arctic_mark Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 (edited) Installed the Calmini 3" lift kit over the weekend and took the rig to Kal-Tire for alignment. The left front wheel is fine but according to their technician, there's no way to correct the excessive positive camber on the right side. Was a little bad before the lift but now it's awful. He suggested that the frame could be distorted a bit requiring expensive straightening!! Would ball joints (either upper or lower) with elongated slots rather than holes (where they attach to the control arms) giving room to slightly re-position them help solve this, and do they exist as aftermarket items for the WD21? If so, where can I get them? I know you can get them for other import makes. Guess if i went that route I'd need to replace them on eitehr side? If they don't exist, would it be safe have a machinist extend the holes into slots to give more room for adjustment?? Thanks Mark Edited June 27, 2006 by arctic_mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLApathy Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 what kinda lift do u have Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vengeful Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 Installed the Calmini 3" lift kit First five words of the post Justin..... -thnkboutit- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SC88Pathy Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 First off try taking it to a Nissan dealership, sometimes tire shops don't quite understand how to align Pathfinders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey.T Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 Try a Dealer Alignment... Bet they can do it. Then go and get the Goodyear Lifetime Alignment. Then you will be set. I remember someone else had this problem and the dealship took care of it np... vengeful Posted on Jun 27 2006, 12:07 PM QUOTE (arctic_mark @ Jun 27 2006, 12:53 PM) Installed the Calmini 3" lift kit First five words of the post Justin..... Dan's just jealous he cant get one for his R50... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vengeful Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 I am NOT jealous....you haven't heard about my experiences with that joke of a company. I would never buy anything from them, or recommend that anyone do. Goodyear doesn't offer a lifetime alignment. That's Firestone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arctic_mark Posted June 27, 2006 Author Share Posted June 27, 2006 (edited) OK, so tell me what's the deal with Calmini? Sens me a PM if it's that bad!!! :X And I'll try the dealership first before I look at the adjustable balljoint option. Mark Edited June 27, 2006 by arctic_mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vengeful Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 It's a very long story, and I'll send it to ya this evening when I get home from work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arctic_mark Posted June 27, 2006 Author Share Posted June 27, 2006 Well, it was a b**ch to put on and I haven't got it on the trail yet either. Wanna solve the alignement probs, let the T-bars settle down, and solve the damn knocking from the upper a-arm spindle when I use the brakes! Seems the sleeves and bushings don't want to go tight enough! May have to add a few washers on there behind the nuts on either end of the spindle (would this work!?). Or is this a Calmini problem?! pssd And I'm hoping that the alignment probs aren't a Calmini problem too! It better darned work well for all the cash that's been flowing in the wrong direction so far! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vengeful Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 Well...Calmini parts have been known for poor workmanship. Every single Calmini part I've ever seen has, at the very least, had the powdercoating flaking off upon reciept from shipment. I ordered a set of lift shackles for a Frontier as a gift for a good friend of mine. They charged my card the next day...2 weeks later, no shackles, I call them up...Uh...your order was cancelled. I said...bull@!*%! You charged my credit card! Send me my effing shackles, or give me my money back, or I'm going to call my attorney. The guy said, we can't refund your money if the order has been cancelled, so we'll ship out the shackles to you. 3 weeks later, they showed up...well, sorta. There was only 1 shackle in the box and there was no hardware, and it was only half powder-coated. I called them back up, and they tried to say it was my fault that they screwed up shipping it. Then when I explained that these were purchased as a gift for a good friend of mine who was being deployed and it was very important to have these on before he left, which had already happened, the guy changed the subject and was like...well, if its not for your truck, what do you drive, and blah blah blah....so I told him, and he goes....oh, only people with small <word>s drive those! I mailed him the piece of garbage that he shipped me, along with a court order to send me my money back, along with any and all shipping and phone charges I incurred. Called SLR, ordered the parts, they arrive 4 days later and were 100x better quality and much much nicer than the Crapmini sh**. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arctic_mark Posted June 27, 2006 Author Share Posted June 27, 2006 Commiserations dude!! That's insane. Wish I'd know that before, would have gone some place else! As it was it took them over a month from getting my cash to actually sending out my order. I got my Pathy booked in for a dealership alignment but that isn't until next Wednesday (was the earliest of all three nissan dealerships in Edmonton!) and then well see if the problems are Calmini's, my effed-up rig, or my poor instal job!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey.T Posted June 28, 2006 Share Posted June 28, 2006 (edited) I also had some challenges getting my stuff... I got a hold of the owner and they shipped it that night.... The quality of all of my 3" SL look and feel great... to bad I blew the motor 24 miles after getting the lift on and the alignment done... Wait new motor is in... Just need to find someone willing to weld the spacer in the egr tube... My Mission for this week.... Edited June 28, 2006 by Casey.T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arctic_mark Posted June 28, 2006 Author Share Posted June 28, 2006 Just a couple more questions about the lift from this novice wrencher! 1) There's a bit of play on the upper link spindles resulting in slight lateral movement of the A-arm bushings and sleeves (and thus the upper A-arm it self) so that when I brake there's a nasty clunk/bang. Hopefully I should be able to tighten the nuts on the end of the spindle to stop things from moving this evening, but if not, would adding suitable sized washers (same diameter as the sleeve or bushing) to the outer ends of the spindle do the trick? 2) The whole suspension is now creaking like crazy even though I lubed up all bushings with dielectric grease as recommended by a couple of dudes I wheel with who've lifted their own rigs. Is this typical after an SL job, will it settle down after time; is there anything I can do to get it to be quiet; or is indicative of a crappy lift kit, poor install or other bent frame/knuckle spindle problems!!?? Thanks for the help people Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammyb33 Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 i dont have any Clamini stuff...but what i have heard is they sell very very noisy bushings... dont kno what else, but all i know is im not ordering from calmini... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 1. No such thing as slotted or adjustable balljoints for Nissans. 2. I'd be VERY careful driving that around if it's making noises and won't align and has that much play in it. Loose front end parts are NOT something you leave alone and continue driving around on. One errant bump and whoosh, your wheel about falls off, you crash and wreck into other cars and everyone loses a bunch of money...hopefully that pedestrain/biker/bicyclist wasn't standing in the wrong place...you get the idea. 3. Poly bushings squeak, but I bet what's squeaking on yours are the steel sleeves that the bushings slide onto. Did you lube the insides of those before install? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geordie4x4 Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 arctic-mark, You mentioned the UCA movement problem solve the damn knocking from the upper a-arm spindle when I use the brakes! Seems the sleeves and bushings don't want to go tight enough! May have to add a few washers on there behind the nuts on either end of the spindle (would this work!?). I had the same problem with my Superlift UCA bushes being too long for the spindle resulting in excessive forward and rear movement of the UCA under breaking. The problem was the length of the "crush tube" I measured them and ground them down by about 5mm, this also improved the caster angle by holding the UCA back on the spindle. Slotting The upper ball joints have threaded holes so can not be slotted. you could slot the holes in the UCA but it would have to be done well to avoid problems. I had an engineering shop slot the hole 6mm inward and make up a small spacer to fill the slot and use a larger washer and high tensile bolts to hold it all tight. This corrected the positive camber to slightly negative. That was 80,000km ago and my wheels haven’t fallen off yet. Pity to have to do anything to a new lift kit to make it fit correctly. If the camber is too far negative (in at the top) they fit spacer washers to the bolts mounting the UCA spindle to the chassis. This can also fix caster angle by fitting washers only to the front or back bolt of the spindle thereby tilting the spindle and UCA forward or back as needed. But if the wheels are hinging out at the top, then more major surgery is needed. Creaking As 88 said, lubricate the new parts you installed, but if that doesn’t work try this. The creaking in mine was from the lower rubber bushes to the chassis being over stretched and fighting the lift. I simply loosened the bolt and allowed the inner stele tube to rotate on the pivot bolt directly in front of the torsion bar then tightened it up. I also found this was the case with the rear trailing rods bushes. All the standard rubber bushes are vulcanised into an inner and outer stele tube. When you lift the vehicle they are not sitting in a neutral position unless you slacken the bolt and allow the inner crush tube to re settle (and tighten again). Geordie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geordie4x4 Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 I just thought of something else, I see that the newer D22 (about 1998 - 2000) Navara ute here in Australia has an adjustable lower pivot bolt. This is an offset bolt with a lock washer at the front lower arm to chassis pivot. It can be turned to move the lower arm in or out. Would this fit in a WD21. G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Dunno, but I doubt it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 For squeaky poly bushings, check this out... http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=5245&st=20 B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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