Im getting ready to do a lift on my pathy, ive done alot of research on different types of lift, and i have narrowed it down to the 5in Calmini lift, I know its not the greatest out there especially for rock crawling, well I wont be doing the hardcore stuff, probably just the mild/novice trails, and before everyone starts bashing that its not the way to go let me explain: the calmini is just a platform of whats to come, i will eventually drop the spacer put the prg uca's on and the radflo coilovers, but those will be later.
So my question is, has anyone done this lift on a pathy? How did it ride? and was an alignment difficult to do for it? Were you still able to wheel it as if it was stock(Just a little bit higer)? . Please keep in mind that these questions are referring to just the calmini set up for the time being. Thanks in advance for any feedback.

xd9-g19 wrote:Im getting ready to do a lift on my pathy, ive done alot of research on different types of lift, and i have narrowed it down to the 5in Calmini lift, I know its not the greatest out there especially for rock crawling, well I wont be doing the hardcore stuff, probably just the mild/novice trails, and before everyone starts bashing that its not the way to go let me explain: the calmini is just a platform of whats to come, i will eventually drop the spacer put the prg uca's on and the radflo coilovers, but those will be later.

No, I don't have it. No, I don't have answers for you, but I'm going to give you my $.02. This thing is a huge waste of money, IMO. And the Calmini is NOT a platform from which to expand. If you upgrade (misnomer: in this case, an "upgrade" would cost you much less money) from the Calmini, it means removing all of the Calmini spacers, which is essentially the entire meat behind their lift. If it were me, I'd spend a grand-chump change in comparison to the Calmini price-and actually buy something that will be useful & a real suspension upgrade. Unless you want to new wheels and massive new tires, what's the point of the Calmini? If you don't change out to larger wheels & tires, all you will have is a much higher center of gravity with the same ground clearance & a very strange looking vehicle. Yes, I'm trying my hardest to convince you that the Calmini is not what you want, and also to find out what exactly it is that you do want.

Were you still able to wheel it as if it was stock(Just a little bit higer)?

It will be a hell of a lot more than "just a little bit higher." 5" is just the so-called lift. That doesn't include the added clearance & lift you will get from adding larger wheels and tires. No way is it going to handle like stock if you jack it up so much. You'd definitely need to take corners a lot slower, among many other things like dropping or readjusting the lights, etc.

Well i was only inquiring because i stumbled on to this setup, im pretty much gonna go this route except the rear ofcourse.http://www.thenewx.org/forum/showthread.php?t=17602

First, I don't have a Calmini kit on my own Pathfinder. Second, a couple customers of mine do. They both love their lifts. Here are some Calmini 5" Suspension Lift Kit Facts...

Fact 1: Overall ground clearance is only changed by your ability to fit larger diameter tires. The height of the differential remains the same in relation to all other drive components except the center differential. The same is true on all solid axle lift kits for other trucks/SUVs.

Fact 2: Your vehicle is less prone to being high centered. While your overall ground clearance is not effected much due to your differentials being at the same height in relation to the center of your wheels, the distance over the ground (measured at the center of the vehicle from the frame rails down) is massively improved.

Fact 3: The Calmini kit is compatible with other spring and shock based lift kits for further articulation and ground clearance. Because the Calmini kit retains all stock suspension geometry between the front wheels (one axle) and the rear wheels (the other axle), you can still add other spring and shock based lift components and still use all Calmini components in conjunction with them. CAUTION - This will increase the suspension system's leverage on your frame rails (front to back, that is - think about using a longer handle on a ratchet - your frame rail is the bolt). Don't try to use this setup for high speed, Baja style driving.


xd9-g19:

Cool link you found. Don't expect the Pathfinder to do what that XTerra can do. Hybrid suspension systems that combine drop brackets, differential relocation, and spring and shock upgrades will eventually become the ultimate lift solution for IFS/IRS equipped trucks and SUVs. I say go for it. Don't be afraid to be the first. I just hope you have the budget to buy, break and fix it all.

[quote]i will eventually drop the spacer

In order to keep the stock suspension geometry, you need to keep the Calmini shock tower spacers in place. Otherwise any add-ons won't fit correctly. IF you have an unlimited budget, you'd have to have a custom, long-travel coil-over and linkage setup to replace the spacer/spring/shock everything in the aftermarket world is currently measured to fit.