First, let me say that I've never touched a "box full of gears" since a friend and I rebuilt the auto tranny out of his family Pontiac station wagon in maybe 1974.

Installation:

The install on the Calmini gear set was EASY.  I spent 2 hours doing it, while BS'ing with my friend Jen, over several cocktails.  The dreaded "stock removal" on the inside of the case was a piece of cake - I did it in about a half hour, with lots of "scrape, clean, test, and repeat" action.  Oh, in the process of putting everything back in the vehicle, I made almost every possible mistake, but that's another thread.

Operation:

Imagine this:  Lions Back.  You know, the run you've seen in the video where the Bronco or Blazer, or whatever rolls off and is destroyed.  The first 30 to 50 feet of Lions Back is probably a 60 degree angle - the rest is only 45 degrees maybe.  Driving up, locked front and rear, in 4-lo-first, holding 4,000 RPM, I just OOZED up!  ZOWIE!!!  Then - find a place to turn around, and drive DOWN it!    TERRIFYING!!!  When I got to the break-over (to 60 degrees DOWN), I was nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking-chairs!  Over the edge!!!

I had to GIVE IT GAS to get down.  The gearing is THAT low.  No brakes.  Oh My God!  Unbelievable!

This gear set absolutely takes you to the next level in 4-wheeling.  Amazing!  I give it   out of 5  's

EDIT:  Maybe Heather can post some pics of me on Lion's Back!

They are awesome, huh? I honestly don't know how anyone wheels a Track/Kick without them (unless it's a non-factory setup, like OTT or homebrew...)

I honestly don't know how anyone wheels a Track/Kick without them

Hey, I thought I was doing good, with the stock 1.8:1 and the 5.83:1 Ring & Pinion gears, but now I know better!

Saturday, I wheeled Hells Revenge with my friend Elaine, in her well-built TJ.  Surprise, I'm driving down stuff she has to use the brakes for!  She's in an auto, though.

all stock gearing!  works GREAT in the mud but i won't bring it to the rocks with out some lower gears.

stu

I have them also!  They are great for slow climbing and rocks.

If I had it to do over I'd try one of the OTT's stuff.  In the sand and mud I wish I still had stock gearing.  Also sometimes when your going down a 2 track and "HI's" too hi and "Low" is too low.

But then I get to something more difficult and I just love the 4.24:1 gears.

If your looking for the easiest mod, the gear set is the way to go.  Everything stays stock!

I know Ive posted this before but Im pretty sure they are indistructable. Even after the winter event running 5th gear for the better part of 2 days! I could hear the little gear just a singin. They got so hot I had smoke rolling out the breather tube!   I tore down the case before Moab expecting to find melted parts... especially after smelling the gearlube that was in it.   It was so rancid I almost puked. I think this is my 3rd or is it my 4th year running this gear set. I opened the case only to find they were as beautiful as the day I put them in. It makes the initail investment seem trivial after years and miles of abuse while remaining reliable.

Mike

I so want 2 t-cases but i'd have to extend the wheel base and everything else so i just don't think it will be worth it.  could i put a 4 door body on my 2 door frame or would it be the biggest bitch ever?

stu

If I were putting TWO transfer cases in, I'd probably want both of them to be maybe 2.2:1 - that would give me something a little lower than stock in Hi/Lo or Lo/Hi, and 4.84:1 in Lo/Lo.

I found myself switching between Lo and Hi on the fly at Moab (yeah, don't try this at home), because at some points, I hit third gear in Hi  

Here's the deal - with these gears, 5th Lo is almost exactly the same as 1st Hi, so if you're in 4th Lo and about to shift up more than once, it's better just to shift up to 1st Hi than 5th Lo.

Saturday, I wheeled Hells Revenge with my friend Elaine, in her well-built TJ.  Surprise, I'm driving down stuff she has to use the brakes for!  She's in an auto, though.

   I am so jealous of you guys out west. One of my goals in the next year or two is to get out to Moab to experience it.We have some good rocks out here, but more mud than I care to ever see, I'll take rocks anyday.

GREAT REVIEW    SO IT WAS LIKE THIS TO THE HEEPS AYE .........

Moab has some BIG rocks, we were looking
at them on Sunday, or Monday (it's all a blurr)
and the rocks in Fins-N-Things look like petrified
sand dunes, absolutly amazing.

Wild

ENOUGH ABOUT THE GEARS!!
Man, I hear it every weekend from my freind that has them.
Thats it!!
I'm calling Calmini.
Talk about peer  pressure.

Darn.
They're closed.

The 4.24 alone are VERY, VERY good,
but you outta try the 4.24 gears in front of a 2.28 Sammy case...

(4.24 x 2.28 x 5.12 x 3.65 = ~180:1)

*grin*

The 2.28 Sammy gears nearly replaced the standard 4 low with 5.12s in the axles perfectly, when standard 4-low was necessary.

The 4.24s allowed for the extra low, which was very nice to have and was our most used gear range in Moab.

But when they were compounded together (only used it a couple of times) it was like we were not even moving.

The OTT Kicker 3 setup worked great this past week in MOAB.  I know we held a lot of people up due to the lower gears, but we didn't break anything.    

~Nate

 Actually Nate, you gotta remember that even though you have the 4.24s in the kicker, your kicker in low and sammy high is actually 5.936:1!  Your three low ranges are ........
 2.28:1  kicker high/sammy low
5.936:1  kicker low/sammy high
   9.5:1  kicker low/sammy low
Pretty sweet, huh? But if you had stock kick low range the gearing would be....
 2.28:1  kicker high/sammy low
 2.52:1  kicker low/sammy high
4.104:1  kicker low/sammy low
Still pretty cool, very usable, and way better than stock, but not stuck with just an "Oh my God!" low with a high in front of it.
Just one of a few reasons for going with a kicker3.
Just a thought.....hehe!
Glad you love the kicker3, Nate. Ain't you glad I talked you into it finally?
'Oser!
HEHE!!
I went to the "Great White North" for us 'osers!


Oh yeah, just for thought, with a GRS1 gearset in the sammy case with stock kick gears, you would be....
4.16:1  kick high/sammy low
2.88:1  kick low/sammy high
7.49:1  kick low/sammy low

And with a GRS2....
4.89:1  kick high/sammy low
3.24:1  kick low/sammy high
8.80:1 kick low/sammy low

Cool, huh?