I have been looking into a lift kit for some time now, and It came down to either the calmini 2" lift, or the rocky road outfitters 2.5" lift. They are both about the same price, with the RRO kit being a little more, but offering .5 inches more lift. I am wondering which one is better, in the sense of which one is stronger and which one has more articulation. I noticed that the RRO kit uses the stock a arms, while the calmini kit supplies you with new ones. on the RRO website, I noticed that they dis on the calmini kit, but I dont know whether or not to believe it, as companies are known to dis on each other to make their product look better to boost sales.

The Calmini 2" kit has been great on my tracker (15 years).  It has been abused pretty hard and I haven't really broken anything.  The steering damper cross-bracket finally cracked but that really is not included in their kit anyway, it's extra.  As for RRO, I have no clue.  Good luck on what ever you get!

Aaron    

The RRO kit is basically an OME 1.5" lift kit (springs and shocks/struts) with RRO's 1" spring spacers added on top of the OME springs to get the extra height. This kit relies on the OME strut's lower mounting holes to correct the camber after lifting the vehicle. This kit also doesn't do anything to the front diff, leaving it in the stock location(unless they changed the kit since last time I looked), which increases the stress on the front CV joints.

The Calmini kit re-uses the stock front springs, but gives you new A-arms, struts/shocks and rear springs. This kit relies on the new A arms to correct the front end geometry/camber. This kit also inlcudeds brackets that lower the front diff housing approximately 1", therefore lessening the stress on the front CV joints. The diff is still kept above the level of the cross member, so the 1" drop doesn't hurt ground clearance any.

As for which one is better, that's up for you to decide what you want out of the kit. Personally I would say Calmini, but that's just personal preference...

so you could buy the calmini kit, and then buy some OME struts and springs, and you would have the best of both kits . Although it would cost a bit more. I think the Calmini kit is probably better, as more people have it than the RRO kit. I just wanted to get anothers opinion on it. I just wonder about the alignment. With the calmini kit, is it possible to align it the same way as you would if it were stock?

I have the Calmini 2" kit.  Mine had the KYB struts (uses the stock size).  I think they use someone elses (Gabriel?) now.  Blew mine out fairly quickly (no more than 50000 miles; stockers went back in).  Anyhow, finally got around to replacing them and went with the OME struts.  Tried the OME springs, but wasn't comfortable with the lack of spring compression (~1/4" initially).  Also didn't like the looks of the how far the camber was out, so I took them off and reinstalled the original springs.   I reversed the strut mounts to original, and used the thin spacers from Calmini below them.  That left me with about the same maximum travel as the Calmini kit (the springs are still under a touch of compression).

I replaced the Calmini shocks with the Pro-comp shocks for lifted Trackicks (I used the non-gas shocks and made a 2" spacer for the diff mount to make them work without moving the lower shock mounts; I might end up wishing for the gas shocks at some point). Taht added ~ 1" more travel in the rear.

My only complaint with the Calmini kit was that the intsrucitons were not complete, though I figured it out.  It lef tout a crucial bit of information:  I failed my smog check due to the rear brakes not locking up (part of the dyno test).  It never reminded me that I needed to adjust the anti lcok pressure regulator spring assembly.  Took about 10 minutes to figure this out (including backing up at speed in the parking lot to try and tighten up the rear adjusters).

I liked the engineering aspect of the Calmini kit.  There used to be another kit by Pro-comp, but it has been long gone.  Several folks here have been making and installing kits (partials; they sell the custom parts, you source the struts, springs, shocks of your choosing).

Enjoy!

I have the RRO kit on my 95 tracker and love it. The quality of the OME struts and Doetch Tech shocks is several levels above the stock stuff. Suspension damping is vastly improved and ride quality is is inhanced not relegated to wheelbarrow status. Camber is easily adjusted with camber bolts, about 13 bucks. You can also specify your spring rates with RRO to compensate for added weight, such as bumper and winch. No problems with the stock arms, been bashing them regularly without a prob. Not dissing Calmini, I have several of their products and they build a good product. RRO was just better for my needs. IMO.

you can get the OME lift from trail tough now and get some of sky's spacers and have the same kit as RRO for less $$$

I have the 3" calmini and like it other than it rides real rough on the road. A speedbump is a dead slow affair now! I will eventually get the OME struts and I am sure that will solve the problem

I haven't heard any good in general about rocky road,

this comes from a few people I know who have seen and delt with with there equipment.

To be fair it may be an unique experiance and this was in the past.

I myself have purchased a few things from them and I have been somewhat satisfied, but I was only purchasing small items

Had the RRO lift on my '99 about a year now.  Rides better than stock.  The camber will need to be corrected if you go w/ it.  I run camber bolts.  Some people slot the struts.  As with Calmini, not much in the way of instructions (none to be more specific), but it's really just a matter of swapping shocks and springs.  You'll want a spring compressor.  It clears 235's no problem.   I'll be ordering RRO's rock rails pretty soon, actually.  However, I'm not holding my breath on their bumpers and skidplates.  I'll probably go w/ Calmini's grill guard.  I have no loyalty.