For Mr. Hagen or anyone whos done this mod. I've come into a set of Calmini control arms and after dropping one in for mockup the first thing I noticed was the coil making a pretty severe twist forward at the lower pocket. This being mounted in the modified "hagen" position. I've read a few posts re calmini with the widening mod and all seem to agree it works.
After I did the widening, I modified my stock control arm coil pockets and the coils were much straighter. Did all you guys who did the widening mod with Calmin arms just twist the coil to fit and leave it at that? Also, since the Calmini arms are longer don't they effectively widen the front track by nature of there design? wouldn' this make it more like 2.5" wider than stock each side?  Thanks

Anyone? Mike Hagen?  Bueller, ?

  Sorry for the delay. I work on my dads farm on wed and thurs. I usually work a 12 hour shift on Friday so there are several days in a row I dont get online.

  When you say the coil is bent forward do you mean outward or tward the front of the vehicle? Can you post a picture so I can see what you mean? To be honest I havent done it that way in a while. Its been several years since I have done one that way so forgive me if Im a little slow. I do know the coils were not exactly straight. Ive got to admit though, I never had a problem with coil spring fatiuge. Ive been mounting the control arm in the stock location and spacing the balljoint out and forward as needed. Yes that does require some welding but it keeps the coil straighter. The reason I changed the way I did it was because of how rusted the bolts were at the control arm and the frame.  I think its easier as well.

Hey thanks Mike, no worries about the delay, we all gotta work  Yes , I mean the coil twists forward toward the front of the vehicle at the bottom where it sits in the control arm. With my stock control arms I modified the coil pocket to lower the inside of the coil ( side twards the engine ) to straighten the vertical placement of the coil. The rear to front bending of the coil wasn't much of an issue so I left it alone.
I want to mount the calmini arms in the stock location to keep the coil straight at the bottom front to rear, modify the coil pocket to make the coil sit straighter in the vertical,  but still use my widening parts, stub shaft and ds axle. I want to relocate the ball joint on the Calmini arms forward and out to accomplish this, which doesn't look too difficult.
My question is this: If the Calmini arms already set the ball joint mount out further due to their being longer, Couldn't I just move the ball joint mount forward 1.5"  while leaving the control arm mounting in the stock position and still be able to use my stub shaft and ds axle? I need to do some more measurements with the axle and knuckle in place to be sure i guess. Thanks Mike, appreciate the response. Mike

When I drill the lower balljoint holes I start with the furthest inner hole. Before drilling the outer holes, I tighten the bolt and assemble the suspension without the coils. Keep in mind that an easy way to check tolerances is to assemble the suspension without the coils. Then you can cycle the suspension easily while watching all of your Cv depths+angles, bumpstops, and fender clearance. Another thing to note is that the inner cv cups go in and out a little when you turn the steering from lock to lock. When doing this and checking for fender clearance leave an extra inch because bushings will flex a little. This way I can move the balljoint forward or rearward with the tap of a hammer. Once I have it figured it out I mark the holes and drill.

Mike

My question is this: If the Calmini arms already set the ball joint mount out further due to their being longer, Couldn't I just move the ball joint mount forward 1.5"  while leaving the control arm mounting in the stock position and still be able to use my stub shaft and ds axle? I need to do some more measurements with the axle and knuckle in place to be sure i guess. Thanks Mike, appreciate the response. Mike

Im sorry but I dont know the answer to this question. Its just been too long since Ive done this to remember.

Thanks for the info Mike. I've begun the mods to the Calmini arms, so I think it's time to move this over to Modification/performance  forum. With pics.

Maybe this article from the "Travel & How-To Archives" could help out? It definitely has been a long time (8 years) since this article.

http://www.zukiworld.com/month_120102/feature_hagan_frontendmod.htm

-Eric

Thanks Eric, appreciate that. But ,  I've already done those mods to my front and rear, about 5 years ago  lol!  This question was specificly referring to modifying Calmini control arms to eliminate the need for the relocation of the rear control arm mount. Anyway got it figured out ( mostly, as with any custom app one thing leads to another. )

Just a memory jog... not specific info.

-Eric

Just a memory jog... not specific info.

-Eric

Gotcha