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CALMINI...or not

3K views 10 replies 8 participants last post by  Casper00 
#1 ·
I'm new to the forum...hoorah.

With that out of the way, let's get down to business. I bought a 94 D21 King Cab 4x4 for my son and we're getting ready to lift it. I poked around a little bit and found the CALMINI kit. It looks good (besides the color) and seems solid and fairly easy to install. While looking for wheels to fit under it I stumbled across some other forums that weren't too proud of CALMINI. I'd like a second opinion. The haters liked an AC lift kit (automotive customizers?) instead. I'm open minded. Let's discuss.
 
#5 ·
I prefer the Calmini stuff over the AC, but then I have only ever owned AC shackles. 95% if the folks you here of not liking the Calmini stuff are either jumping on the "I hate Calmini" bandwagon because someones else said it was bad or they had a failer of a part because they don't service there vehicles, and thus the part failed.

I have been using thier products for well over 6+ years with no complaints. I had an issue installing there SAS kit on my Xterra, called them up and spent almost an hour on the phone with the tech guy to find out I had installed a part backwards. So my fault, not theirs. The only other issue I have had was installing my second SAS kit on a friends rig. I could not get a x-member to fit no matter what I did (no, it wasn't backwards) so I called them up. After some time we figured out I had gotten a bad part, they built one that day and told me if I wanted it powder coated it would take a week to get it, or they could just ship it bare. I chose bare, and had it the next day. I would say excelent customer service.

Just my 2 cents worth. I don't think you can go wrong with there product.

Cheers,
JSP
 
#6 ·
I had the Calmini IFS lift kit on my 96 along with the steering kit. my only complaint on the kit is the front bushings would squeak ( but thats because I forgot to put anti-sieze compound on them) it is an expensive kit, can it be done cheaper yes, but the UCAs compared to others IMO there is no comparison. Calmini's UCAs are stout, perhaps overkill. overall, I was satisfied with the product and customer service, I had an issue with a product a yr later and was taken care of well beyond what I had expected. would I buy another kit from them, yes.
 
#9 · (Edited)
Calmini's parts are better quality. I have their steering kit on two of my trucks and it works great. Their UCAs are super stout, but the AC arms do the same job. I would skip the upgraded torsion bars to save a little. For the rear I would probably just go with the add-a-leaf and shackles.
 
#10 ·
Well....I've talked to both companies on the phone several times and I must say that the guys at CALMINI are quite a bit more technically savvy than AC. I can see where people may not appreciate the guys at CALMINI because at first they do seem a little standoff-ish. After a few minutes of serious technical talk I had them loosened up enough to speak frankly. Neither company offered to run down the other which I thought was extremely professional. I will also offer that I think AC's leaf spring replacement is superior to the shackles and blocks that CALMINI offers in their kit. I refuse to believe, however, that AC's upper control arms are superior to CALMINI's. In the end, I have chosen the CALMINI kit. It really came down to the technical talk. The guys at AC couldn't explain why they recommended a 3.75 in. backspace (and went so far as to impoperly call it a negative backspace) on the wheels after lifting. CALMINI understood the backspace question and also accounted for factory wheel offset in their recommendation so wheels bearings don't get overstressed. Knowing that CALMINI took those kinds of things into consideration when they designed their kit gave me all the confidence I needed in their product.

They even remembered Casper00 and his situation. That tells me a lot too.
 
#11 ·
Yaaaayyy, someone remembered me, and it wasn't for a bad thing this time. :)

Haha, ok, seriously I think you made a great choice and will be quite happy with it. Also, nice job on not just going with what someone on the net said and doing your own research on top of that. Most folks don't do that these days.

Cheers,
Josh
 
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