Randii,

Sorry if you thought that I created a monster of a post. I actually got more out of this post than I bargained for; which is great. I thought that everyone's replys were well within the scope of the topic at hand, with very little thread drift. I am certainly not offended when somebody states that I shouldn't buy from brand "x" because of so and so reason. That's exactly what I was looking to hear. In any case, please don't think that I'm being critical about the way you run things. The quality of the posts/posters speak for themselves. The work that you and the rest of the moderators do to keep this board running as it does is greatly appreciated. Keep it up.

Back on the subject. I did just as I threatened to do and ordered the Calmini 3", minus the shocks. Instead of going through Calmini directly, I made my purchase through Offroad Unlimited and saved a few bucks. The guys at ORU have always been very good to me, so I didn't mind them getting a cut. Best of all, Calmini is allowing me to pick up my lift in person, to avoid shipping costs. That's cool. After speaking with both Joe and Matt, I'll probably support them both by buying a set of shocks and ball joint spacers from them. They were also a great help over the phone.

Paddle and Mike, sorry to hear about your bad experiences. I'm not suprised about the shocks -- nobody seems to be very impressed with them. I'm very suprised to hear about your brake lines and poly bushings going bad. I thought that those two items would have lasted forever. The poly bushings on my old Pontiac certainly held up. After I get things up and running, I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks again for all the help and sorry for the long post.

Sammy

Not a problem... the question was fair, but my experience with this and other forums is that whipping on one vendor is never good. We can get the same information with less angst by limiting folks to their direct experience and letting the folks who are thinking about buying products on their own. Folks can post good or bad personal experience, but we ask that folks not generalize negatively.

Again, this is not some random policy generated by chance, or implemented in an effort to keep one vendor down or prop another one up... I have been moderating online Isuzu communities since the mid-90s and I take it very seriously. Sometimes I take some shots for this policy, sometimes it even feels personal, but I know that this works and it ain't up for question.

This thread has some great feedback up top, some very specific feedback based on immediate experience. That's the true strength of this forum. We have good experience on tap here... keep asking and the community will keep answering. With any luck, most everybody will color within the lines and us moderators can sit back and enjoy the cameraderie of the best Isuzu community on the 'net.

I'm tickled to see ANY manufacturer in the Isuzu market. I hope all the existing vendors stick around, and I hope more manufacturers join in! The more choices we have, the better! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" /> The more first-person feedback we have on all of these products, the better. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

Randii

<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shiner.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/notooth.gif" alt="" /> ...psst, hey, Jeff. You know that YOU can make specific comments about vendors that you have dealt with personally, and even name names... as long as you don't go into business and become a vendor.

The fellas who own or work for Brand X, Y, Z, A, B, or Q, though... one of the sacrifices they choose to make by going into business is giving up the right to comment on other manufacturers.

... so spill, man, is there a line of Paddler(tm) Rodeo components somewhere in secret development? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/pfft.gif" alt="" />

Randii

Since you went with the Calmini kit, you have no use for the ball-joint spacers. The Calmini Arms and ball joint flip/spacers both achieve the same thing..... and the two combined would be excessive and counterproductive IMHO. HTH

I put the 3" Calmini lift on my Trooper a few years ago. It is a good lift for the most part but my 20/20 hindsight tells me I would have purchased the control arms separately(which can be done) and pieced the rest of my lift together from other companies. The three things I do not like about the Calmini lift are 1) the crossmember IMO is junk and the stock member is far superior, 2) the shocks are a little disappointing, 3) the center pins which came with the add-a-leafs are junk and I had to outsource a stronger pin.
Other things. I think the shackles are fine but you can definitely get more lift from the DOR shackles. No complaints about the torsion bars, but a friend of mine is pretty happy with the DOR bars. I think they are both made by Sway-A-Way but I am not sure.
My two cents
Mike

hmmh, I cannot confirm or deny. Now where are those bloody CAD drawings at? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/ignore.gif" alt="" />

I don't have any experience with apples, but oranges suck!
LMAO (Hows that for generalisation?)
Swordyy

Ok, how many of these threads have I read through? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />
ItÆs got to be at least 5 or 6. And they all have exactly the same thing happen. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shame.gif" alt="" />

It is a fun read though! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> And no, IÆm not making any Edit[color:"blue"](Major) [/color] comments. If everyone doesnÆt know where I stand by now, just look for those other 5 or 6 threads where I got half my posts deleted. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/ignore.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

Edit [color:"blue"] And another thing, how many parts from company AÆs 3ö lift can a person remove before he has to change his signature??? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/butwiggle.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> [/color]

All,

Just to follow up on my progress, I finally got everything in place. Kind of. The Calmini 3" kit bolted right up with minimal problems, as did my Skyjacker shocks. Took it out for a test drive today before calling the alignment shop, just to make sure that everything was in place and the height adjustment was correct.

First the good: even without the alignment, it rides better and handles better.

The bad: Right away I noticed a heavy clunking noise toward the front right side, as if something was not tightened down. After jacking it up, I noticed that the front right wheel was loose. I figure I forgot to tighten the lugnuts down, but that was not the case. The entire wheel assembly was loose. I haven't looked it over completely, but I assume that it's either the ball joints or wheel bearings -- both of which were in good order prior to starting the project. And...the action of raising the vehicle with the torsion bars set caused the rubber ball joint seal to flex more than it's used to. It tore. And...the brake cable bracket got a little smashed when it came into contact with the bolt that holds the front bump stop in place. And...the tie rods scrape against the front shocks when turning the wheels too far.

Up until now, the whole project was pretty straight forward, although time consuming. At this point, I just want to get the job finished and have my car back.

Sammy

i understand your frustration, no projects really ever go as planned, you'll learn that on projects like this there's always a hitch whether it be minor or small, but hey no matter what you're learnin, when i put in my lift, we had so many problems gettin my sky jackers to mount that in the time it should have taken the whole to be done, i only got the back done and had to drive stink bug style until i could finish up the front
at least your wheel bearin went while you knew it was gonna have work done on it and you were plannin on it, better now than some horribly unoppurtune(sp?) time

it'll be all right man!