Hello All .

I'm a new member in this forum  , I own SideKick 1997 with lot of improvement for Off-Road .

I want to replace my OME front shocks  with something more aggressive ( the OME is to soft together with my Eibach Springs ) - for serious off road.

The problem that as far as I know only calmini and OME offer inches more length then stock front shocks and You need to add a spacer onder it (they are shorter then OME for lifted Sodekick ).

Because calmini doesn't sale only the shocks (and I don't need all the kit ) - I'm "stuck" only with OME (thay are great but I'm looking for something more pro for off-road ) .

As a rear shocks I have rancho 9000 with the kit that I'm able to control them from the inside of the car .

anyway can You please advice for a front shocks and where can I buy them in the internet .

Thanks

Ps: what is the length of the OME front shocks Closed / open compare to calmini and original shocks .


10x

Hey Hitrick,

I don't have a direct answer to your question, I think you're spot on with your thoughts. But your Vit looks very familiar to me, aren't you the dutch guy I spoke to at the International Suzuki event in Saverne France? I don't recall directly if you had a roof rack though.....
But either way, welcome aboard and if you've found other ones let me know, I want my vit to be softer in the front.
Oh BTW there is a company in Germany that sells a exact copy of the calmini kit (Turkish made) and they do sell all the parts seperately, here's the link: www.hillbilly-engineering.com maybe you could give\ them a trie. I've ordered a prototype of strengthnd CV's there 
Cheers and nice vit! 

The Calmini struts are the same length as the stock struts. If you want stiffer shocks then maybe you can source some heavy duty aftermarket items. The spacer that Calmini (and others) use increases the effective length of the shock, in its stock configuration it doesn't use all its travel. An alternative would be to add an extra shock in tandem with the stock strut. Do a search for posts by ed. I don't know what sort of offroading you do but the Calmini and OME struts are usually stiff enough.
OME stuts are about 40mm (aroun 1 1/2") longer than stock/calmini. Calmini add a 2" spacer that gives them around 1/2" more travel than OME (excuse the mixed measurements). Check out the recent thread regarding camber too.

Sorry to hijack the thread Hitrick

Ed let us know how you get on with the strengthened CVs please - are they on their website?

Thanks

Nick

Nick I'll let you all know, how the install will go and how they'll perform 
Oh an Hitrick, I'll see if I can get the pic's of that thread here of the extra shock's I had up front, or else a link to the thread 

Thank You Ed ,

I don't think You know me , I'm from Israel(You can see it from my poor english :-) )   and never beed in France (not yet anyway) .

about the site You gave me , I saw it b4 - but the prices there are in Euro for me anyway it's much expensive then USD - some time twice and more then  in the USA .

1 EUR in NIS (new Israely Shekel ) is ~ 5.5
1 USD in NIS is ~4.5 .
take for example  the LOCKRIGHT that cost in <http://www.hillbilly-engineering.com/html/vitara.html>  349EUR , in the USA I can buy it in 200-250$ .

anyway I found that Europe is very expensive in almost everything compare to the US - for Example check the GPS prices .

Do You know how the quality of the Turkish made "calmini" parts ?
maybe I will buy it from Turki directly ( they sell it in Instanbul ) .

About Your Vitara . what kind/brand of springs You have ?

Hey Hitrick,

I don't have a direct answer to your question, I think you're spot on with your thoughts. But your Vit looks very familiar to me, aren't you the dutch guy I spoke to at the International Suzuki event in Saverne France? I don't recall directly if you had a roof rack though.....
But either way, welcome aboard and if you've found other ones let me know, I want my vit to be softer in the front.
Oh BTW there is a company in Germany that sells a exact copy of the calmini kit (Turkish made) and they do sell all the parts seperately, here's the link: www.hillbilly-engineering.com maybe you could give\ them a trie. I've ordered a prototype of strengthnd CV's there 
Cheers and nice vit! 

Thank You Ed ,

I don't think You know me , I'm from Israel(You can see it from my poor english :-) )   and never beed in France (not yet anyway) .

about the site You gave me , I saw it b4 - but the prices there are in Euro for me anyway it's much expensive then USD - some time twice and more then  in the USA .

1 EUR in NIS (new Israely Shekel ) is ~ 5.5
1 USD in NIS is ~4.5 .
take for example  the LOCKRIGHT that cost in <http://www.hillbilly-engineering.com/html/vitara.html>  349EUR , in the USA I can buy it in 200-250$ .

anyway I found that Europe is very expensive in almost everything compare to the US - for Example check the GPS prices .

Do You know how the quality of the Turkish made "calmini" parts ?
maybe I will buy it from Turki directly ( they sell it in Instanbul ) .

About Your Vitara . what kind/brand of springs You have ?

OKay then I had some one else in mind. I know europe is very expensive but if I buy something in the USA and import it it'll cost more  :'(. I don't really know about the quality as I have a second hand Pro comp suspension lift ('bout 3"). It also has spacers on the struts and there's an ability to mount another shock to 'm. Like I said I'll try to find the pic's but I'm not able to do so now because I'm at work 

The Calmini struts are the same length as the stock struts. If you want stiffer shocks then maybe you can source some heavy duty aftermarket items. The spacer that Calmini (and others) use increases the effective length of the shock, in its stock configuration it doesn't use all its travel. An alternative would be to add an extra shock in tandem with the stock strut. Do a search for posts by ed. I don't know what sort of offroading you do but the Calmini and OME struts are usually stiff enough.
OME stuts are about 40mm (aroun 1 1/2") longer than stock/calmini. Calmini add a 2" spacer that gives them around 1/2" more travel than OME (excuse the mixed measurements). Check out the recent thread regarding camber too.

Hello Rhinoman  ,
I didn't know that the stock  struts ( what is the differance in English between shocks and struts ?)
are the same length as the Calmini 3" set front struts .  so They only add a 2" spacer  ?

and I didn't understand something that You said :  how can it be that calmini struts has more travel then OME after 2" spacer ?? as far as I know  spacer doesn't add nothing to the travel of the shock .

Because, stock struts have 2" of travel that is unused, so if you add a spacer or flip the upper mounting you gain travel  the differences between shocks and struts is that a strut holds your wheel also straight, so basically you have a strut in the front and a shock in the rear 

Great to know , 10x . I learned something today 

and about the shock travel -
I measure  shocks travel  like this : Open max- Closed max  = Travel .

If You put spacer it doesn't change the travel of the shock .
I agree that The wheel after spacer  will be able to open more , the only thing that is vital is to check when the wheel is closed to the MAX that what stops it is the bump-stop and not the shock (due to the spacer ) .

Hi Ed

You have 33 12.5 R15 tires ?  whaawww

how you were able to install whem ? only due to the body lift ?

ps: I have only 235 75 15

Hi Ed

You have 33 12.5 R15 tires ?  whaawww

how you were able to install whem ? only due to the body lift ?

ps: I have only 235 75 15

I do, I have 3" susp lift and 3" body. without the susp lift I had 30" tyres  , It looks cool but gearing sucks real bad. I'm gonna mount a sammy t-case instead of my vit's that'll the next project I think 

Hitrick
off roading in Israel looks so cool.
there's a fella from Israel posts on difflock http://forum.difflock.com/discus/messages/6/110171.html?1126046742

looks like he knows how to enjoy his weekends!

Regards

Nick

Hi Nike ,

yes it is , and Israel is a very small country . every one know each other .