[Ryanh]

Thought it would be a good idea to make a thread just for vitara calmini kits...

It seems that alot of members have used or are currently using calmini and others are looking to purchase.
So what do you like/hate about calminis complete vitara suspension kits?
Did you order directly through calmini in the U.S or a dealer in australia?

Lets hear your thoughts!

[Gwagensteve]

Ryan, there's already lots and lots of reviews of calmini kits on here. There's quite a number of different kits, so I think a thread like this will just fill up with lots of crossed wires about which kit is being discussed.

If you are fishing for information on a specific kit, start with a search.

If you really want to start a compiled thread on all the various calmini kits, maybe pm Royce or another mod to compile a merge thread in the good tech area, but I think it will lead to much confusion.

Steve.

[atari4x4]

yay a poll

don't use the australian distributors unless you really have to & you enjoy paying a middle man.

[Gwagensteve]

Those options are too limited.

On the basis of them, I'd have to say I don't recommend calmini, but that's not really fair as a couple of the parts they make are quite good.

[sideways]

I've never used them but from what I've seen, the majority of their products lack engineering thought.

[Gwagensteve]

sideways wrote:

I've never used them but from what I've seen, the majority of their products lack engineering thought.

Exactly. I think they get things right by accident rather than design (or by accident despite design) more often than not, so some of their stuff works well and is well made (vitara front arms) and some of it works poorly (rear a arm) in the same kit. That's why I say it's limiting to say recommend or not.

I wonder if they have bought some metric drills yet?

Steve.

[atari4x4]

sideways wrote:

I've never used them but from what I've seen, the majority of their products lack engineering thought.

If we're talking about the Vitara kit & I'm assuming that's what the OP is talking about seeing he has a Vitara, I'd say from experience they just needed a little bit more thought in providing a more complete kit.

Bumpstop spacers & extended front struts + miss-alignment spacers for the rear heim joint would go along way to finishing it off.


at the metric drill bits.... surely they would have got some by now.

[Joe]

I've had two vits with calmini suspension and i like their gear, like the others have said the struts/shocks are pretty crud and that a-arm thing ain't the best either

[Ryanh]

Edit original post guys and restarted poll

I understand there is alot of other threads that discuss the topic but it would be good to have one thread that could be made a sticky so that the question can be seen by new users and wont need to be asked again...
Mods feel free to edit or delete this thread, as i said it was just an idea.

[atari4x4]

we don't do stickies around here, unless it's important stuff.

i've run the calmini kit for 6+ years & whilst it does have a few short comings that can be easily address there aren't any other off the shelf kits that come close IMO.

there is the altered ego kit from Canada, but as far as i know there isn't any one in aus running it yet + it also has it's own design flaws.

[Ryanh]

Ok so from what I gather the kit is ok apart from the rear A arm?
And the shocks and struts are also a fault

These problems seem pretty easily addressed?

What have you guys done to fix these problems?

[atari4x4]

bumpstop spacers & OME/Dobinson/Ironman front struts + commy rears goes along way to addressing the short falls of the kit.

[britvit]

It should also be mentioned that the rear springs are too soft for a LWB Vitara....

[DarkHorse]

britvit wrote:

It should also be mentioned that the rear springs are too soft for a LWB Vitara....

Hell yeah.

Shocks, struts, springs = shite.

Vit rear control arms should be longer and/or adjustable like the GV ones.

Strut spacers (if they must) with some camber correction built in would be nice.

Metric holes couldn't be that hard...

[Ryanh]

Seems like there is almost too much wrong with the kit too bother... It's like your buying a kit just to get the arms, which even then are not all that they should be, and could probably be better designed and produced by a local Australian company or even done by a local fab shop for a once off thing?

[atari4x4]

i reckon it's going to cost well more than the cost of the kit to get someone to design & fab up just the arms & then you've got to find someone who's got a set available to copy that isn't in use.

[Fatzook]

atari4x4 wrote:

i reckon it's going to cost well more than the cost of the kit to get someone to design & fab up just the arms

^^This guy!! ^^^

[banga]

atari4x4 wrote:

i reckon it's going to cost well more than the cost of the kit to get someone to design & fab up just the arms & then you've got to find someone who's got a set available to copy that isn't in use.

didn't oda used to sell arms by them selves and they cost close to a grand any way.

[Ryanh]

would it be worth it for a company like TSOR to make a Design and put them into production, calminis arms don't look all that technical and I'm sure that once they were designed and a jig was made they would sell for a lot less that the 850 shipped that I got quoted from calmini for the kit.

I would think anyway, I may be wrong - fatzook please comment on if this is possible or not

[atari4x4]

banga wrote:

atari4x4 wrote:

i reckon it's going to cost well more than the cost of the kit to get someone to design & fab up just the arms & then you've got to find someone who's got a set available to copy that isn't in use.

didn't oda used to sell arms by them selves and they cost close to a grand any way.

he had them listed, but they were never available from memory & yeah they were almost as much as the complete calmini kit & they were knock offs made in india.

Ryanh wrote:

would it be worth it for a company like TSOR to make a Design and put them into production, calminis arms don't look all that technical and I'm sure that once they were designed and a jig was made they would sell for a lot less that the 850 shipped that I got quoted from calmini for the kit.

I would think anyway, I may be wrong - fatzook please comment on if this is possible or not

It's hard enough getting seat frames & coily tube bars from TSOR.

Doubt he'd waste his time on something that's already available & being a small production run would still have them priced well above what you could import the whole kit for. I have my calmini arms out at the moment & I'll count how many individual sections of steel the calmini control arms have just to give you an idea on how much work it would be to build a jig & then build the arms...

I'll my left testie, the labour itself would be more than the whole kit from the states.


IMO the calmini kit is still the best base to start with, like any aftermarket suspension set up... it requires tuning.

[Ryanh]

atari4x4 wrote:

banga wrote:

atari4x4 wrote:

i reckon it's going to cost well more than the cost of the kit to get someone to design & fab up just the arms & then you've got to find someone who's got a set available to copy that isn't in use.

didn't oda used to sell arms by them selves and they cost close to a grand any way.

he had them listed, but they were never available from memory & yeah they were almost as much as the complete calmini kit & they were knock offs made in india.

Ryanh wrote:

would it be worth it for a company like TSOR to make a Design and put them into production, calminis arms don't look all that technical and I'm sure that once they were designed and a jig was made they would sell for a lot less that the 850 shipped that I got quoted from calmini for the kit.

I would think anyway, I may be wrong - fatzook please comment on if this is possible or not

It's hard enough getting seat frames & coily tube bars from TSOR.

Doubt he'd waste his time on something that's already available & being a small production run would still have them priced well above what you could import the whole kit for. I have my calmini arms out at the moment & I'll count how many individual sections of steel the calmini control arms have just to give you an idea on how much work it would be to build a jig & then build the arms...

I'll my left testie, the labour itself would be more than the whole kit from the states.


IMO the calmini kit is still the best base to start with, like any aftermarket suspension set up... it requires tuning.

Well said, I guess I'll leave it at that haha

[atari4x4]

i counted 15 individual pieces & some of them are quite detailed... i will amend what i said about being the best base to start with, as it's not entirely correct

if you're chasing more than the usual 40mm lift & want decent wheel travel + keeping your front wheel track once lifted, IMO it's the best base to start with.

for an off the shelf springs & shocks you can't go past something like the OME kit or Dobinsons, the ODA & JimnyBit's 3" lifts aren't much cheaper than the calmini gear & you still don't get replacement control arms

[Ryanh]

I think I'm personally going to use a "Off the shelf" dobinson kit,
But if I happen to find a set of front arms second hand I'll be snapping them up haha

Thanks for the input guys!