Well, the packs are on. What a difference.

Brian, the u-bolts on my X must be a bit longer. While the use of the stockers is temporary until the UB Skidderz and new u-bolts arrive, I was able to use the lockwashers and nuts with full thread engagement. Glad the skidderz are coming because somewhere along the line, I smashed the crap out the the shock mount; I barely got the shock off and on. Longer shocks will be in order as well, I think.

Have a decent rake despite the 200 or so pounds of rear Shrock, spare tire and jack.

Always fun modding in the dark.

I was thinking of running those with my AC lift kit.. Would those leafs work and level out right if I was using the AC articulator lift kit??

Probably...if those leaves used the stock shackles or a 1" longer lift shackle to give 3" of lift...as the Revolvers in the Articulator Package add 0.75" of lift, being 1.25" longer than stock.

IFS FOLKS! Would their be any issues running the shocks from a 3 In Suspension lift with these springpacks?

Thanks!

RX

Shocks will work but you won’t get all the travel you could out of the springs because they don’t extend long enough; about 3" too short for that.

One thing I noticed is that some of the newer sets I've seen of these springs are slightly different than my set which was one of the originals. Seems like they don't get as much lift or something? In over a year mine really have'nt sagged either.

X2. While I like the way they ride and flex, mine have sagged a bunch. So much so that I'm thinking about cutting them apart and adding an AAL to them.

Parking my X next to Xtoolbox's, his with gear in the back and mine unloaded, you can tell mine have sagged. By the post above, I've only had them on a short while but, in all fairness, I probably carry more weight than most what with the second spare, three fuel cans, fridge, gear for 7-day runs, etc.

As far as shocks go, my 3" Rancho's from before are a bit short, but work okay. Even though I've moved the shock mount up with UB skidderz, it's still not enough. I plan on changing to short body Bilstein 7100s in the near future.

Hope this helps.

Bobby - Less then 3 months and your already considering an AAL - Hmmmh sounds like a bait and switch on the part of Calmini. Anyone else experiencing saggy A@@ syndrome with these packs?

RX

I wouldn't go that far. Like I said, I load up pretty good and don't shy away from the 'froadin and that probably played a role. The onus is on me, I cheaped out -- the price on these things is great -- but in hindsight I should've gone to Alcan while I was in Co last time but was trying to save a buck.

That being said, I was expecting things to settle a bit, but not that much. I called Calmini to ask them about it and they said they hadn't gotten any other calls like that. Makes sense, because there's not too many of these things out there and if there was some widespread problem, I'm sure people would be bitching up a storm on XOC somewhere. It would have been nice if they'd be willing to at least entertain the notion that the springs could've settled more than they should have, but hey, this is the real world. I don't have before-and-after reference photos or measurements.

My comments in this post are my own and I'm not trying to stir up any shit. Again, they ride great and as things stand, the unloaded stance looks good and they flex well. Would I buy them again given how I use my X, well, live and learn. Not every part works in every situation. I'm geared up for expedition-style travel and I should not have opted for an off-the-shelf part. They are working reasonably well thus far given what I'm doing, albeit with a pre-runner stance at times.

The guy who took the call at Calmini could've been a bit more helpful, tho. I mean, he tells me to go take some pics of the difference and send them for review. Umm, yeah, I'm going to hop in my time machine and snap some pics of what it looked like before...

It's my understanding that everyone that does an SAS with those things have them sag within a very short time frame...most either do a Spring over axle on them, or switch to a custom made leaf pack from SLR or Alcan. So, I'm not sure how "Calmini couldn't have heard much about the issue". Of course, like you, these are my opinions, your results may vary. I'll update you on it when I get them on during the SAS next month. I'm using them with an SLR 2" Shackle though..so perhaps that will keep it more even in the rear. I remember seeing Kaiser's SAS pics and his was ass saggy right after he put it on the Xterra. Ultimately, I'll either go with an Alcan pack after a few months, or SOA the Calmini packs and modify the rear driveshaft.

That's been my experience. I did my SAS about 3 months ago and the rear end is about 2" down from where it started. I have the front end as low as it can safely go (4 threads showing above the coilover locknut) and it's still a little bit higher than the rear.

I don't know what I should do... fab up some longer shackles? I have a Frontier axle housing available I could SOA with - but then the back would be way high.

How is the spring pack performance wise? Do you give any weight information to Calmini or is it a standard rate off the shelf thing?

In hindsight would any of you have purchased a custom pack or gone the same route and saved the cash?

I wonder if part of the "Sag" is that the 2" SLR shackle only gives an inch of lift?

(IE: Its 2" longer than stock, not giving 2" of lift...)

So you install a spring pack expecting X" of lift, with lift shackles, expecting another 2" of lift...but its a half inch lower than its supposed to be,...etc?



I say this, because we measured the 2" SLR shackle against the 1.5" Calmini shackle...and the Calmini 1.5" Shackle was alot longer than the SLR 2" Shackle.

I'm not saying you're wrong...but I replaced some 1" lift shackles from SLR with their H Braced 2" shackles, and I got a good amount of lift out of them...it actually caused the Xterra to sit a little ass high...and the difference between the old and new shackle was about an inch and a half as far as lift height.

But...at the same time..isn't it right that you don't want to go with too big of a shackle (i.e. a custom made one to give say 3" of lift) as that puts more stress on the leaves and can flatten them quicker?

SOA seems like the only viable solution in the end...if you SOA on a stock Xterra rear axle, you'll gain about 4-6" of lift after you're done...you have to modify the rear driveshaft (I think it needs to be lengthened by about 2" from the last I had heard to keep from popping out), and depending on how you want the shocks mounted, you may or may not have to modify or move those mounts...however, you don't have to get a Fronty rear axle to do so.

FWIW TJ, I'm running the Calmini shackle so, no, the lack of lift was not from that. The sag happened quickly. I've never had a leaf pack go like that on me, but I had just chalked it up to the loads.

my calmini packs have sagged to and it happened pretty quickly after i did the SAS conversion. my front is definately higher than the back and i can't lower the front anymore than it is now. i need to either re arch these springs, add an AAL which i don't think will give me the lift i want or buy a need set of springs, which would suck. i was going to call calmini this week about it but after reading some of these posts, i' don't think it will do me any good.

Have either SLR or Alcan make you a 5" or 6" rear spring pack, and just be done with it...either that or you can SOA and solve the problem...but that will cost you just about the same in parts and rear driveshaft modification. Alcan or SLR springs made custom for you may just be the option though...probably cost you around 5 bills.