OK so last year I bought these two things from Calmini.


And here I am exactly on eyear later and they are both so badly facking rusted that I gotta take them off.  I live in Canada, and yes there is winter here and salt on the roads and things like this, bu these things just totally rusted out. 

Has anyone else had the same problems with Calmini products?  What do you think I should do?  Do I bother calling the company and complaining, or is that just a waste of time?
 :'(

Personally

     I would call Calmini and politely explain the problem, offer to e-mail them
pictures and ask what can be done to make me a happy customer.

Give them a chance to rectify the problem...in the name of good customer service
you may be pleasantly surprised.

See what happens before getting carried away!

Zag

No, I don't get carried away very easily.  I'm a pretty cool cucumber.  I just want to know if others have had the same problems, or am I in a unique situation.

swiper, where are you located, I am in Ontario. The road salt it's metal like it's its job, if calmini doesn't do anything about it, cover them in bedliner or "Rocker Guard" the shit is bullet proof if you apply enough of it  and make sure to sand all the rust down as well.

Are they supposed to be painted when calmini sells them? or is it just a light coating to pretect against surface rust while in a warehouse/shipping? Kind of like when you buy a new fender for your car, they have a black finish on them for protection, but it's not paint, you still need to paint the fender.

my winch bumper for my vitara arrived rusty, where the paint on the edges had'nt taken - I guess it'll need touching up after use so whilst dissappointed I'd waited so long that I took it on the chin.

The Shackle Reversal kit rusted after being on the Sammie for only a couple of weeks ! Looks like it was powdercoated by the way the black stuff "flakes" off of the metal.

(my very own opinion)
My Swing-A-Way rear bumper is starting to show it's age (2 years old)
The powdercoating is starting to bubble, not much but starting.

Mind ya. Mine is always parked in my garage.
always washed after wheeling.
no salt on roads.
and I've had it (the bumper)for 2 years.
My front Winch bumper (Calmini) is doing fine as far as I can tell.

I had a trailer hitch (not Calmini) off of a parts SideKick that was so bad, that the powdercoating fell off of the whole thing.
and the metel was soo, like, fer sure, rusted away.
You would think it's been sitting on the beach in raw form for it's life time.

Sounds like Calmini might have a problem they would like to hear about.

Zag

Sounds like Calmini might have a problem they would like to hear about.

Zag

exactly, someone shoudl call them and explain to them and then let us knwo what they say before this turns into another calmini bashing thread.

Quote from: zaggy on November 26, 2005, 02:09:55 PM

Sounds like Calmini might have a problem they would like to hear about.

Zag

exactly, someone shoudl call them and explain to them and then let us knwo what they say before this turns into another calmini bashing thread.

I would just sand it off but the powder coating is soo frinkin thick.
Can they powder coat a whole car?
A thought for a later day.
Calmini bashing?
I can't say much.
Bought another lift from them, had a bad spring,
The Shop called Calmini.
Calmini sent out new spring
Shop put spring on Friday
Problem fixed less than a week all together.
I'm happy as  a fly on new poo

I have Calmini bumpers and drive in the salt belt. My bumpers only lasted about a year or so before starting to bubble but it all stemed from trail rash. Once I scuffed the powered coat or a rock chip gets through it it starts to bubble and rust underneath. Thats just the nature if powder coat. Thats why I had my bumpers sandblasted and I repainted them with Duplicolor bedliner in a spray can. I picked it up at Walmart for $8 a can. It took me about 4 cans per bumper. This way when I get trail rash I can easily touch it up. It blends really well. I touch up the spot and mist around it, after it drys you cant tell what I did.

Mike

Since this seems to be honest observations instead of bashing I'll toss in my 2 cents. The Calmini Roof Rack I have was rusting underneath the powdercoating where there had never been any damage, an obvious sign of poor prep work before the coating was applied.

I live in the "rust belt" and I have seen it attack everything as soon as it is exposed. It is like dog years. One year here is like 7 elsewhere. I have installed all brands of lifts (ProComp, Rancho, SuperLift, Fabtech, etc). They all have finish issues it seems when exposed to this corrosive element. Eventually even a truck's multi coating factory finish will yield to it. Calmini is not exclusive on this. Alerting them to the problem is a good idea as they can investigate a way to provide greater protection to their products. Doing so with tact is best. Remember they have done alot to promote and inspire suzuki off-road products. They make alot of great products but, no person, business or product is perfect.

I started a small business a few years ago that made lift kits for GM vans. No one else was doing it. I tried to make the best products I could and provide customer service. It was not easy. Someone always found something to complain about. Don't get me wrong constructive criticism is a good thing. I tried to apply the feedback to better the company and products. I even took suggestions. But when someone would just complain it was frustrating. I (the company) got bashed on forums too and it hurts. Eventually I sold the company just so I could have some free time back. 

I guess what I am trying to say is Calmini is a good company, though not perfect. I like the products I recieved. I had good customer service from them and recieved everything promtly. My tracker is now facing a Michigan winter with all it's road salt so we will see how well the finish holds up. I want my Rig to last as long as it can so I will try to wash that $#!+ off it as much as I can. Too bad we can't all complain to the DOT and get them to stop salting our roads. I hate the stuff.   

Just wanted to throw in my .02 as a former owner of a nitch market company. We can help these companies or we can hurt them. Personnally I would like to see all these Suzuki aftermarket companies stay around as long as possable and provide the products we want and need to keep our rigs going where we want them to go.    Peace.

Powdercoat isn't rust proof in any way, no matter what people that sell stuff that is powdercoated say.  I've seen stuff with no scratches, dings, chips, dents, whatever start rusting here in the salt belt.  Even powdercoat has microscopic little fissures for the salt to get into and through and then start rust underneath it.  How long powdercoat will last depends upon how well it is done.  Remember that Calmini is in SoCal so their powdercoater probably doesn't worry about saltbelt road salt.  He can do a crappy job and it will last for decades there.

Your best bet for longevity is to do something with bedliner like Mikerpm4x4 did.  How's that holding up by the way Mike?  Thinking about doing my floorboards with it now that the stinky carpet is gone.

I had the tube bumper on my Ranger done with Rhino Liner.  It'll never rust now.

If you're dead set on paint look for something like POR15 or Rust Encapsulator that auto restorers use, coat it with that, and then paint over that.  No rust as long as you don't whack it so hard you actually manage to get down to bare metal.