Calmini 3" Lift - Holden Frontera

Hi Brian,

Yeah, the fuel tank is a pain. The guard on my Frontera has a few dings in it from the fire trails up around Mt Mee.

I haven't had a chance to get back up there and test the suspension properly, but I reckon I won't be dragging the belly over nearly so many lumps.

The rear diff is now the lowest point - so 31" tyres is the next step.

All the best,

Benn

Hi Mozza,

No pics yet I'm afraid. Haven't got a digital camera and I just finished the install a week or so ago.

The only part of the install I couldn't do myself was removing the bushes from the front factory upper control arms (to remove the fulcrum pin).

Wound up taking the pair to a local engineering firm to get them pressed out and have the pins and new bushes installed in the new upper control arms. Cost $66 to get that done.

Oh, and had to get the wheel alignment done professionally - another $86 at Pedders.

Time spent under the car was about 2 days - but the whole process took longer because I had to wait on the engineering firm to do the work on the upper control arms. (Would've been quicker too if I'd been smarter about getting the front ball joints out. Wasted time stuffing around with that!)

The kit cost around AUD$1,100 (including a new heavy duty track bar) - plus another $310 to get the kit sent over by FedEx. (Calmini arranged this.) Customs duty was about $260.

I dealt with a guy at Calmini named David Kampa. He was a big help. (All by e-mail.) Payment was by an international money transfer through my local bank branch. Easy enough to do.

Slowest part was getting the kit through Customs. Only took 4 days to come from the States - but another 8 days to clear Customs!

Only real problem I had with the install was the front brake lines. Couldn't get the old ones off - but they're the same length as the replacements - so it's no big deal.

With the right tools it was relatively easy to put in - and the instructions were pretty good. Just needed a good set of metric sockets and open-ended/ring spanners, trolley jack and some stands - and a hammer and tyre lever (to get the ball joints to let go).

Well worth it from my point of view, and the kit is great quality and everything fit perfectly. (The only thing I didn't like was the shockies - too small bore in my opinion - so I paid extra to get a set of bigger bore gas shocks from Pedders - but that was my choice.)

I was actually a bit surprised by how much lift I got. I though maybe 260-270mm at the fuel tank - but wound up with 295mm. I've measured it a couple of times to be sure. Too good to be true :-)

Let me know if you have any more questions.

Cheers,

Benn