that is a good point beercheck however in the past there were a couple posts in which somebody had compared their stock and calmini arms and posted the difference to be maybe a 1/4inch if i recall correctly..  it just seems that most people buying these lifts are experiencing a variety of issues with them to me..  just a personal opinion.

Yes, I definitely agree that a lift "kit" that is advertised on their own website as "a suspension system, not just a lift kit" should be complete, tuned, and have all the kinks ironed out. Obviously this is far from the case.

I think the tie rod ends are a good idea, they are noticeably larger and beefier than stock. Never a bad thing when you're going from a 26" pizza cutter to a meaty 31x10.5. Everyone beefs up their drivetrain, but I don't think steering should be overlooked either.

I'm pretty sure the A-arms aren't really meant to increase the track width by an awful lot. I think their main purpose is to make sure the spring is seated properly and not curved like crazy like if you would use a longer spring on the stock a-arm.

I can't really confirm if the struts ARE actually crap. I think if the springs were a proper length to begin with, the struts probably would have been fine. ANY strut would have pulled apart under these circumstances.

And no, that is not Calvin peeing on the truck! haha, it's my dad, standing beside the picture to give some proportion to it. Gotta let the old guys feel important still eh...


I put the truck all back together now, got my big tires on again. Rolled it out of the garage without insurance and it drives pretty nice in the cul-de-sac. Insurance is going on it Tuesday night, alignement Wednesday morning. Bush camping Friday/Saturday. YEE HAW!

I'm pretty sure the A-arms aren't really meant to increase the track width by an awful lot. I think their main purpose is to make sure the spring is seated properly and not curved like crazy like if you would use a longer spring on the stock a-arm.

The control arms aren't meant to increase the track at all - but rather to correct the track and camber changes that result from lifting the vehicle.

Our exclusive longer control arms increase wheel travel, and maintain proper track width and wheel alignment

Part of the problem that leads to kits such as these receiving perhaps undeserved negative comments is folks not having a clear understanding of what's involved in lifting (or lowering) a vehicle.

i mistyped...  maintain track width, not increase it, the control arms still do not do this.  i'm not trying to start a bunch of shard here at all, just noticed over the years that most people have a few issues with their calmini kits...

just noticed over the years that most people have a few issues with their calmini kits...

Over the years, I've noticed that most people have issues with every lift kit.

Well, here is my official report.

At a glance you can't even tell that the truck is raked, especially with the larger tires. On road, the truck drives great even without the swaybar. Body roll is not even that bad compared to my old Sidekick with its super spongy springs. Once you hit the rougher gravel it can be a little jarring with 35 psi in the tires, but aired down to 20 or so you will be all right. On the trail it works good, I had it flexed out and it seems to do what it's supposed to do. It sure is noisy though. Lots of spring creaking and groaning, and I guess with my body lift as the frame flexes it creaks a bit too. I just wish the rear e-brake cables were longer. Even with my modified mounts they are still VERY close to full extension when the rear wheels drop down.

Oh and another thing to keep an eye on...the hub bolts! I don't know if this is a problem with mud tires vibrating things too much, or bouncing up and down trying to get over obstacles, or if my bolts just weren't tight enough, but I was driving down the road about 10km from the trail and as I was going around a corner around 80km/h all of a sudden I see my Superwinch manual hub fly out into the field on the side of the road! I didn't find it back either.

I now have about 500 km on these new struts with the chopped springs, so far so good.

sucks about the hub, think ur supposed to put some locktite on them things..?  have any pics of the vitara with the bigger tires and flexed out?

jump up to a 10.9 or 12.9 metric allen cap bolts, and lock washers and torque the snot out of them.  This happens alot when not using the factory cone washers.  You can also machine out the bolt holes to use the cone washers, or swap on Kicker hubs with cone washers (which might be the best route since your already down a hub)

just switch to the tracker cone washer hubs, thats what i did, works great..........

UPDATE : Well, it's been a fun summer since I chopped the coils down and installed the Monroe struts, but...my struts are blown AGAIN!

My extended review is that I still need more down-travel. Driving down gravel roads and dropping the front wheels into potholes will max out the suspension droop and result in a loud thud. Even on slow-speed rock crawling trails, driving over babyheads at any more than a 1st gear (4.24:1 t-case) crawl will also result in this same topping out of the front struts as I drop off the backside of the rock.

I ordered another set of Monroes, since other than the topping out problem, they worked great. I also ordered a set of Boondox Motorsports 2" strut extensions but they haven't given me a tracking number yet so I have no idea where they are at. I am hoping with the extensions, my topping out problems will be completely resolved...although I still find it wierd how nobody else on this forum has this problem.

THE SHOCKS CALMINI SENDS YOU ARE NOT LONG ENOUGH FOR THE LIFT. PUT A SET OF OLD MAN EMU STRUTS  IN. THEY ARE ABOUT 1 INCH LONGER AND WORK WAY BETTER. I RUN A CALMINI LIFT AND A SKY BODY LIFT AND OLD MAN EMU STRUTS AND 33 INCH PITBULLS AND IT WORKS GOOD. WHEN I SET IT UP WITH THE CALMINI STRUTS IT BOUND UP AND WON'T BOUNCE ON THE STREET AND BLEW THEM APART OFF ROAD.

hey olija, i would strongly suggest that you cancel your boondox order, i have had terrible experiences with the service more than once, thought i'd give him a 2nd try, bad idea.  these extensions will be way long for your setup, when i replaced my struts that had the boondox extensions i replaced them with the extensions from bits4vits, they are of much better finished quality, they screwed onto the strut without sanding/grinding/heating like most experience with the bds extensions from boondox.  the bits4vits extensions are also about an inch shorter and would likely be a better choice for the longevity of your front end. 

I'm not interested in spending $300+ on OME right now, specially since I already have the new struts at my house. The thought crossed my mind, though.

I am in the process of cancelling my order with Boondox, seeing as they didn't respond to my email a few days ago requesting a tracking number on my order. I phoned my local 4x4 store today armed with a BDS part number given to me by "sir lance" here and they will have my extensions in tomorrow afternoon, meaning if all goes according to plan, I should have the truck all back together by Saturday, aligned early next week, then off to Alberta, and then down to Power Fest in Oregon!

I also thought the extensions might allow too much down travel, but I really am in a time crunch right now and I don't feel like waiting for parts to ship from the UK. If there is too much droop, I'll have to rig up some sort of limiting strap.

or, put your swaybar back on for a temp measure.....you will be mad if you go all the way to Oregon only to blow up a cv due to over drop, just be sure to have a look in the driveway before you leave lol

ps: glad the number worked out for you, without it, they just look at you like you have 2 heads, Bobby was the only one who knew what i was talking about when i would call up, but she no longer works there.

for future reference i had my box of parts from the uk in 5 days, the guy runs a post office so my stuff was shipped before i'd even paid for it!  i agree that reinstalling the swaybar might be a good idea for now.