Wow, it sucks the forum was restored back to 2012.. jeesh. I happened to create my diary post offline and since I was able to find it I figured I put it back...
I know there is plenty of interest in the Calmini EDSES suspension system, and I had difficulty finding information online about it while I was considering purchasing it. Instead of hijacking another thread, I figured I could post my experiences here, and those who are interested can view it.
Quick background:
I had an 86 Samurai back in the 90’s that I towed around, here it is in San Felipe, Mexico. It was basically stock, and I gave it to my son when he started driving.
I’ll let you know up front, I’ve done a lot of 4 wheeling in the past when I had a 2000 Hummer H1 for 7 years. I did all the trails in Big Bear, Lots of trails in Moab, Farmington NM, and outside of Durango CO. I installed ARB up front, and Detroit in the rear, and that thing climbed anything.
Very reliable as well since I bought it new. I would drive it to Moab (1,000 miles), do trails all week, then drive it home.
It needed plenty of maintenance but it never broke on the trail. It was a Wagon which I put personalized license plates “TRUE SUV”, hence my current forum handle. It was fun, but I felt like I had done enough, spent enough, and I sold that back in 2007.
A few years later I wanted another Samurai to tow behind the motorhome again. I found an 87 Tin top that was stock, and in great condition…
when I bought it…
Interior was perfect (nice change since most Samurai’s I went to look at were completely trashed)
I put Header and exhaust, Calmini suspension (all new springs, shocks, shackle reverse, drop pitman arm, etc) and new 30” BFG All terrains. It was fun, ride was a bit rough, but was very capable (even with open diffs)
I did have issues with the carburetor and getting it smogged.. seems the header and 2” exhaust flowed “too good”, and the Catalytic converter would not get hot enough.. among other things. I wasn’t using it much then so I sold it (for peanuts) due to no smog, etc.
Anyway, I missed it soon after, should not have let it go.
So a couple years later, I wanted a vehicle to tow behind my motorhome, again! I had been going to the desert with Quads and Dirt bikes, but I’ve been slowing down. Now I enjoy just cruising around the desert (or wherever we are camping) and I don’t want to wear a helmet and gear, etc. I previously had the Samurai for this purpose.
I was interested in a “Razor” (side by side) for a bit, but they sure are expensive ($16k…jeesh, I could buy a nice jeep for that) Plus, they are not street legal, which limits me quite a bit in California. So then the idea of a Jeep was entertained. But it seemed I could fit a Suzuki in my garage easier, lighter to tow, and was really cheap to buy, so Suzuki (Tracker) it ended up being.
I came across this 93 Tracker on Craigslist, it was 5 miles from me… so I checked it out…. Here is was:
Great price, (I usually I buy high, then later practically give stuff away… but this time I found someone else giving it away) I thought I scored.
The Tracker already had several nice features added
- Header
- Intake (with K&N like air filter)
- Larger exhaust with new Catalytic converter – sounds cool
- Rebuilt engine and it passes smog check!
- New tires and wheels – 16x7 steel wheels with 235/85x16 BFG Mud Terrains (practically 32”, tires for 16” rims are more expensive too)
- Rear Lock-Right locker (Detroit like) – it works…
- Front and rear spring and strut spacers for extra lift (this was a problem)
- Body Lift (2.5” I think)
- Front frame “bobbed”
- Fenders appear to be “widened” as there is a lot of patch work inside them
- Custom Light bar across top of windshield
- Custom Front Grill - interesting
- Custom Front bumper with lights and Tow bar mounts
- Custom Rear bumper with 2” receiver
- Tow bar – Good for me, plan was for me to tow behind my motorhome anyway
- Great stereo with sub/amp, etc. – didn’t expect it, but love it
- Has all the things I would have liked on my previous 2 Samurai’s
- Bigger Engine
- Power Steering
- Fuel Injection – Yay… You know how many times I had that Samurai carb apart?
- A/C
- Granted, not as cool looking as the Samurai
When I first got it I drove it to work (70 miles per day) to make sure it ran good and reliable, which it did!
I did find the right front hub was engaged all the time regardless of the position of the locking hub. I took it apart, fixed the internal spring that had sprung, and got it working. Jeesh, how long has the right front tire been driving that front end from just one side?
The front CV boots were split on both sides… but I figured the joints may already be trashed, and I’ll just use em that way for now. The spring spacers in the front end had created extreme angle on the CV joints, so I wasn’t about to fix the boots just to have them split again anyway.
I figured I’d put it in 4-wheel drive only as needed (rarely since I do have the rear locker), so it should last a while.