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Just purchased a 3inch calmini lift kit. Instal

Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2014 10:29 pm
by Marculo
Hey guys just brought a second hand 3 inch calmini kit for my 3rd escudo
And wanting some info and tips on installing it this w.e
Is it a one man job I can do myself with a couple trolly jacks or would you recommend anther approach such as using Someone's car lift?

Cheers Marcus

Re: Just purchased a 3inch calmini lift kit. Instal

Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2014 1:26 am
by Pico42
3" suspension or 3" body lift?

Actually, it doesn't matter, both can be installed on axle stands.

Re: Just purchased a 3inch calmini lift kit. Instal

Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2014 9:31 am
by zukmeista
If it's the suspension lift and it still has the calmini struts and shocks bin them and get some decent ones as they will fail quickly.

Re: Just purchased a 3inch calmini lift kit. Instal

Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2014 3:57 pm
by Pico42
zukmeista wrote:If it's the suspension lift and it still has the calmini struts and shocks bin them and get some decent ones as they will fail quickly.


I read online somewhere recently (Possibly Zukiworld?) that the recent kits used different shocks/struts, along with a different spring rate of front spring, that went some way to addressing those problems.

I guess time will tell.

Re: Just purchased a 3inch calmini lift kit. Instal

Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2014 5:12 pm
by Marculo
It is only 2years old so could be the updated version as said above,but the kit I got also comes with some other aftermarket struts so will have to see what they are when it arrives .
Cheers
Guys

Re: Just purchased a 3inch calmini lift kit. Instal

Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2014 8:19 pm
by Marculo
Also sorry all new to this but would 1inch coil spacers on top on the calmini 3inch suspension lift kit be okay? Or would that upset the design of the calmini kit and go for 1inch body lift instead?

Re: Just purchased a 3inch calmini lift kit. Instal

Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2014 7:57 am
by zukmeista
Why do you want more than 3" of lift?

Re: Just purchased a 3inch calmini lift kit. Instal

Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2014 5:06 pm
by Marculo
zukmeista wrote:Why do you want more than 3" of lift?


Just want to be able to clear 31s with no problems..get it all sorted before cert..

Re: Just purchased a 3inch calmini lift kit. Instal

Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2014 9:06 am
by zukmeista
Body lift will be more beneficial for tyre clearance than suspension lift.

Re: Just purchased a 3inch calmini lift kit. Instal

Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2014 3:14 pm
by crzyfl
if you are going body lift, go for the three inch. I have 3" springs, and 3.5 inch coil spacers up front. Good clearance, but had camber problems until I moved the strut mounts out at the top.

3inch calmini lift kit. Instal problems with struts

Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 9:39 pm
by Marculo
Just spent the whole weekend installing the kit to find out Sunday night the front struts holes are so slotted the car adjusts the camber itself .rolling fwd the car raises about an inch and giving itself extreme positive camber and locks the wheel up.rolling back lowers the car back an inch and gets crazy negative camber ... Well that's what I think the problem is... Couldn't even get the car out of my drive...
What shocks should I replace the fronts with??

Cheers guys

Re: Just purchased a 3inch calmini lift kit. Instal

Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2014 1:01 am
by Pico42
The toe needs adjustment. You have bad toe-in. When you move forward, the toe-in brings the wheels together, lifting the front up and giving you positive camber. Moving backwards forces the wheels out, lowering the front and giving you negative camber.

Get a wheel alignment to fix it. Hopefully the struts can be locked into place somehow. How much slop is there?

To get to the wheel alignment place, adjust it out roughly with the steering tie rods (I think?)

Re: Just purchased a 3inch calmini lift kit. Instal

Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2014 6:11 am
by Marculo
That sounds right duh!
It does it all in the space of about a meter then I can't drive it any further because the wheels lock up and try skip across the ground.i may have to try adjust it some myself just so I can get it too the shop..
Other than that I thought I put somthing back the wrong way..

Cheers mate

Re: Just purchased a 3inch calmini lift kit. Instal

Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2014 8:06 am
by zukmeista
To do a rough alignment use a tape measure between the front tyres at the front and back, try and get the measurements close to being the same, will help to have someone to hold one end of the tape measure.

Re: Just purchased a 3inch calmini lift kit. Instal

Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2014 7:21 pm
by Marculo
What struts should I replace the front calminis with?

Re: Just purchased a 3inch calmini lift kit. Instal

Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2014 9:40 pm
by griffsta88
i gota 3+3 calmini and im running iron man front struts, can also use ome , both have 35mm extra travel

Re: Just purchased a 3inch calmini lift kit. Instal

Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2014 12:26 pm
by Marculo
Now that I have bolted up my winch and winch bumper my front end has sagged about 30mm... Been told that's what calmini springs do over time..
Have to go for cert at the end of his month.
Any suggestions on what I could replace them with? My only option at the moment is spring spacers ...
Cheers

Solved the camber problem with some brand new v6 front struts