Lifting the VX

[Tonka]

Does anybody that has done it without the Calmini lift had any problems? I know that Swordy said he had some problems with his springs from the Calmini lift.

[BigMeatVX]

Big Mike,

I have alot of experience with lifting the VX...
I took my VX to Cali to Calmini for the prototype lift kit...
Steve at Calmini does a very fine job engineering his parts and is quite knowlegable on Isuzu stuff.

The longer shocks ARE needed if you intend to use the rear bumpstop spacers; other wise you will lose some articulation.
And the shocks that come in the kit are great, also about 3" longer than the stock ones which allows for more travel.

The front shocks are long enough to lift it even more with NO problems.

I am using jeep grand cherokee springs on my VX now for 4" of lift

Lastly, the REAL improvement came when I flipped the upper ball joint mount...gives about 2" more drop travel.

I have a measured frt travel of 10" and rear travel of 16" with the sway bars removed.


Allan L
99 VX on 35's

[Swordy]

No Grandpa Bob, I thought it was a very good price.

Phines,, You still will need some longer rear shocks if you want to gain any articulation in the back. The extended shock length determins how much. I it's too much, the springs fall out. If its not enough, your riding at the top of your travel and won't gain any articulation out of your new springs. Calmini's rear shocks, while maybe not the best, were chosen with your springset in mind. Also, if your planning on running bigger tires you MAY need front and rear bumpstop extensions to keep your new tires from hitting the top of the fenders when the front or rear suspensions fully articulate. (they would be easy to make with justy a sawzall and a drill though)

Regardless of who you buy the springs from you'll need a trackbar extension. Maybe the easiest way would be to buy the kit and chuck the front shocks. Or who knows, maybe you'll like them too. They were too soft for me. I'm using the stock fronts with Calmini rears. I'm going to try to find some different rear shocks, but these aren't bad.

When you put in the springs, since you'll need to get it re-aligned anyway, do yourself a favor and flip the ball joints at the same time. I will give your front end quite a bit more down travel for free. it makes ALOT of difference.

I know there was something else I needed to address here, but duhh.. I don't remember what it was.

Andy

[phines]

Thanks for all the info Swordy! I guess I just got a little excited about this whole thing and rushed into it.

I already have the new rims and tires coming in this week, so I'll try them out and and do some moderate off-road tests to see how much more I need to do with the suspension. I may need some more assistance from you when that time comes... I've got a lot to learn! Thanks again!
________
Water Bong

[TimG]

I've been reading up on the ball joint flip. I've seen several mentions of ball joint spacers. What size did you use (if you used them) when you did yours Swordy?

[Swordy]

I flipped my ball joints about a year ago. It is a great mod if you need the extra articulation for crawling. I did not use any spacers when I did mine. As your front A-arms drop, your CV joint angles increase, and at some pointyour CV joints can actually absorb as much torque as it is transmitting, causing premature CV breakage as well as torn CV boots. I don't want to scare you away from using the spacers if you need them, just be aware of some of the possible consequences. BTW, you can get much of the same effect by modifying your front droop stops. Then when you crank the torsion bars, your ball joint flip will straighten out your upper control arm geometry to a position that is closer to the stock position.

Andy

[Francesco Rizzo]

seems like this thread was dead long ago, but I have the adjustible rancho shocks installed in my vx. I don't know if I'm missing something but I guess you can keep the stock shocks, if so would I be able to use these ranchos? How much would the kit cost minus the shocks?