Camaliri suspension Query

Post by **Wanderer** » Tue Dec 21, 2004 7:50 pm

hi all,

had an offer today for a Camaliri 3 inch suspension lift supplied & installed for a 'similar' price to a 2 inch OME lift for my '93 LWB 1.6 EFI Vit.

the questions;

anyone out there who has this lift on their Vit?
in your opinion would you go Camaliri or OME?
why - pro's/con's

todate, all my experience has been with OME - but i'm open to new stuff/ideas.

any imput is greatly appreciated,

cheers

Post by **ausyota** » Tue Dec 21, 2004 8:05 pm

I think the name you mean is "Calmini"
http://www.puresuzuki.com/suspension1.htm
There is a link to what is in their kits.
Whether they are good or not I dont know.
Paul.

Post by **Beastmavster** » Tue Dec 21, 2004 8:13 pm

Sounds like an alright deal. We have one in the NBS club and it works good - but there's some question over how long the 3" springs will last, at least in the LWB GV.

They've got a good reputation with anything broken under warranty being replaced no problems - very similar to OME in that regard.

Ride and travel is great too.

Rear travel could be more though but its' still a lot more than the OME kit provides.

However the OME front struts are definately better - the Calmini kit uses a spacer rather than a longer strut.

Post by **muppet_man67** » Tue Dec 21, 2004 8:50 pm

cj from this board has recently swapped an ome kit for a calmini on his lwb vitara. He seems very happy the calmini. He finds it is better for offroad work. Im sure he will fill you in soon.

Post by **-Mick-** » Tue Dec 21, 2004 9:09 pm

calimari

good stuff it is

Post by **bazooked** » Tue Dec 21, 2004 10:44 pm

especially the testicles............. :finger:

Post by **mudfkr** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 4:47 am

I finished fitting the Calmini 3" on Sunday to my 3dr.

The price for me to buy it here in NZ compared to OME was within a few hundred dollars difference and IMHO you get alot more for your money from Calmini.

I've only had it out for about an hour off road but I noticed a huge difference all ready. I'll post some pix after the week end when I've given it a beating to show ya what it's like.

Cheers Shane

Edit: I fixed the pix up and it still won't load :roll:

Post by **Wanderer** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 8:16 am

Camaliri - sorry, i blame that on Mr VB & his friends!

Is the Calmini kit set up with the proper camber angle?
Is the spring setup soft or firm?
Is there much settling of the springs?
The Calmini shocks/struts - are they another brand rebadged or their own? Are they any good?

thanks for the all the feedback, it's greatly appreciated - i want to research this properly....

cheers

Post by **muppet_man67** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 1:28 pm

the spring set up is soft. I would assume that it is set up with the right camber angle due to the comprehensive nature of the kit. Ie it replaces the front wishbone thingys on the ifs with big momma tube ones. and if my memory serves me correctly also involves dropping the front diff to correct the cv angle

Post by **-Mick-** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 2:27 pm

Wanderer what state are you in :?:

Some places like Qld only allow a 2" which may be a factor for you (or may not)

Post by **Charlie** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 4:25 pm

It sound like a good deal but you'd need to get engineered woudn't you?
Regards Charlie

Post by **mudfkr** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 6:15 pm

Wanderer wrote:Camaliri - sorry, i blame that on Mr VB & his friends!

Is the Calmini kit set up with the proper camber angle?
Is the spring setup soft or firm?
Is there much settling of the springs?
The Calmini shocks/struts - are they another brand rebadged or their own? Are they any good?

thanks for the all the feedback, it's greatly appreciated - i want to research this properly....

cheers

1)At first when I fitted the kit the camber was way off, it sort of looked like the arse end of a VW. Then I gave it a run to settle the springs into the rubbers etc and it was a heaps better. The next day I took it for an alignment and thought they end up using camber bolts to get it set up but they managed to set it with no camber bolts.

2)Spring set up is extremely soft , way softer then the stock set up any way.

3)My ride height has dropped about 1" but considering it lifted it 5" to start with 1" is nothing to worry about.

4)The Calmini shocks/struts are rebadged but I'm not exactly sure what they started out as, my mate reckons they look very similar to Dos tech (sp?)

HTH
Shane

Post by **Wanderer** » Tue Dec 28, 2004 9:09 pm

Hey there,

hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

you guys are great - all this info!

I'm in the ACT but looking at moving to WA in '06 so any feed back from members in that territory/state in reference to the 3 inch lift is greatly appreciated.

mudfkr - you wrote that the lift was 5 inches when first installed - has it settled down any futher? What's it like on road? Mines a daily driver, am i going too extreme? Does the Vit wallow, ie wander on road at any speed? Any drive train issues with the increased angles?

I've spent a some time wandering the Calmini web site, cool stuff - i'm curious as to wether the free trade agreement with the yanks will lower the price of their products and similar......

Post by **ausyota** » Tue Dec 28, 2004 9:28 pm

Give Eddie a ring at
4 WHEEL DRIVE U.S.A.
1a Chalkley Pl Bayswater 6053
(08) 9370 3440
He imports the Calmini stuff into Perth.
Paul.

Post by **mudfkr** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 7:07 am

It's still riding higher then 3" of lift at the moment but it's only had around 10 hr's of use, the C/V angles are now starting to look more acceptable now when it's sitting on flat ground, to start with they were farkin terrible.

I haven't given it a good 100 Kph run on the road yet as I've only been going a short distance away from home to wheel, but the couple of burst I gave it suggest it's not going to be no formula 1 car on the road but I don't care about road manners I'll drive @ 80 if need be as long as it works off road. I tended to notice on sweepers and sharp corners it rolls around abit more but then again with 8 psi in the tires and no sway bars you get that :lol:

CJ from this board is probably a better person to ask about road handling but I think you'll find he's over here in NZ on Holiday at the moment.

As for drive line breakages I've just dealt to another alloy diff and C/V again see here : http://www.zukiworld.com/cgi/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=suzuki_talk;action=display;num=1104176471
but thats all comes down to how hard you drive it, type of terrain etc. I used to blow C/Vs and housing's with stock suspension so I can't blame it on the Calmini. I currently waiting for Calmini to build me an Anvil (they only build as many as ordered at the time) and I have a G/V steel 3rd that will have 5:83s installed with an ARB so thats only going to leave C/Vs to sort out hopefully.

If ya pm me your email addy I'll fire you some before and after pics of the install.
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Post by cj » Sun Jan 02, 2005 7:37 am

I had the OME in my swb and the OME with 20mm coil spacers in my lwb and have gone to the Calmini 3". The OME was great for running on the road and gravel, nice ride and handling and you could pedal it faster than the stock setup. The OME has fairly limited travel in the rear and can be improved considerably but the Calmini can be taken even further. The Calmini is as Mudfkr mentioned way softer. I needed camber bolts for the OME + 20mm and needed one for the Calmini on one side. I'm running the OME struts upfront along with the Calmini strut spacers and an ARB winchbar and Ramsey 8000 winch. The Calmini is designed to run with the additional weight of a winch and bar. Calmini drop and rotate the front diff to help with the CV angles. Calmini use rebadged shocks and struts. I driven the Calmini setup Melbourne-Sydney-Melbourne and use it as a daily driver and it's fine. If you push it around corners without the swaybar on it will have increased bodyroll but nothing to extreme. The kit is generally pretty good and you are not likely to break it easily but it should have better front struts like the OME ones and bumpstop extensions instead of using the springs as stops. If you go ahead with it, lube all the bushes well on installation otherwise they sqeak and regularly check all the nuts and bolts for tightness as some do loosen. Some people do complain of the springs settling over time but this can be rectified with coil spacers. It would also be nice if they offered different spring rate choices. Would I spend the money on the Calmini? Yes, if I wanted something that will work offroad, ride well and didn't want to do a SAS.

Post by **Wanderer** » Fri Jan 21, 2005 9:14 pm

well lads,

the proof is in the pudding......i rang the workshop that offered me the deal for a Calmini 3 inch lift for a "similar" price to a OME 2 inch lift....well, OME "stock" - $1400 fitted, OME "modified" - tough dog stocks plus other stuff - $1700, Calmini $1700 [u]+ fitting.....[u]

i rang around - ARB sell OME fitted for $1150....guess what is being done to my little Vit on Monday?

i'd love to have Calmini gear, but isn't there a free trade agreement between us & the yanks? i know that supporting Aus gear is the right thing to do & a man running a business has a right to make a living, but am i thinking too much? & i do so like the work the dude does through his workshop.....3

besides the minister of finance, she has no appreciation of lift kits or certain over engineered 4x4 accessaries, as very decent normal male does, truely does.....

Post by **Mczook** » Sat Jan 22, 2005 8:20 pm

G'day Guys

I will be keen to see how those who have installed the Calmini kit fare in the long term. Calmini manufactures some great products & there engineering is first class, particulary the arms in this kit. However their kits (in this instance struts and springs) dont seem to handle the Oz conditions as well as they should.

IMO & from a couple of our customer experience's save a bit extra and do it right first time and do a SAS, if done correctly you wont regret it. At the end of the day budget dictates but only in the short term.

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Camaliri suspension Query

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