ARB vs. Calmini

[Incusus]

We loaded the family up in the Trooper and headed for Kentucky for a short weekend of camping and riding the Diabetes fund raiser. It was a nice shakedown to check the truck and its cargo capacity before moving on to bigger things. (its amazing how much crap 2 kids take along...)

Anyway, the trip really highlighted the shortcomings of my worn out stock suspension, so it looks like thats suddenly moved up my upgrade list. On the shopping list at the moment are new rear coil springs and new shocks all around.

I'm looking for an increased cargo weight capacity and about a 1.5" lift overall. I'll be getting a front bumper from ARB, but thats over a year out on my upgrade timeline so I'm not worried about extra weight up front for now. I am looking at towing a pop-up in the future to use as a base camp as well.

My questions are:
a.) would you suggest replacing the torsion bars up front rather than just torquing them? I'm leaning that way as the trucks over 110k miles, but am on a tight budget atm.

b.) What's your opinion of Calmini vs. ARB/OME suspension components? I'm looking at ARB (the OME 919 springs) at the moment as they are a bit cheaper than the Calmini's, and seem to suit my needs. Any reason to go with one over the other?

Thanks in advance for the input!

[Schattenjager]

I have had three different rigs use the OME shocks and springs and have never been disappointed. The price and quality are great. A few years ago I started to look at ARB closely as they grew - wanting to see if they would maintain thier high quality reputation as they expanded. Sure enough, they continue to earn my vote, and dollar.

[tdesanto]

I have the OME heavy duty springs and corresponding shocks. I've been very happy with them.

[ZooJunkie]

I have Calmini shocks in my Trooper, and have been happy with them overall. You can't beat the price I got them for! Anyways, I wish they were a bit more firm, perhaps I'll get some OME springs for that 1.5" lift in the rear.

I was a bit disappointed in the quality, after 1 trip to Tahoe during the snow season, the paint on the shocks have been "sand" blasted off. Wish it was more durable in that aspect...

[bigreen505]

I have the 919 springs. Not sure what to say, they work as advertised. I would recommend as follows. If you are looking for lift and stock carrying capacity, go with the 912 and possibly a spacer (912 is a 1.5" lift). If you want extra capacity, the 919 will give you 3" over stock at stock weight and 1.5" over stock with 220# load in the rear. Even empty I don't find the 919s especially harsh, but I have been told the 912 springs are more flexy.

[iguana4x4]

Check out Scott's Trooper setup so you have a better idea on what to do. Here's the link: http://www.expeditionswest.com/vehicles/ewvehicles/Isuzu_Trooper/index.html

ARB/Old Man Emu products have been tested over time in every possible condition, so I would definitely go with them over Calmini. I have used their products in 2 of my vehicles (LR Defender 90 and LR Series I Discovery) and I have to say their product is flawless.

Try to go with firm shocks, I know the stock suspension in North American Troopers is way soft for offroad use.

Cheers

[Incusus]

Check out Scott's Trooper setup so you have a better idea on what to do. Here's the link: *snip*
Cheers


actually, I found this forum via his site ^^ I was searching for mods on the 2G troopers and found his, and it was amazingly close to what I wanted to do. Next thing I know... well here I am :)

Thanks for all the input, it looks like my suspicions are confirmed: I should go with the OME 919's and OME heavy duty shocks. I had heard that Calmini wasn't the best for cusomer service anyway, and ARB seems to have better prices. Good to know their compunents have such a reputation for durability in the community as well.

After giving it some additional thought, I think I'm going to go ahead and spring (no pun intended) for new torsion bars up front as well. Might as well do a good job all at once.

If I can get my Eclipse sold, maybe we will go the whole route and replace the ball joints, add some low-profile bumper stops and replace the brake lines while I'm under there. Just depends on the budget at this point...:(

[ZooJunkie]

ball joints are priced between $70-80 a piece. :(

I too was looking to getting these replaced on my 155k miles Trooper....looks like I'll have to wait a bit.

[bigreen505]

See if you can talk to some people about the torsion bars before you spring for them. I was advised to just crank mine a bit until I get a bumper and winch. I think that was the right call. On my Pathfinder I upgraded to Sway-a-way torsions at the same time I did the rear springs and that was a bad idea as the ride was unbearably harsh -- they really needed the weight of the winch to be tolerable. Unfortunately, after 300,000 mi the stock bars were a little soft, and stock replacements were $$$. The T-bars on the trooper are pretty stout and are perfectly capable of lifting the stock front bumper an inch or so.

[Incusus]

...they really needed the weight of the winch to be tolerable...

You know, that makes perfect sense. I assumed (uh oh, theres that word...) that the heavier bars would be the logical upgrade along with the springs, but perhaps I'll wait until I get the bumper and winch next year.

Is there a limit to the ammount of twist you can put on the stock bars, or is it ok to keep adjusting the sag/lift until there's no more threads left on the bolt? I figure eventualy the fatigue will cause them to fail, and I'd rather not get to that point.

[vengeful]

I hope I'm not too late on this, but I'm going to chime in with my $0.08 (Hey, I gotta get a little more for my opinions now that gas prices are out of control again!). LOL.

I would go with ARB/OME 1000 times before I even considered thinking about going with Calmini. Yes, Calmini makes a quality product, if you overlook their shoddy powdercoating that flakes off during shipping, and their squeaky suspension bushings that require you to add Grease Zerks in order to shut them up.

I am a firm believer in Customer Service. I would rather spend a little more money dealing with a company that has top notch customer service like Slee (retailer for OME Suspensions - at least for Toyotas, but I'm sure they can get Trooper stuff, too, if you ask them real nice, hehe). If you search around on some of the Nissan and Suzuki forums, you'll read a lot of horror stories about Calmini's customer service. There aren't any inherent problems with their parts, other than the minor issues I stated earlier, and you can order them without powdercoating. I would not hesitate to order Calmini parts through a 3rd party reseller, however I will never, EVER, personally deal with Calmini ever again.

A good friend of mine ordered a set of lift shackles for the rear suspension of his Frontier from Calmini. 3 weeks later, he hadn't heard anything from them, and they had billed his credit card the day he ordered them. He called them up and informed them that he was shipping out with the Peace Corps for 6 months overseas, and needed to have the shackles in by the time he left in order to get his truck out of the parking garage and into storage (it was already taken apart awaiting the new shackles (and some other bits he had ordered from other places that had already come in). Calmini informed him that his shackles were at the powdercoaters and should ship out by the end of the week, and they would email him with a tracking number when they shipped. 2 more weeks passed by, and still nothing from Calmini. He called them back and asked them what the hold up was. They gave him the run around and transferred him back and forth between several different people before hanging up on him. The next week he shipped out, still no shackles.

Since he was living in an apartment at the time, and could not receive large packages, his truck parts were being shipped to my house. I told him to bring his truck over to my house, and I would keep it there for him while he was overseas. A couple more weeks pass by and still nothing from Calmini, so I called them and asked them, not very nicely, what was taking them 3 months to ship out a set of shackles that should take all of a half-hour to fabricate. I told them that the order had been placed by a close friend of mine who is now overseas with the Peace Corps and that we were very disappointed with the level of service we had received from them thus far. The guy on the other end started asking me all kinds of questions about myself, my truck and other stuff that he had no business asking about, and then started to berate and belittle me for owning a Pathfinder. I told him to "go suck an egg" (in not so nice of terms), and hung up the phone.

I called Spencer at Spencer Low Racing and related my Calmini horror story to him, and ordered a set of Frontier Shackles. He overnighted me a set of his heavy-duty shackles at no additional cost. I installed the shackles the next day and called Calmini to cancel the order and request a refund. This was 2-years ago, and even after filing in small claims, he still hasn't gotten his money back. Avoid Calmini at all costs, their business practices are far from ethical and their customer service is among the worst I've ever dealt with.

[vengeful]

Is there a limit to the ammount of twist you can put on the stock bars, or is it ok to keep adjusting the sag/lift until there's no more threads left on the bolt? I figure eventualy the fatigue will cause them to fail, and I'd rather not get to that point.

Yes and no. I'm basing my answer on the Nissan torsion bar setup, which is probably very similar to the Isuzu one, but I could be mistaken.

There is a limit in the amount of adjustment you can put on the torsion bars before you run out of bolt. However, you can re-index them to allow for more adjustment. On the Xterras, the torsion bars must be re-indexed to allow for the 3 inches of lift allowed by the SLR, AC and Calmini upper control arms. These control arms are redesigned to allow the torsion-bars to be cranked to provide 3" of lift over stock, yet still allowing the wheels to be aligned correctly.

I'm sure there is a step-by-step how-to on re-indexing your torsion bars on one of the numerous Isuzu forums/websites out there, if you search around Google a bit.

Re-indexing the t-bars also somewhat restores their ability to "hold a crank" - in other words, if you max out your t-bars without re-indexing first, they will sag quickly, but if you re-index, they will hold the lift more easily.

[bigreen505]

I don't know, I've never been a big fan of re-indexing bars -- it is a band-aid, not a fix. If you need to re-index the T-bars, it is time for a new set. See if you can do a search on this site or PM DaveInDenver for the formula/guidelines about T-bar thickness vs. stiffness. You don't need to know absolutes, just relatives -- e.g. "I wish my T-bars were about 50 percent stiffer than stock." This was discussed somewhere recently, I think here on ExPo, but I'm not sure. If I knew I would give you the link.

Re-indexing is common in the Nissan camp because Nissan T-bars are $$$, Sway-a-ways are too stiff unless you are hanging 150+ lb. off the front bumper, Calmini is re-painted sway-a-way and OME is nearly impossible to get. Basically it is done out of desperation to get more lift, or in most cases less sag.

[NewFoundFreedom]

I hope I am not to leate either. I am also a firm beliver in customer service. The stuff Calmini (and the other companies the same guys owns) is junk. Their service is crap and they go cheap on everything. Old Man Emu is by far the best. I have ran several of their systems on several other rigs and they do way better than any thing else I have ran. Old Man Emu puts out only top notch stuff that is not cheap by any means. Look at other forums and you will see everyone allways talks about OME as being the best. Good luck just my 2 cents!

[Incusus]

Vengeful, I seem to recall seeing similar threads about Calmini on either ITOG or planetisuzu (can't remember which) and I assumed it was an isolated thing... I guess its not. Really, thats too bad. The aftermarket for Isuzu is too small as it is.

So, based on what I've researched and what I've heard here, Its going to be the ARB/OME springs & shocks and a torsion bar lift (I still have some life in the old ones before needing to reindex/replace). Even if Calmini had better customer service, I suspect I'd still go with ARB's stuff as I've not heard of a single dissatisfied person who used their OME line.


Thanks much for all the input!! This place rocks! :rockon:

[bigreen505]

Incusus, as a point of reference, I have 18.75" from the *top* of the stock Isuzu hub caps to the bottom of the flare at all four corners with the stock bars slightly cranked and a "reasonable" load in the back, supported by the 919 springs. That amount of lift in the front seems to still allow some level of travel while still being high enough to prevent rubbing on a 32.5" tire (Cooper 285's) in most conditions. I get some rub cruising through whoop-de-dos. I would start there. Most people tend to put on the 919 springs, giving 3" of lift, and crank the front 3", dialing out most of the travel and giving the truck a nose-high look when loaded.

While I would never recommend it, several of us removed the front sway bar. The end result is a little more body roll, a bit of a wander in a straight line, and a much improved ride as the IFS is able to actually work independently. There are also some odd handling traits that go along with it, in my case massive understeer below the adhesion limit followed by snap oversteer after it (ever driven a 911?). Not a big deal, but something to be aware of. I put my sway bar on for the winter, but when I took it off this spring, I think it is permanent.

[Incusus]

Incusus, as a point of reference, I have 18.75" from the *top* of the stock Isuzu hub caps to the bottom of the flare at all four corners with the stock bars slightly cranked and a "reasonable" load in the back, supported by the 919 springs. That amount of lift in the front seems to still allow some level of travel while still being high enough to prevent rubbing on a 32.5" tire (Cooper 285's) in most conditions. I get some rub cruising through whoop-de-dos. I would start there. Most people tend to put on the 919 springs, giving 3" of lift, and crank the front 3", dialing out most of the travel and giving the truck a nose-high look when loaded.

I'll probably flip the ball joints and put a shorter bumper-stopper on, am hoping to regain some of the travel that way. I should be fine with the upcoming 265/75's (which should be what, 31.6? no worries there.)

Thanks for the point of refrence! Do you know what the original stock ride height was on the Trooper? I could measure 2~3" of lift from where I'm at, but I'm assuming I'm sagging pretty badly at this point.

[bigreen505]

Do you know what the original stock ride height was on the Trooper?

Not a clue, all I can offer is where I am at. I had the same thought as you, but my truck was not stock when I bought it (he actually had the front cranked WAY up). No one that I spoke with seemed to know what stock height was and I can't find it in the service manual. I tried to go off of the Expeditions West numbers, but couldn't be sure where to measure from (I think they are from the top of a Superwinch hub). So plan B was to load up the back and get the truck basically level.

Now that I think about it, the genius was running Rancho shocks that were too short and had the T-bars cranked 3" over stock, effectively maxing out the shock (full extension) on level ground. No wonder the truck drove like crap.

[ZooJunkie]

1997 Trooper dimensions and ride height: -External dimensions: overall length (mm): 4,544, overall width (mm): 1,765, overall height (mm): 1,834, ground clearance (mm): 249 (converts to 249 millimeter = 9.803 149 606 inch), wheelbase (mm): 2,761, front track (mm): 1,514, rear track (mm): 1,519 and curb to curb turning circle (mm): 11,613

2002 Trooper dimensions and ride height: -External dimensions: overall length (inches): 181.3, overall width (inches): 72.2, overall height (inches): 72.2, ground clearance (inches): 8.3, wheelbase (inches): 108.7, front track (inches): 59.6, rear track (inches): 59.8 and curb to curb turning circle (feet): 38.1


Looks like from 1998 the trooper lost some ground clearance.

[Incusus]

ground clearance (inches): 8.3,


Assuming thats with the stock tires (245/70r16) at recomended inflation (30 frt, 35 rear), which puts the tires at about 29.25" (29.5" with an estimated .25" loss when bearing weight, probably more)... then changing to 265/75's (31.6 actual, 31.25 est bearing weight), thats about a 1" gain in lift off of the stock ground clearance with the new tires. Again, I'm *guessing* I'd lose .25" in tire sag.

My non-scientific "pulling-numbers-out-of-my-butt" method says with the 265/75's at curb weight, it would be closer to 9.3 clearance with a stock suspension I think....
So with the 3" lift (unloaded) the 919 springs would give me about a foot of clearance at the lowest point, or about 10-11" with 300# in the back. Not Bad!

Not sure where they measure that 8.3 from, maybe the axles?? thats the lowest point I can think of. I'll probably continue to measure from the hubs using Bills 18.75 as a refrence.

Now that I think about it, this presents another possible issue... With the 3-4" increase in height (tires & suspension) am I looking at new brake lines as well?? Will the stock ones reach?:confused:

[bigreen505]

I would guess that ground clearance is measured to the lowest point, probably a diff, which means ground clearance only increases by half the tire size.

As for brake lines, I have not done anything yet, but SS lines from Independent 4x is high on my list because of length, improved feel, and Marmots have a demonstrated appetite for rubber hoses (brake and cooling), which have left several vehicles stranded at high altitudes.

You could also make a drop bracket to gain a little length.

[Incusus]

Marmots have a demonstrated appetite for rubber hoses (brake and cooling), which have left several vehicles stranded at high altitudes.



Now THERES an off-road hazard I can safely say I've never considered. Giant rubber-eating groundhog sabatuers...

I may look into fabbing a bracket first as long as theres enough rubber to do it. Glad to hear theres probably enough brake hose to get away with it.
I have the stainless lines down as part of the brake upgrade later, but with the exhaust and suspension work currently going on, it will be a bit before I can get the cash together for it. :(

[ZooJunkie]

After replacing my cv boot and doing a ball flip plus adding a spacer to my Calmini shocks, I think I'm in a market for new shocks. Although they ride ok, one thing that set these apart from better shocks is fitment. The front shocks just don't fit well with the lower A-Arm shock mounting post. It's slightly smaller than OEM, and as a result, when you go tighten the whole thing you end up bending the shock tabs.

sigh.

[vengeful]

That is typical of any aftermarket shock. You can simply shim the mounts with washers to prevent the bending.

[ZooJunkie]

That is typical of any aftermarket shock. You can simply shim the mounts with washers to prevent the bending.
Yah, when I was installing it the first time, I didn't have any shims to shim it up! :(

[Incusus]

OK! I'm ready to cut a check for my suspension (and other) components. Any recommendations on dealers? I'd like to stick to east coast due to shipping, but I'll pay a bit extra for good/fast service. Anyone?

[ZooJunkie]

There's only one really, you can't go wrong w/ ind4x4.
http://www.independent4x.com/

[Incusus]

There's only one really, you can't go wrong w/ ind4x4.
http://www.independent4x.com/

awdamn... I went and looked and now I want those nifty red heavy duty tie rod ends too!

Looks like they know Troopers, thats for sure, and they're in my UPS shipping zone! Thanks for the tip, man! :victory: