I am exploring my options with a shackle reverse and was wondering if the CALMINI kit is worth the installation or should I go another route. I am considering fabricating my own s/r but asking for your opinions. I should add that my rear springs will be the new fronts. Thanks

I chose not to go with the reversal because of the decreased approach angle. It would be like having a 10" shackle hanging down and catching all the rocks along the way.


I like my spring over. It rides mainly because of the DT shocks. And it still flexes great.


my $.02

oops almost forgot Welcome Newbie :flipoff2: :flipoff2: :flipoff2:

I have the scissor style shackles on the frnt alow a hell of alot of droop but I'm fashioning a S/R similiar to scwfish extending the fraim rails outward and mounting the Wrangler springs up high
and also going to put my scissor shackle on the rear of the front springs to retain the extension home brew it you wont regret it:smokin: :D

I recently went to the shackle reversal with YJ's up front. Frankly I liked my old set up with rear springs up front with missing links better. It flexed every bit as good and actually allowed less lateral play in the axles (at least it fealt that way on the road). I kinda wish I would have went with OME springs to fit the 33's and left the rest alone.

I don't know anything about the Calmini kit, but I would say save your money. That's my $0.02

I ran a Calmini S/R kit SPOA through the 'Con and Fordyce Creek trail and didn't hit it once. I didn't think I had enough flex in the front as compaired to the CSC YJ rear, so I removed the Calmini S/R and went with the TT front YJ kit for more flex. This is not my daily driver anymore so on road manners don't matter as much. Driving on the road is much more stable with a S/R kit as compaired to stock(if your rig is a daily driver). I'm thinking of selling my Calmini S/R if your intrerested.:smokin:

I ran the Calmini S/R for a couple of years... it really improved on-road handling, but really sucked for articulation. My M/L's hit just as much as the S/R 'fangs' did, but I would rather have the articulation. I guess it's all in what you want to use your rig for.

I bought a used 2" calmini shackle reverse and love it. Its much better ride on road as it is my daily driver. I have not done much rock crawling so i can't say how it will preform on them. I do more running in the mud. The reason i bought it was it was cheap and easy to install and will allow 30x9.5 later. Want to try one look for a used one on here or the bbs

:roxy:LUBS DA ZUK:roxy:

A friend has the calmini SR with stock springs in SPOA with rear opening shackles, and he could easily park on top of a 33" tire and oftem went up my 35's or boses 38's with the left rear coming up a little, in front of the shop we worked at(sorry we didnt have a RTI ramp :p

save you money, If you cant weld, get longer springs on and get the missing links and you'll be happy!

G'day folks,

this is my first post from AUSTRALIA.

I noticed the Shackle Reverse topic and all this talk about Calmini, blah blah blah, but has anyone seen or heard the canyon state components shackle revers kit in action.


http://www.asianautopartsofaz.com sells this kit under their suzuki/suspension section. Give Dave from AAPA an email for more info.

this is my kit of choice and I hope to have it here in Australia and installed in the upcoming months.

there have been a number of review, one being from a site you should be very familiar with. www.off-road.com

here's the review:
http://www.off-road.com/suzuki/reviews/cssuspension.htm



hope this helps some of you out.

Originally posted by J.D.
I am exploring my options with a shackle reverse and was wondering if the CALMINI kit is worth the installation or should I go another route. I am considering fabricating my own s/r but asking for your opinions. I should add that my rear springs will be the new fronts. Thanks

What type of wheeling are you wanting to do? For Hardcore rockcrawling the S/R is the :nuke: down here in Az. If you don't have coils, that's what you run. Check out the Armageddon pics I posted, no shackles up front on anyone. A CSC style S/R will get you the best approach angles possible with springs up front, can't remember the last time I hit a spring mount. Also, you don't need to run a large shackle or folding shackle with a S/R, I can easily max out my 9012's with a 4.5" long shackle. Let that long flexy YJ spring do all the work.

Originally posted by billjohn
My M/L's hit just as much as the S/R 'fangs' did, but I would rather have the articulation.

Oh how soon we forget...... I ran the Calmini setup for about a year. The fangs actually bent my frame from hitting rocks so hard! :rasta:

I finally got rid of the SR, got tired of the axle wrap and wheel hop! I do kinda miss the on road characteristics, the nose dive was so extreme I could lift my back tires off the ground by hitting the brakes hard! :D Not much good for anything, but great at parades... :) :D

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you can't just bolt rear Samurai leaf springs up front using the Calmini S/R kit (as far as I know) The kit is designed to use front Sam springs - going with rears would put the center pin of the spring too far back.

M/L shackle vs. Shackle reverse: it is my experience that you will benefit most by spending some quality time with rigs (& their owners) who already have these two front suspensions, so you can see First-Hand the benefits & drawbacks. Feedback from the board is good, but it can't Truly give you the answer you need - it is too subjective.
Just head down to Arizona and spend a couple days riding with Chris V's group you'll Know which one you like!:D

J.D.,
I e-mailed you......:beer:

Originally posted by DougO
A friend has the calmini SR with stock springs in SPOA with rear opening shackles, and he could easily park on top of a 33" tire and oftem went up my 35's or boses 38's with the left rear coming up a little, in front of the shop we worked at(sorry we didnt have a RTI ramp :p

I'm not disputing that a rig with the Calmini S/R can't have articulation... I had lots of it, but it was almost all in the rear springs (with revolvers), not the front. I have a set of 16" ramps I use to check changes in the driveway after installs. I put one under a front tire and one under the opposite rear tire. With THAT S/R, the front tilted. It couldn't keep up. Here is an old shot before I threw the S/R into the parts bin.

I had a Calmini S/R on my Sammy and HATED IT! It didn't flex well at all. I ditched it and went with YJ's with front M/L's (from Trail Tough). The ride is amazing on the street and it looks great. Just ordered my shocks today, so I can't wait to get out and test it.

Zuk88--- Looks like we were running close to the same set-up before and now switched to the same thing. Guess we're doing something right. :D What did you ever do about front shocks/mounts? I ended up have a custom set-up done with Ford shock towers and a 1/2" bolt welded to the top of the u-bolt plate on the front lower mount. Compresses to 17", eye to eye. Can't wait to get my shocks! Ordered DT8000's. ~Steve

I had "Missing Link" with Cj springs in the rear, now I have Yjs and homegrown shackle reverse and I love it. It rides great, flexes great, I will be with this setup forever. :flipoff2:

Squirrelman,
I guess we need more flex than the Calmini offered:rolleyes: I'm not bad mouthing the Calmini S/R, I ran it 4 years and had no problems with my daily driver. It was perfect for what it was designed for( a mild 2" lift and better stability on road.)
I just want a slinky now
:bounce: :bounce2:

Yeah, it would probably be okay for a 2" lift, better riding add-on for a DD, but mine is solely my trail rig, so it just didn't cut it. I wanted the YJ's anyway, and then I broke a couple leafs off my stock rear springs, and that was all the convincing I needed. :D What'd you do for shock mounts? ~Steve

For shock mounts I still run the ones from the RRO 4.5" SPOA kit. I don't like the fact that the mount below the axle to the stock spring pad, but I'm going to Toyota axles and don't feel like cutting them off the zuk axles and rewelding them somewhere else. They work for now. I decided to swap in leafs from 2.5" Pro Comps to help with spring wrap and bending of the stock YJs. My leaf packs on the rear use two top springs from the Pro Comp packs and one bottom leaf from the stock pack(3 leafs total) In the front I used two top leafs from the stock YJs and a bottom long leaf from the Pro Comps(also 3 leaf). This gave me a 1"-1.5" lift over stock YJs with a stiffer ride I was looking for. The stock YJs where way too soft and the rear springs wrapped on me. I'll let you know how they flex when I get my cross over steering done (samit????:mad: ) Time for another:beer:

Guess it will be a race to see who can get the TT kit out on the trail first. :D I'm waiting on shocks and I have to leave it at the welder for a few more days so he can put in my cage. I had him ramp it to measure for shocks and he thought it looked like it ramped about 1100. I know, I know, it's just a ramp, but it's better than sitting on the ground, right? :D Good luck with your steering. ~Steve

Originally posted by skippy79
but has anyone seen or heard the canyon state components shackle revers kit in action.

I've got the CSC setup front and rear on mine. It rides nicely on the road and flexes great off-road. I went from Loon to Buck while it was spring under with open diff's front and rear no problem. I've now gone spring over and gotten a lot more flex out of it.

I've got lots of pics on my website in both spring under and spring over. The trip pages upto the Rubicon were spring under. In sept. it went spring over.