:)Yankee Tim, your argument is well thought out and so diplomaticly presented that i find it hard to refute, so I won't even try. Just as I would'nt buy stolen music, or dvd's, I would'nt knowingly buy these either if I knew they were knockoffs without some kind of renumeration for the originator. It seems you have an inside line at Calmini, but come on "a special someone," I'll need a little more than that. However, your point is taken on the piracy issue, and I agree and respect your position. Theft is theft. It's probably a moot point anyway as getting somthing shipped into the country from Turkey is about as likley as getting it shipped in from Iran. Considering the US is involved in a war right next door, I doubt it would happen. On all your other points your free to think any way you see fit. Your freedom to do so provided by all who served and serve in the armed forces of this country. I do resent being called un American, and I accept your apoligy. If my remarks were  offensive I apoligize also. I guess none of us like being told how to spend our hard earned money. I have searched the archives thouroughly, and that's where I got the idea to do this. I'm not trying to correct the camber, I've already done that and it's reletivly  easy. I'm trying to correct the castor, to provide more stability on the highway. With just lift springs and spacers you tend to loose some castor and the self centering ability that goes along with it.  My Tracker is fine under 45 mph but it takes both hands at anything over that, especially if there are more than a little in the way of road irregularities. I'd just like it to be more stable at highway speeds. According to Calmini their a arms address this issue. The only other way to achieve this that i've seen is to do somthing like the Hagen widening and it does'nt really correct it , but it helps I hear.  I am on the backorder waiting list for the Calmini kit, and have been, minus the shocks and struts. The springs I'll try since I already have all that extra weight on the front, but I also gave Steve at Boondox a call and he's getting me info on some specially wound springs that don't seem to sag when used with all the extra weight. The rear trailing arms should relocate the axle to the get back to  correct wheelbase. Their center link heim joint affair doesn't really impress me. I've already made my own spacer for the rear diff mount, very much like wildgoodys. I  intended to use the drop brackets all along if I was able to get them. If the Calminin kit  stays on back order for months, I may end up doing the Hagen thing, make or modify my own trailing arms, and keep my money on my own damn pocket! Congrats Tim on getting remarried, I think.

Gee guys, lighten up a little  . Nice to see you have made up though - sort of 

bentparts - check your toe setting too. Factory is 0 - 4mm toe in. This can also cause your rig to bounce from side to side when you hit irregularities on the road. Try a little toe in.

I run Calmini 3" and GV lift kits - they deffinitely require a decent offset wheel to help put enough leverage on the springs to give a softer ride. I have confirmed this with actual experimentation and it makes a HUGE difference. I have found that the struts / rear dampers can be a little hard on compression when you are empty but are seem fine when your vehicle is loaded up. As with ANY suspension system though there is always an area that can be "fine tuned" to your personal preference and most of the time top of the line dampers gets you the results you are after.

Me - I will not hesistate to buy Calmini again ( and with our exchange rate each kit costs me aprox $1700 NZ  , that is how impressed I am with their product  ).

Calmini - how the BEST rigs start life  ( well Kicks anyway ). Ask Mr Hagen 

ZeusZuki 

The rear trailing arms should relocate the axle to the get back to  correct wheelbase.

The Calmini rear arms are the same length as the stock arms. They're just a lot beefier and the design keeps them away from the rocks better.

Hmmm, now you've got me thinking I don't really need the whole system ,which is what I thought in the begining. Aside from the added benefit of the stronger construction, there is no change in axle location? I thought that by lifting the rear 3+inches, you are for all intensive purposes swinging the axle down and forward since it pivots on the trailing arms, therby shortening the wheelbase by an inch or two.  I though that the Calimini arms and center link compensated for this. Why would they then include a driveshaft spacer in their kit? OK, I guess I'm confused on how their rear suspension works other than lift and stronger and better shaped arms. It seems to me the real benefit in the Calmini system is in the front suspension and the diff drop links then.  Then It looks like I can accomplish what I really want, which is to improve the stability of my straight line steering by performing something like the Hagen widening which does seem to offer the increase in camber and wheelbase correction I'm looking for. At one point diff drop brackets were available from Boondox, but there not available due to being "re-designed." I wonder if thats legal speak for patent infringement. I still think the addtion of the Calmini front arms coupled with the diff drop brackets would be a good mod though. Thanks for the input Rhinoman.

I was rather surprised by the arms, I was expecting them to be longer. I'm a design engineer by trade and I like to know how everything works. I fitted each part of the kit individually comparing it with the original so I could understand how each bit affected the truck. When i did the rear I jacked the car up and left the tyres still touching the ground so the wheels and brakes would stop the axle from rotating when I undid the top mount. I had a lot of fun with that when I changed the diff!
I changed the lower arms first, expecting to have to move the axle back a bit to get the new arms to fit but they went straight in there so I compared the lengths



After fitting them I removed the top arm, again it fitted straight on without any movement of the axle. The arms are difficult to compare because of the different top joint but they aren't much different. With the Calmini top diff bracket the 'spacer' is built in.





Once they were fitted I dropped the axle to fit the rear springs, I very nearly didn't have enough room, the rear springs allow a lot of extra drop before they dislocate.





The prop spacer is needed because the standard prop would be too short at maximum drop. I ground back the bottom shock mounting to get clearance.
My kit was used and was supplied with Procomp shocks. I have some more photos somewhere, I jacked the rear axle up against the bumpstops and measured the clearance between spring mounts and between shock mounts. The stock bumpstops are nowhere near long enough. Calculating the compressed spring height the springs will be fully compressed before the bumpstop makes contact IIRC the bumpstop needs to be lowered about 2". The rear shock mount will need to be relocated too, this might not be the case with the Calmini shocks (if the bumpstops are lower) which I think are slightly shorter.
So theres a lot more drop but some of the up travel is lost, this isn't a big issue with large tyres as it allows a bit more clearance. I don't know if the stock rear ball joint would have sufficient travel to handle the extra travel if properly spaced. The Heim joint allows plenty of travel but is a bit exposed for mud driving. I did try to source a rubber boot for it but I could only find single sided boots like those used on the stock joint. I haven't heard of anyone having problems with the top arm since it was redesigned but it does seem quite flimsy compared to the original.
The bottom arms are well designed if you're driving on rocks, the arm is very strong and the main part is well tucked up. The arm curves down behind the tyre so it is lifted with it.

The really 'good stuff' does seem to be at the front. The A arms and diff drop brackets make a big difference. In the stock configuration the driveshaft is parallel to the ground with the wishbone against the bumpstop. The CV only uses the down part of its travel. The diff drop brackets pivot the diff as much as drop it. This brings the driveshaft outputs down and allows some of the CVs up travel to be used. The diff doesn't actually move down that much so little ground clearance is lost. The drawback is that the oil level filler is moved lower so you need to lift the front of the truck to ensure that you get enough oil in.
The A arms have been fairly well commented on but one of the advantages that isn't widely commented on is that the spring seat is at a much better angle than with the stock arms. The spacers give an additional 2" of strut movement. Their isn't a lot more travel available because different geometry of the arms extends the CVs further than the stock arms. Without the drop brackets the (US) drivers side driveshaft doesn't actually reach the output flange with the suspension extended.
I did try OME stuts with mine but I didn't have enough CV travel to run them and the spacers.
HTH

The lack of bumpstop spacers has been one issue I feel Calmini should have addressed. Coil bind is not acceptable from a "complete suspension system". When I pulled my system off last year to strip it and repaint, cracking was discovered in the bracket that mounts to the rear diff. The heim joint setup gets so much mud etc in there that it wears out to quick and they should at least have provided some protection like Spidertrax sells for the joints. A  diff spacer would probably work just as well. I was also a bit disappointed when I found out that the rear arms were no longer. It has some great features but as I keep saying it's almost there but it needs the final touches to be 100%. 

  Thanks a bunch Guys for all the detailed info, especially Rhinoman. I do think it may be worth it to spring for the whole Calmini kit. It seems using my OME struts and shocks may cause problems that won't make it worth the trouble. Too bad, cause they are such good dampers. To get that 1/2 " more of lift isn't a big deal to me, but the correct geometry in the front is, and from reading all the threads on Calmini's lift I see there is a good possibilty I could go even more  with a small spacer over the coils if I chose to in the future.  It's all moot anyway since the kits are on backorder. That is definitly the way I want to go though, at least in the front. 

I do think it may be worth it to spring for the whole Calmini kit.

If ya wanna wait until summer or so (unlikely), a friend may be going SAS from a Calmini 3" lift, meaning he'll have parts to sell off.  But if you are in a rush to do this, don't wait.  He's not the fastest gun in the west if you know what I mean.

Thanks Yankee Tim, it seems like I'm gonna wait even if I did'nt want to . All Calmini's lift kits are on back order. Tell your friend I am interested and want first dibs if he goes that route. I'd  definitely rather by used, and waiting is not a problem.

Thanks Yankee Tim, it seems like I'm gonna wait even if I did'nt want to . All Calmini's lift kits are on back order. Tell your friend I am interested and want first dibs if he goes that route. I'd  definitely rather by used, and waiting is not a problem.

Will do.  I'll keep you abreast (and a wing and a thigh, if ya want).

  Actually, I'm an assman, as opposed to asshole which I'm sometimes confused with. Thanks