thats nearly 11" of travel for you, 10" for me and around 8" for GR_Vit and CJ. Zukipilot is the winner  

I've got my axle rotated, and when I relocated my lower mount, I place it where the coil springs fully compress barely before the shock bottoms out (to close actually I blew out my first set ), I also have 33x12.50's on steel wheel hanging from the suspension . I'll try and remember to remeasure before I install the 9000's.
Zig

for everyone having trouble with the calmini 3" lift kit on the SWB Vitara being too stiff in the back:
Jeep Wrangler TJ front struts are exactly the same length as the rear shocks and with the same mounts, but they ride much much much better. also if you can find Lada Samara springs... same length, less stiff
i've had the lift kit for about a year now and the ride was pretty bad (in fact the roads in my country are kinda shitty, which made it much worse), but with the tj shocks, oh my god, i love my car again

for everyone having trouble with the calmini 3" lift kit on the SWB Vitara being too stiff in the back:
Jeep Wrangler TJ front struts are exactly the same length as the rear shocks and with the same mounts, but they ride much better. also if you can find Lada Samara springs... same length, less stiff
i've had the lift kit for about a year now and the ride was pretty bad (in fact the roads in my country are kinda shitty, which made it much worse), but with the tj shocks, oh my god, i love my car again

Could you measure from the centre of the hub to the top of the wheel arch? Ã?'d like to know how much the Lada springs lift it. Do you know how long the springs are?

sorry for a late reply
i will measure as you said. until i measure i can tell you these springs are a little longer than the calmini ones, but once put on the car and after 2 days, it is lower by about 1/2 centimeters, really not noticeable

Thanks, the Samara isn't common here but they are around. I don't want to waste time and money hunting for them if they aren't what i'm after. Are the TJ shocks you used just the standard Factory ones?

for everyone having trouble with the calmini 3" lift kit on the SWB Vitara being too stiff in the back:
Jeep Wrangler TJ front struts are exactly the same length as the rear shocks and with the same mounts, but they ride much much much better. also if you can find Lada Samara springs... same length, less stiff
i've had the lift kit for about a year now and the ride was pretty bad (in fact the roads in my country are kinda shitty, which made it much worse), but with the tj shocks, oh my god, i love my car again

Do the springs ever bind?  Mine do and Calmini said I should get some better gas shocks to help it.  As far as I know the spring would need to be stiffer not the shock.

Thanks, the Samara isn't common here but they are around. I don't want to waste time and money hunting for them if they aren't what i'm after. Are the TJ shocks you used just the standard Factory ones?

yep. standard factory ones that came off a stock TJ. i have to say it again: huge improvement. feels like a stock vitara now. nice n responsive so you know what the terrain is like under you, but comfy at the same time.
LE: you might get away only with the shocks. i first replaced the springs and the improvement was minimal. so i suggest you first look for TJ front shocks, bcause i think that's all yuo need really... but should you ever tear one of those springs (highly unlikely) the samara ones can be used

Do the springs ever bind?  Mine do and Calmini said I should get some better gas shocks to help it.  As far as I know the spring would need to be stiffer not the shock.

sorry, i'm not sure what you mean by "springs binding". if you mean "do they limit the travel due to the fact that they have many turns in them and they touch", i really couldn't say if it's hitting the bumpstops because the front is pretty limited anyway. i'll have to check that specifically.
anyway, most flex is in the rear, and they don't bind there (the samara springs are very similar in the number of turns with the ones in the kit)... the kit is very well designed in that area
also, do you mean the spring should be stiffer THAN the shock? don't know if you can compare them like that... the shock is stiffer/softer due to the valves which decide how much volume of fluid can pass on impact. the bigger the volume, the softer the shock. springs, on the other hand, are stiff/soft due to the material used, cross-section...

Thanks for the reply. I have actually killed a Calmini rear spring due to coil bind which is why I'm interested in your Samara solution particularly if the ride improves. Coil bind is when the springs have fully compressed so that the coils are touching. It will eventually kill the spring. The Calmini springs can do this but bumpstop extensions would prevent it from happening.

If you ever get a chance could you count the number of coils including part coils of the Samara springs and measure the diameter of the coil wire and the outside diameter of the coil as I would like to do a rough spring rate calculation to see how they compare to the Calmini springs? Do you have any pics of the springs at all before you fitted them?

I'd still like to know the distance from the centre of the hub to the top of the rear wheelarch if possible as I've now fitted my Calmini kit to a 2.0 swb Sport kick and need to do a bit of fine tuning so all the info is a great help 

didn't know it kills the springs... guess it's because binding is after their normal compression limit... but the calmini spring looks beefy the samara ones... not so beefy. i might miss the original ones if i break one of these (even though i paid only 40$ for a pair of samara springs)

sure thing. i'll get a caliper and measure and count the coils
in the meantime you can see the build here: http://suzukidojo.blogspot.com/2008/04/mrjvcea-mai-frumoasa-vitara.html
will take some extra pics soon
blog owners are the guys with the shop. they make all kinds of stuff

ok so i managed to measure the height between the hub and the top of the wheel arch: 54cm or 21.26"
the samara spring.... i couldn't accurately measure it but it's about 12cm in ext. diameter and about 1.2cm the diam. of the coil
but i dont recommend it anymore ) the paint is chipping off it where it sits in the upper mount. i'm wondering how long they will last. maybe i'll get new ones from calmini

Sometimes it is amazing how cool that blue hardware looks under the Vitara. 

got a caliper finally. the coil is 1.2cm in diameter, it has 2cm between the coils
i have a question for calmini 3" lift kit owners with SWB (short wheel base) vitaras:
how is the rear axle caster? is it like the stock vitara (about 9 degrees)?
i'm having trouble adjusting it, the prop shaft is at a wierd angle and it vibrates...

nvm, i got the caster to about 14 deg. and no more vibration