else...

I have a 96 LWB vit. and im looking at spending a bit of money on a suspension kit. the one thats caught my eye the most atm is the Calmini 6" Suspension system. 3 " spring 3" body. sounds good too me.. just wondering if anyone has actually ordered one direct from the US before. and if this kit is all but Bolt on.. no modifications to be made??? if thats correct??...

also are there any associated fee's to do with customs or importing it here???.

I also noticed a few comments reading through the threads about running 31's with the flimsy front diff??? is this just bad news for me?? and if so how would i go about strengthening it up???

any help is muchly appreciated..

- stocker

[Ben_Sierra]

6 inches of lift is just stupid.

3 Inch bosy lift is illegal in every state. 3 inch suspension is asking for trouble...

And if you only wanna run 31s, why bother with so much lift??

[atari4x4]

the calmini bodylift is junk...

[Fatzook]

Ben_Sierra wrote:

6 inches of lift is just stupid.

3 Inch bosy lift is illegal in every state. 3 inch suspension is asking for trouble...

And if you only wanna run 31s, why bother with so much lift??

helpfull

He said he was new to all this so why not just ridicule him?

[stocker]

yeah. thanks for that fatzook. i am new to 4wding and don't know much about the Tech behind it... Ben_sierra... nor do i know what the legalities behind it are. hence me asking about it on here

thanks atari, i won't bother with the calmini Bodylift. could you recomend a place to get a decent kit?

[Ben_Sierra]

Fatzook wrote:

Ben_Sierra wrote:

6 inches of lift is just stupid.

3 Inch bosy lift is illegal in every state. 3 inch suspension is asking for trouble...

And if you only wanna run 31s, why bother with so much lift??

helpfull

He said he was new to all this so why not just ridicule him?

Umm, point to the ridicule? I'm just stating my opinion...

[alien]

atari4x4 wrote:

the calmini bodylift is junk...

search for this guy's build thread... his vit is a weapon and definitely something you could aspire to.

[89_tintop]

for you body lift try hear
http://auszookers.com/index.php?name=Fo ... ic&t=15518

[Ben_Sierra]

just_cruizin on this forum sells good body lifts. Send him a pm and he'll hook you up.

By all account Calmini do some pretty good (vitara) suspension, but it pays to be a little sensible about how much lift you put in a car. More than you need makes it unstable and doesn't add anything to the ability of the car.

[atari4x4]

i run the Calmini kit & have done for quite a few years & it's pretty good... but that was before AlterEgo started making stuff.

i'd buy one of their 4.5" kits in a heart beat, no need to do a bodylift.

http://www.alteredegomotorsports.com/tr ... nsion.html

Ben, you're a tard... you could have been so much more helpful, should have just told him to do a Grimbo.

e.g. Maybe telling him that just_cruisin' off here does 2" bodylifts would have been a good start.

[Fatzook]

Ben_Sierra wrote:

Fatzook wrote:

Ben_Sierra wrote:

6 inches of lift is just stupid.

3 Inch bosy lift is illegal in every state. 3 inch suspension is asking for trouble...

And if you only wanna run 31s, why bother with so much lift??

helpfull

He said he was new to all this so why not just ridicule him?

Umm, point to the ridicule? I'm just stating my opinion...

You could have sugar coated it a bit

And what happened to the " welcome to AZ speach?

[Joe]

Fatzook wrote:

Ben_Sierra wrote:

6 inches of lift is just stupid.

3 Inch bosy lift is illegal in every state. 3 inch suspension is asking for trouble...

And if you only wanna run 31s, why bother with so much lift??

helpfull

He said he was new to all this so why not just ridicule him?

Pretty much what i was thinking Mr Fat

Hey stocker welcome to AZ
The Calmini kit will bolt straight in if yours is a 1.6 vit or if it is a 2.0 V6 it will need some slight modding but most of it will bolt up
For the body lift get one from this fella
For the front diff you can swap in a GV front steel diff like this fella here has done

[atari4x4]

Ben you beat me by that much...

FYI I ran their 3+3 combo for a while & it was no more unstable than my current 2" body lift & 3" Calmini lift.

[stocker]

Wow... thanks for all the info dudes. alot to take in at once.

Atari that 4.5" system looks awesome. just wish i had 2 G's to pay for it. maybe one for future development as for now i might just order the 3" Spring lift and see how i go with that, it should keep me out of trouble for now.

As for the body lift. i won't bother with the calmini one. i will invest in a slightly shorter one.

Thanks for the info on that diff too... i will be upgrading that Alloy piece of junk shortly

thanks again guys

[BJPK]

Joe wrote:

Fatzook wrote:

Ben_Sierra wrote:

6 inches of lift is just stupid.

3 Inch bosy lift is illegal in every state. 3 inch suspension is asking for trouble...

And if you only wanna run 31s, why bother with so much lift??

helpfull

He said he was new to all this so why not just ridicule him?

Pretty much what i was thinking Mr Fat

Hey stocker welcome to AZ
The Calmini kit will bolt straight in if yours is a 1.6 vit or if it is a 2.0 V6 it will need some slight modding but most of it will bolt up
For the body lift get one from this fella
For the front diff you can swap in a GV front steel diff like this fella here has done

hey joe, iv read about dramas with fitting of the front suspension in 96 onwards vits? some bits not clearing etc. did you have any dramas? cheers in advance.

[atari4x4]

BJPK, from what i can work out it's all cool with the SE416 1.6l Vitara's there are only problems with the SV420 & SV620 2.0l vitara.

both pinion mounts of the GV steel diff will fit the SE416.

[BJPK]

apparently the bracing/rib on the front diff needs to be ground away or it hits the crossmember when the diff is dropped/rolled forward? could be bullshit though

[Joe]

BJPK wrote:

Joe wrote:

Fatzook wrote:

Ben_Sierra wrote:

6 inches of lift is just stupid.

3 Inch bosy lift is illegal in every state. 3 inch suspension is asking for trouble...

And if you only wanna run 31s, why bother with so much lift??

helpfull

He said he was new to all this so why not just ridicule him?

Pretty much what i was thinking Mr Fat

Hey stocker welcome to AZ
The Calmini kit will bolt straight in if yours is a 1.6 vit or if it is a 2.0 V6 it will need some slight modding but most of it will bolt up
For the body lift get one from this fella
For the front diff you can swap in a GV front steel diff like this fella here has done

hey joe, iv read about dramas with fitting of the front suspension in 96 onwards vits? some bits not clearing etc. did you have any dramas? cheers in advance.

Nah mate all good just bolted straight in

atari4x4 wrote:

BJPK, from what i can work out it's all cool with the SE416 1.6l Vitara's there are only problems with the SV420 & SV620 2.0l vitara.

both pinion mounts of the GV steel diff will fit the SE416.

Unless you have calmini suspension then the pinion mount bracket wont work with the later GV diff

[Joe]

BJPK wrote:

apparently the bracing/rib on the front diff needs to be ground away or it hits the crossmember when the diff is dropped/rolled forward? could be bullshit though

[atari4x4]

thats true joe, like i said in another thread my brain has the dumb.

[Joe]

[atari4x4]

Joe wrote:

BJPK wrote:

apparently the bracing/rib on the front diff needs to be ground away or it hits the crossmember when the diff is dropped/rolled forward? could be bullshit though

i had to do it to mine, but the silver princess is a bit special.

i'm pretty sure Dave07 had to grind the rib down on his, i think the later ones had a larger ribs for extra pleasure.

[BJPK]

atari4x4 wrote:

Joe wrote:

BJPK wrote:

apparently the bracing/rib on the front diff needs to be ground away or it hits the crossmember when the diff is dropped/rolled forward? could be bullshit though

i had to do it to mine, but the silver princess is a bit special.

i'm pretty sure Dave07 had to grind the rib down on his, i think the later ones had a larger ribs for extra pleasure.

just out of interest atari what else did you have to mod to fit it to version 2.0 ???

[atari4x4]

it was just the left & right front diff drop brackets, clearancing the the crossmember for the diff drop + the rib on the underside of the alloy pinion carrier. (the steel ones don't have 1/2 the webbing/ribs of the alloy one)

[Bucket]

Don't waste your coin on a calmini kit. Run a better/custom combo.

If you HAVE to body lift, use just_Cruizin 's kit.

[atari4x4]

Bucket wrote:

Don't waste your coin on a calmini kit. Run a better/custom combo.

If you HAVE to body lift, use just_Cruizin 's kit.

did you ever fix your seized/dead struts or work out where the chassis was bent?

mine worked fine on the supplied struts & it's even better on the OME's with the extra length + the gas commodore rear shocks make it a better ride.

[Bucket]

Nope, they're just plain shit. We even have some brand new struts and shocks from the kit sitting in the shop that were thrown out the day nother kit was installed (2 years back???)

I don't know where it's bent, but I know how to rectify the problem; just a case of learning to weld a bit or finding an offset bolt.

[atari4x4]

so bolt in some OME or Dobinsons struts, from what I read even the Ironman struts are longer.

[Chop]

How do you fix something if you dont know where the problem is?

My front calmini struts are still fine, the rear shocks were crap and did not last long at all.

[atari4x4]

Chop wrote:

How do you fix something if you dont know where the problem is?

My front calmini struts are still fine, the rear shocks were crap and did not last long at all.

aren't you towing a trailer most days?

the calmini oil rear shocks a good for crawling but i found that they are to slow to react on road.