Hi All,

I'm looking to do a suspension lift on my '98 Sidekick 4-Door. I'm looking at either the 3" kit from Calmini, or the 2.5" kit from Rocky Road. I've been reading everything I can find on the two. Both kits sound good in some ways, and maybe not-so-good in others.

The Rocky Road kit replaces all the springs with ones from Old Man Emu, and also replaces struts and shocks, and adds coil spacers. It sounds like installation is easy, and they have different spring rates for 2-door vs. 4-door, which is nice. What worries me is: since this kit doesn't drop the front differential, does this kit put a lot of extra stress on the CV joints? Enough to reduce their reliability?  

The Calmini kit sounds nice, although installation is more involved. They only offer one spring rate, and lots of people say that the ride is stiff. On the other hand, most people run 2-doors, not the heavier 4-door. What would the ride be like on a 4-door? This vehicle is a daily driver as well as a trail/fun vehicle.

Also, the Calmini kit drops the differential a bit, which should be good for the CV joints. Are there any bad side-effects from changing the geometry of the front driveshaft/differential assemly?

Thanks for any advice. - Rob

I wouldnt like to say but i run the 3 inch calmini on my 2 door softop kick/ukvit.

Yes was stiff while it bedded in, but soon as the winch bumper and anything else i could bolt on was installed the ride is now nice,

I have installed spring spacers on top of my kit and i use procomp shocks as my calmini kit has gone a bit soft with the extra weight,

I like the calmini kit as like you say it drops the front axle, A arms are solid along with the rear setup , I have doubled the travel on my rear suspension and i will tinker with the front some more.   with different springs and struts taking into account the cv joints.

my pennies worth

iv'e run both on my lwb vitara.
on the whole i prefer the calmini set up, though it is still a bit hard on the rear end.
the calmini kit gives far more articulation than the 2.5 rocky road set up, though the 2.5 set up was a softer ride on road.
depends on what you plan to do really. more road miles then in my mind rocky road, but for in the rough calmini every time.
mind you i have now stuck the rocky road spacers on the top of my springs to give 4" of lift.
so that has changed the ride anyway.

I am really prejudiced.  I haven't tried the Rocky Road setup.  But yeah, the RRO setup will increase your CV angles, and therefore, it will increase your chances of breaking a CV.  That's simple reality.  However, once you get a set of replacement axles...  And become proficient at swapping them on the trail...  The RRO setup could be cheaper until you get tired of replacing axles.  Fortunately, NAPA has lifetime warranty on their axles - if you can find them in stock.

RRO is a cheaper approach.  You get what you pay for.

for off road the calmini is by far the best option. more durable, more flex, more lift for tires, u can adjust ur rear pinion angel, and the Hime joint is far superior to the stock wishbone joint. it is stiffer however if u run a four door the spring rate is very close to ur stock spring rate. i don't think for 4.5" Rock-Steady Combo System for $729 from rocky road can come close to CALMINI 3" SUPER ARTICULATION SYSTEM &  6" COMBO SYSTEM for $949.95 from calmini. actually if it was me i would use the calmini suspension and the rocky-road body lift and coil spacers and get 6 1/8" of lift. good luck on ur decision

i dont have eighter one. i built my own body lift. 3in of course.  found some jeep coils that would work for the rearbuilt my own rear dif. drop bracket. 3in of course. bought new rear shocks ( longer).for the front i fond some longer coils that fit (2in taller). and made my own strut spacer (2in taller). costa heck of alot cheaper and havent had any problems yet.  ......... if you want i am starting to make my  and sell those spacers front and rear as a kit. cost $120.00 i have pictures in this forum. if you want to see them look for testing spacers front and rear  i think it is on the second page now. i posted it a couple of days ago.

I own both Calmini Suspension Kits (2" and 3") and have been running them for years with no trouble out of either one. They are great quailty kits that I'm shre you would be happy with.

Zig

Well, I could be the Calmini Poster Child...

Well, I could be the Calmini Poster Child...

http://www.puresuzuki.com/2_lift_kit.htm  

http://www.puresuzuki.com/2_lift_kit.htm  

Yeah, yeah, Zig, you ARE a Calmini Poster Child.  The main reason I'm not, is probably because I give Kramer so much crap!  Well, I figure I've BOUGHT the right to!

I spent $3,000 on my rig, and over $6,000 on Calmini upgrades!

Yeah, yeah, Zig, you ARE a Calmini Poster Child.  The main reason I'm not, is probably because I give Kramer so much crap!  Well, I figure I've BOUGHT the right to!

I spent $3,000 on my rig, and over $6,000 on Calmini upgrades!

I've never added mine up, I dont think I would want to The crazy part is somebody I did not even know took that pic and sent it to me I did not even know it was being taken and is still one of my favoriate pics today.

Zig

Yeah (this is my 1,000th post!) Heather took a bunch of pics of my rig at Moab - including all the Lion's Back pics.  That was amazing!

Hi,

I want to thank everyone who replied to my posting- there was a lot of good info! I put in an order for the 3" Calmini kit yesterday. It looks like it should show up in about a month. Can't wait!   - Robert