I had heard talk of the Calmini X getting stuck on a rock or something at Moab, resulting in the front bumper getting all twisted up. I have a few questions regarding the front bumper.

1: Is anything being done to strengthen the bumper in light of it's showing at Moab? some kind of corner reinforcement?

2: Does anyone have a photo of said twisted bumper so I can see what all the hoopla is about? What situation led to the twisting, and what contacted it? Was it the tire or a rock that twisted it?

3: Is there an expected release date on the bumper? I've seen prototypes for 8 months now, but never seen the production version.

I appreciate any new info you can shed on the subject, Steve.

bump. Anything?

This has been answered in other threads.

The bumper that got bent was a prototype built in just a few hours before leaving for GOX, it was never tested, and made of 10 ga. steel.

Due to massive complaints, whining and BS, Calmini is doing another redesign.

thanks Ian... but do you work for Calmini? I think not!

Just messing with you... wanted to hear the word on what's really happening regarding the redesign.

Matt

I just hope that the final product will fit our 2000 and 2001's! The newer facial design of the 2002 requires a different/ modified design due to a new bumper height.

What a change

Why should Calmini redesign their bumper because a small segment of Xterra owners (who already own fucking ARBs) say it should be changed ?

The same goes with the rear bumper, only people who already wasted money on a KMA are voicing concerns about Calmini's rear bumper.

What does this tell you ?

No one is going to "settle" for a bumper from anyone unless they choose to.

Look at all of us, we "settled" for an ARB made for a different vehicle, which doesn't fit very well, because there wasn't anything else on the market.

The majority of purchases by Xterra owners seem to be of the "I got it first" variety, instead of actually buying a quality product (look at the KMA crap).

What I have been trying to clear up since GOX, is the misinformation being posted over and over again by several individuals intent on ruining the Calmini name for whatever reason.

Matt posted a question that should have never come up, since Steve was running a production bumper at GOX.

When Calmini has their new design ready, you can all line up again to post your zillions of reasons of why it sucks, and how you could build a better one in your garage in a weekend.

I sure hope Calmini isn't paying you to do PR for them. It's tough not to associate your opinions with their company.

By the way, when are you going to put that Calmini bumper on your truck. You gave lots of glowing reviews of it, and apparently think the first version was perfect, unworthy of dissenting opinions. "Put their bumper where your mouth is", so to speak.

Regarding the "buy it first crew" at least people are willing to buy products as they come out and give their honest opinions to other Xterra owners. I appreciate people that spend their hard earned cash to test out products, especially when the products don't turn out as expected and they are able to warn other owners.

And lastly, I think people with ARB's and KMA's are good people to share their opinions regarding Calmini. They are using a product that in their experience could be improved. Do you want people who have never driven an Xterra to give their opinions to Nissan on what could be improved for their next model year?

I know you and several members of Xterra clubs met with Nissan-USA to discuss improvements in the 2002 X. They didn't appear to apply what was said much. Didn't you slam them for that? How would you feel if some schmuck from Nissan-Japan marketing started telling you that your opinion doesn't matter because you're part of a small segment of the "fucking" offroaders who own Xterras already.

(Oh, wait that has pretty much happened hasn't it?)

I'm just trying to stop the current misinformation about the front bumper that was at GOX on the yellow Calmini Xterra.

It's been mentioned in a dozen threads since then, and it is not an issue. I was the only person who saw what happened, and I saw it three times. Anything anyone else says is just not accurate.

Calmini is trying hard to make products that people want, but they sure get little respect for doing so.

Hey Ian..

This thread should be deleted (or moved out of this forum)like you deleted my response to the Fabritron thread.

Your board.. your rules..

Like you said.. The ORIGINAL response should be from the MANUFACTURER not a regular person. You are breaking your own rules..

Ian -

First you answer a question for a manufacturer. Not playing by your own rules?

Why can't Calmini answer a question about a product of theirs that occured damage? They should be defending the fact that it was a prototype and announcing what modifications have been made to correct this problem, In an effort to restore faith in their product and design abilities.

Bumpers/Skids/Rear Carriers are expensive. Before I buy anything I want to know others opinions of the product and how it compares to direct offsets. I appreciate everyones comments about products and I take everyones comments into consideration, even people I don't like.

Second you say "The bumper that got bent was a prototype", then you say "Steve was running a production bumper at GOX".

So was it a prototype or a production bumper that bent???

Maybe Steve, an employee of Calmini can clear this up as he should have in the first place, Steve?

I know, I know, I'm not Steve. But since I did drive out to Calmini to check stuff out, I do think that I am somewhat qualified to comment.

If Steve is running what I saw, it is lighter gauge for development purposes. I think that Ian accidentally used the wrong description.....cuz I don't think Calmini has anything in production quite yet for the Xterra. ....at least not the rear bumper yet, cuz I'm counting the days in anticipation until my order is filled!

Guys----coming from an admin perspective (I manage computer networks), Ian's the admin, if he wants to break a role or two, it his prerogative.

However, he also needs to realize that we, the users of this board, are his customers. The only reason someone would pay to advertise on this board is if there are enough competent members that would ultimately purchase from the advertisers. With out that membership, advertisers go away.

Saying that, Ian is still the admin. And we should respect him for that.

Ok I was at gox and I speak to steve regularly. I have no financial ties to any company and I have no personal conflicts with anyone on this board. I guess I can give the most impartial information.

The bumper on the yellow calmini truck was a 10 gauge mock up not a production bumper. This is the bumper which was mangled. It is unfortunate that this happened because it gave many the wrong idea about calmini products.

The bumpers on the project X truck were 3/16 steel which is the standard for calmini products. The project X bumper is as close to a production piece as possible.

Calmini does take in to account the comments by xterra users whether they are given in good nature or not. The design of their bumper has not been finalized and GOX was one of the testing grounds. A redesign is being made to the bumper in order to increase the usefullness and versatility.

It is unfortunate that many on this board cannot give unbiased opinions. Both the defenders of companies as well as the attackers bring their own personal feelings into what should be a strictly technical discussion. Dropping your pertensions and keeping a level head would make these discussions much more usefull.

I never said it was a production bumper, please point out where I said this.

I also said they would be answered within a few days, it had been 10 when Matt bumped it.

I hadn't seen the thread until then, and when I noticed it was the same bullshit thread about the damaged bumper, I decided it was in everyone's best interest that I reply to it.

If someone were posting misleading information, repeatedly, about Fabritron, you would do the same thing.

[/QUOTE]Matt posted a question that should have never come up, since Steve was running a production bumper [/QUOTE] Probably a typo of thought though.

[ 10-13-2001: Message edited by: socalpunX ]

Good information and correct, as I recall.
But how can you be "impartial" with that ARB hanging off your front end?
Oh and since I know the reply will be very "hot"

Yes, a typo.

"Matt posted a question that should have never come up, since Steve was running a production bumper at GOX."

Should have read...

"Matt posted a question that should have never come up, since Steve was not running a production bumper at GOX."

My bad, but we're still straying away from the reason I replied in the first place.

I think I found it... this is a bit confusing...

Matt posted a question that should have never come up, since Steve was running a production bumper at GOX.

Anyway, I wasn't there, and I was also on vacation, then 9/11 rolled around so I did not get the full scoop on the bumper... I wasn't aware oif what was brought to GOX, I assumed everything was as close to production as possible.

I think this thread should die. It's not really doing anyone any good, especially Calmini, Ian, and me, as the original questions won't be answered by Calmini at this point.

Holy Cow! Look at the fun I'm missin' by being away. Guys, the first thing I must say is that I'm completely swamped getting ready for the SEMA show right now. I don't have any time to watch this list. To Matt & PNUTMNM I'm very sorry that I didn't get back right away. In the future, if you don't get an immediate response, please call our toll free line. If I'm not in, someone will certainly help you. That said, Ivan's description of our proto bumper is exactly as I told him it happened. Schlud, not exactly sure what your problem is, but please call me directly if I can help. No, Ian does not do our PR. But, I'm sure he'd be of the same attitude toward anything he believes in. He's direct - and so am I. He likes our program, and I'm proud of that. This whole thread is silly, as I'm the only guy that can really answer questions about our parts, and I'm not around! So let's get back to talking about parts, their applications, and not about who's aligned with who. Sound good? Steve.

P.S. after Nov. 5, I'll have much more time for all things Nissan, as well as this board.

That "small segment" also just happens to be a group of people with no four wheeling experience prior to buying an Xterra.
Interesting how you think that group can make or break a company. Break Xterras yes, but not a company.

Many people asked for a complete rear bumper, with corner replacements.
Steve made one (in a week), and everyone said it sucked. It was ugly too, but experienced 4 wheelers will take function over form any day.

Steve then created the new bumper (which is perfect), and it's still getting bashed by people with no mechanical design knowledge whatsoever. People who had never even seen the bumper claimed it wasn't strong enough.

The same thing is happening again with the redesinged front bumper, and I would appreciate it if everyone would just shut the fuck up until it is released.

Truly amazing.

How true that is.

Maybe you should describe your take on early adopters, I don't seem to get it.

The Sega Dreamcast is arguably still the best console on the market right now, and has been for 2 years. Sadly, Microsoft and Sony have more money, and forced Sega out.

DCC died because it was too pricey, and didn't offer anything CD/CD-R didn't offer. DAT was a better solution as well for the audio pro.

Sony Mini-Disk should have flown, but the American public was too stupid to see the quality, upset because of the limits on pirating music and simply afraid of a new format.

DVD's are widescreen because that's the way the film was shot. If you want to watch a miserable pan & scan cropped version, buy it on VHS.

Anyone who watches P&S should have their television taken away.

WTF? i guess calmini should develop products in complete secrecy so 'failures' are never known.

it sounds like they tried really hard to make something to show for gox and all the xterra owners. it was a PRE production thing, for godsake!

i think it looks great and it remains to be seen how it functions. you guys are coming off like complete stains, i mean, do you want them to fail or something?

you've gotten word from calmini and those in the know so why not accept it? why hold them to a different standard than anyone else?

adopters...give me a break. it's a frickin bumper-if it's good, they will do fine.

I don't have a problem with Calmini, Steve. I was just voicing my opinion about Ian's shotgun style defense of your company.

He tends to make blanket statements which attack both the people who would like to see a good product come out, and those who are just bitching.

I suggested this latest forum because I didn't see any good coming out of Ian acting as the mouthpiece for your company or any others (there's too much hostility between certain people on this board for that to work efficiently. I felt it would be better to hear directly from the manufacturer's mouths, and was hoping it would bring more owners into contact with you.

Thanks for jumping into the fray!

(Just a note for Ian. I don't think the "you've only had 2 years expeience with your Xterra" argument is holding too much water with people here. Anyone with a 2000 Xterra that offroads has as much experience with this vehicle as anyone else. Yes, you might have more experience in terms of offroading, but how many rear bumpers have you completely rebuilt? My point being everyone has bits of knowledge in specific parts of their trucks. That's why we have all these web sites so we can share with other owners and build the knowledge base.

Discounting those opinions doesn't make for better products. And no I don't have any problem with you correcting misinformation that is out there. I just think Steve is a better person to do that.

BTW It's all Peckhams fault.