Calmini 3" lift kit - UK equivalent?

[andyrew]

Dont know if he still has them but mike was selling some lift springs on here recently.

[mike harris]

I have some cheap lift springs

Rears up front works well then leave your lift shackles on the back

Make sure springs you use are good though and not flat lol !

[ScottieJ]

Scott what was your gripe about shackle reverse again? Was it just the axle moving backwards under compression? I like the idea of trailing stings, spot on castor and a 2" lift in one hit and with the careful tyre choice and the right bump stops the possibility of bulkhead fouling issue could be eliminated, correct? The Calmini kit with the brace looked pretty good to me.

It's not just the issue of the tyres fowling the bulkhead if you want to run decent size tyres, however that's something that will be an issue unless you really limit up travel and that's not a good thing, it will lead to an unstable vehicle.

You also get increased brake dive and the front doesn't like to climb obstacles as well as than it does with the shackles up front.

During droop travel it also leads to bad pinion angles and increases the likely hood of the UJs binding because the pinion of the diff drops.

I still think you should at least try some stock shackles with your current set up to see if they do clear. It will fix your caster angle and as long as the tyres clear you don't have to worry about how much space there is in the arch. More visual space doesn't really matter, being lower increases stability and not having the shackles hanging down and digging into the middle of ruts will make it perform better.

That way you should get rid of your funky handling straight away and then you can add lift springs later on.

If set up correctly you should be able to run 31x10.50 tyres on 2" lift springs once the bulkhead seam is flattened and the bumpstops are correctly set up, if you are running the right wheel offset on some 7-8" wide wheels.

[ScottieJ]

Also remember that wide wheels ( are they 10"?) and tyres like yours won't really help with regards to bump steer, especially if you don't have power steering. They like to tramline and the increased offset and backspacing increases the scrub radius.

My Sj used to suck when I had no power steering, 2" lift springs and 31x11.50s on 15x10 wheels.

Once the power steering was on it made a huge difference as I was no longer fighting it as much both on and off road. Personally I won't run an Sj without power steering any more, espiecially off-road.

[buzzuki]

Dont know if he still has them but mike was selling some lift springs on here recently.

He's too far mate or I would've had them AND that 410 he was virtually giving away too! Why live in Hampshire? Bloody inconsiderate really.

I have some cheap lift springs

Rears up front works well then leave your lift shackles on the back

Make sure springs you use are good though and not flat lol !

Talk of the devil.. tbh I think my springs are pretty flat, if I end up using stock springs I'll get some new ones

Also remember that wide wheels ( are they 10"?) and tyres like yours won't really help with regards to bump steer, especially if you don't have power steering. They like to tramline and the increased offset and backspacing increases the scrub radius.

My Sj used to suck when I had no power steering, 2" lift springs and 31x11.50s on 15x10 wheels.

Once the power steering was on it made a huge difference as I was no longer fighting it as much both on and off road. Personally I won't run an Sj without power steering any more, espiecially off-road.

Power steering is for hairdressers and I like the feedback proper steering gives me (that's actually a lie I just cba to fit it) and I don't know how wide my rims are but in case you didn't notice they're just Suzuki wide boy alloys that have been stoved in black gloss so maybe you can tell me lol.

You mention the UJs.. surely with shackle reversal tho the front diff would rotate forward lessening the angle on the UJ wouldn't it or am I missing the point..?

As for tyres I actually had 31/10.5x15 MT on 10x8 that you mentioned on one of my 90s years ago and loved them but I wouldn't want those on an SJ I just want relatively narrrow MTs that can dig out of ruts and plenty of clearance around them for those bounces in unexpected ruts, I don't do much boulder clambering nowadays it's mostly laning and fen exploration and laughing at Discovery drivers.

[ROBBIE]

I ran insa turbo special tracks 195/15, somewhere between 29-30" tall, with reverse shackle and add a leaf springs. On compression the tyre would move into the bulkhead, bit of work with the hammer problem sorted

[ScottieJ]

The spring rotates slightly around the fixed end as the shackle allows the spring to move up and down. This causes the diff nose/pinion to drop during droop and lift during compression. The opposite to what you want really.

Personally I think 10-10.5" wide tyre is perfect for an SJ, it gives a nice balance of ground pressure so that you get plenty of traction yet you don't sink so much that you end up grounded on the diffs.

When I referred to climbing obstacles that also accounts for climbing
out of ruts etc.

As for bounces if your bumpstops are set up correctly then your tyres shouldn't ever hit your arches even if at full compression you have mms of clearance around the tyre.

I'm just trying to offer my advice from my experience of what works well on Sj's. I've been driving and building them for a long time so have experienced many different set ups. At the end of the day it's up to you what you want to do but personally I wouldn't waste money on a calmini kit. It's a lot of money for something that doesn't perform as well as cheaper set ups.

[ScottieJ]

I ran insa turbo special tracks 195/15, somewhere between 29-30" tall, with reverse shackle and add a leaf springs. On compression the tyre would move into the bulkhead, bit of work with the hammer problem sorted

That's a pretty small tyre really to have clearance issues with lift though. They should clear on standard suspension.

[buzzuki]

Make sure springs you use are good though and not flat lol !

Thought of you while I was out today so took this (pic) so there's your answer lol

I ran insa turbo special tracks 195/15, somewhere between 29-30" tall, with reverse shackle and add a leaf springs. On compression the tyre would move into the bulkhead, bit of work with the hammer problem sorted

Yes great tyres I had them on my last Ninety they worked very well on mud, it sounded like there was a Spitfire flying behind you on the road though! I'm not sure what I'll end up with on the SJ really it'll probably come down to what's about and if I can get a deal, I tend to just drive around what I've got tbh cos the terrain I use varies so much anyway..

The spring rotates slightly around the fixed end as the shackle allows the spring to move up and down. This causes the diff nose/pinion to drop during droop and lift during compression. The opposite to what you want really.

Personally I think 10-10.5" wide tyre is perfect for an SJ, it gives a nice balance of ground pressure so that you get plenty of traction yet you don't sink so much that you end up grounded on the diffs.

When I referred to climbing obstacles that also accounts for climbing
out of ruts etc.

As for bounces if your bumpstops are set up correctly then your tyres shouldn't ever hit your arches even if at full compression you have mms of clearance around the tyre.

I'm just trying to offer my advice from my experience of what works well on Sj's. I've been driving and building them for a long time so have experienced many different set ups. At the end of the day it's up to you what you want to do but personally I wouldn't waste money on a calmini kit. It's a lot of money for something that doesn't perform as well as cheaper set ups.

No it's your experience I want mate I'm sorry if I come across as argumentative or a know it all I don't mean to be, all my off road (building, mods, tech) experience has been on LR products not Suzuki, I have owned a couple of other SJs and a Jimny over the years but only ever bolted on what I've seen other people bolting on the smaller 4x4s are a different animal entirely (one reason I jumped ship) and I'm genuinely very grateful for all your advice

I'm now wondering what mud tyres I can fit on my Suzuki rims as I've decided I like the look which, as they're wide may mean more lift than I thought OR incorporate a body lift. There really is a lot of choices with these things aren't there! I'm also wondering how much lift (from where mine is with the flat springs) I would get with new stock springs, without stock wheels or shackles don't even know where I'm starting from!

[ScottieJ]

It's all good bud, just trying to save you money in the long run Your springs actually look pretty healthy, there's never much arch on Standard fronts.

There's not really any off-road tyres that will fit and work well on your wheels if they are 10" wide, any off-road tyres less than 12.5" will have issues holding its bead off-road and you'll end up with loads of crap in the beads..... it used to happen to me with 31x11.50s on 15x10s all the time

What height tyres do you ideally want to run?