I have recently installed the 3" calmini suspension lift on my 94' Tracker short wheel base 4x4, following the somewhat complete instructions and pictures, and am having the following problems:
1. The Heim joint threads will not even reach the upper v-bar, by nearly half an inch, when the tracker is on its tires on the ground, and the pinion angle/driveline angle are lined up.  The rear coils were so long that they were actually bowed out about 1" toward the back of the vehicle. I cut one full turn of each rear spring out, and now the springs are straight up and down, but it looks like the heim joint is still going to be too short to reach the v-bar, or not have enough threads engaged in it to be safe. I talked to calmini, and they suggested trimming the coils as mentioned above, to get the springs to be straight and to allow for more thread of the heim joint to go into the v-bar.  They also said that they would gladly make me a custom heim joint if needed, but to try this first.  Has anyone else had this problem?  I have the lower links, differential bracket, driveline spacer, etc. installed just like the pictures show, with the diff bracket pointing toward the back of the vehicle. There is no noticeable frame or crossmember damage that I can find, that would cause this gap.
2. Will the front 3" coils break in any? They are extremely stiff, even with my 220 pounds on the front bumper, the struts only compress about an eighth of an inch.  I plan on putting on a blue ox folding tow bar and mount, which weighs around 70-80 pounds, but I don't see how this will even do anything to soften the springs.  I am also having camber issues, 2.0 degrees and 2.5 degrees positive on the drivers and passengers sides. I'm running 15 x 7 black steel wheels with a 4" backspace and 235/75R15 tires. I know calmini calls for 2-3" of backspace, but this is what I had laying around so I thought I'd use it anyhow. Calmini said to try trimming one full turn of the front coils first, to alleviate the camber issue and soften the ride a bit, and to try 1" wheel spacers up front second, if the coil trimming didn't work. Any suggestions that anyone has with this would surely be appreciated.  I've got too much time into this to start over with something else. Thanks a million, Rich

Well there are alot more people with alot more experience than me in theis area (I'm a Jeep guru), but this was my expreience with the Calmni lift:

The instructions suck very badly. Trimming the coils is a joke...you change the spring rate when you do this and they will sag prematurely. It will ride a little softer, yes, but they are made to be that height. I don't understand why you are having so much trouble with the rear...it seemed pretty easy to me. I have the same year Tracker, and I put in some 1" spacers with the lift and still had no issues with the rear. Unless Calmini screwed up with the parts that they sent you (although, I have a hard time believing that as these kits are mass produced and they should all be made to the same spec, using jigs and such).



As for the front,I'm not quite done mine yet, but the only issue I have run into so far is the center diff bracket. The instructions were so unclear abour how to put this in. They send you a new poly bushing to put in, but in the pictures in the instructions, they show it with the factory rubber bushings installed. I was unsure of the order to put the  bushings in, and as it turned out, I did it wrong. I thought the rubber bushing went on the bottom and the poly one on top with no metal sleeve (as was shown on "project Tricker-Kicker) on this site.



Then I read this on another forum: "The installation of the differential-to-cross member bracket is not explained in the instructions. There's a thread on Zukiworld.com with the subject "Calmini 3" Lift questions" that addresses this issue, but basically what you should do is:
- Shorten the stock steel bushing sleeve by about 1/4" (I used my angle grinder).
- Install the assembly with a factory bushing on top, the new Calmini bracket in the middle, and the new Calmini bushing on the bottom (against the cross member mounting bracket).
I later talked to Steve at Calmini, who confirmed these points
"
I haven't
bothered changing it yet as a friend of mine did the same on his kit and it has been fine for over a year.

I will post up more after today when I get it finished up.

Sorry, I know this doesn't help much, but You issues sound unusual to me...

Smurf

I replaced the parts on mine one at a time and the rear all dropped straight in, I can only think that you have misunderstood the instructions on lining up the pinion angle. Can you post pics? You shouldn't cut the coils it makes them stiffer (not softer) and they won't seat properly.

Don't consider me as an expert 'cos I have the calmini installed just the last few days (before I had the RRO 4.5"). My eperience is that in the 2door the suspension stays higher and especially in front. But generally I consider it soft and smooth suspension (compaired to the RRO) and most of all it works good.

Cutting the springs makes them stiffer. and as I've seen they are longer and softer than the OME springs

No big problems with my install just a few mods to bring it to a level I was happy with.
And no need to cut springs.

Pics are worth a thousand words......

Does yours look like this?

Does yours look like this?

That does not look right. Nearly every Calmini equipped Vit/Track/Kick that I have seen sits pretty much level, even with a winch bumper.

You shouldn't cut the coils it makes them stiffer (not softer)

Oops...my bad!

Quote from: suzukiboyoz on September 30, 2006, 05:21:13 AM

Does yours look like this?

That does not look right. Nearly every Calmini equipped Vit/Track/Kick that I have seen sits pretty much level, even with a winch bumper.

The pic is with only the Calmini kit fitted to the rear  here are some final pics.

Now that looks right 

I want a 2 door hardtop, that Vit looks   PERFECT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

" 1. The Heim joint threads will not even reach the upper v-bar, by nearly half an inch, when the tracker is on its tires on the ground, and the pinion angle/driveline angle are lined up.  The rear coils were so long that they were actually bowed out about 1" toward the back of the vehicle. I cut one full turn of each rear spring out, and now the springs are straight up and down, but it looks like the heim joint is still going to be too short to reach the v-bar, or not have enough threads engaged in it to be safe. "

How are you setting the pinion/driveline angle? In the stock condition, U-joints in the rear driveshaft are nearly straight- but you won't be able to do this with the lift in place. On my 'kick with the Calmini 3" kit, my rear U-joints operate at about a 7 degree angle. The important thing is that the two u-joints should bend by the same amount. It seems to me that if you tried to point the pinion up sharply enough to make the rear u-joint straight, you'd have to push the top of the rear diff towards the back of the vehicle- which might explain the problem you're having.

I think the best way to do the adjustment is:
- remove the driveshaft
- pick up an "angle finder" (<$10 at Harbor Freight)
- measure the angle of the output flange at the back of the transfer case
- support the rear of the truck on jackstands, install the heim joint, then lower the truck and let it rest on the tires
- measure the angle of the differential flange. It should point up at the same angle that the output flange on the t-case points down.
- If the two angles don't agree, jack up the rear, adjust the heim joint by screwing it in or out, and repeat.

My rear springs bowed out a little bit, but it never created any problems as far as I can tell.
I can't comment on the front- I never had any problems with the springs up there.

Good luck!

i will add my problem also, i had no problems with the back at all everything lined up just fine but my front is the issue, here is the my post
"Just installed my 3' suspension lift on my 97 tracker, it looks awesome, 30 x 9.5 bfg's.  I am having one problem with the lift, the front has a real bad creaking noise at low speeds or small up and down movement.  I figured out the noise was from the struts.  I called calmini and the gentleman i spoke to said that i am over extending the struts because i probably have more than the 3".  He said this lift is made to work with a heavier bumper and winch, and if i didnt modify the bumper i would have to cut 1/2 coil off the springs.  Im not in the market right now to buy a bumper and i dont want to cut the springs just in case in the future i do buy a bumper.  Anyone else have this problem?  I only have the suspension lift not the body lift."

How much do the front wheels drop when you jack up the front?