Xterra suspension

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OffroadRon
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Hello Almosters,

Let me please clarify a few things here.

The Xterra driver in question is me. I have recently bought the Lovell suspension liftkit 2,5" with UCA's from Calmini through Ramy 4x4 and had it installed by Shibu (Best Line Garage). Unfortunately the car was making a terrible cracking/scratching sound afterwards, both on road (driving around corners) and off road. Over the last 2 weeks Shibu spend a lot of time trying to identify the problem and fix it. Not having found the problem and confirming everything was installed properly, I eventually contacted Ramy 4x4 who is the supplier of the equipment to have a look at it. They have done several Xterra's in the past.

Ramy 4x4 confirmed there was nothing wrong with the installation done by Best Line Garage. It seems that there is no installation issue, but more a kind of product issue! Ramy made some slight adjustments based on their past experiences with other Xterra's, but unfortunately it is still not working for me as it should be. We need to look into this now and see how this can be solved.

So please no blames to the companies/garages involved. All parties are still trying to work on a solution. As you understand, I am quite frustrated by the fact the car is not driving as it should be and moreover it is very timeconsuming going back and forth to the garages. But I have still good hope they will come up with a solution....inshallah. I will keep you updated once all is fixed.

Apart from the whole "cracking sound issue", the lifted car is driving much better in the dunes now than with the stock equipment.

Any suggestions from Xterra drivers who faced similar issues and have solved it, are more than welcome!



Cu guys in the sand
Ronald
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where is the sound coming from, the front or the rear wheels and on which side
Darshan
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I have enquired about this issue and hear that the upper arm is making all the noise. So would it be safe to say that ciga should be alright to go for the suspension minus the upper arm?Ronald pls chime in as to whether my assumption is right.
Wasif Ahmed
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Darshan;11241 wrote:I have enquired about this issue and hear that the upper arm is making all the noise. So would it be safe to say that ciga should be alright to go for the suspension minus the upper arm?Ronald pls chime in as to whether my assumption is right.
Or get Rami to replace them with a fresh set !!!
manolo
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Hey guys,

I was personally involved with all the Xterras we modified the past 2 years. I am also personally following up on Ronald's project.

As a start, my name is Marwan. I'm from the Ramy team. I also join Almost 4x4 whenever I can and hang out a lot with most of the members.

As for the Xterra, we strongly recommend to add the upper control arms when fitting the 2.5" lift kit. This is based on experience and from our close relationship with Calmini. Even an OFF ROAD version should change the upper control arm as it is already slightly lifted and lifting it a little more will lead to a "clunking" noise coming from an upper ball joint that doesn't articulate properly on the stock UCA. The Xterra cannot be compared to the FJ Cruiser when it comes to the upper control arm. The FJ cruiser has a more advances stock upper control arm that allows up to 3" lift (2.5" mostly recommended).

Ramy refuses to install a 2.5" lift kit on an Xterra without installing a UCL because we know that the client will come back to us and we are responsible of the work we do. Hence, we will only install something that will keep the client happy instead of creating back fire. We understand that the upper control arms are an investment on their own, but unfortunately there are no other safe solutions for the Xterra yet.

I am more than happy to answer any questions you have.

Marwan
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OffroadRon
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Hi Darshan, Ciga

Please ask Marwan on the technical part, as offered by him. I am not an expert on the matter :003:


Thanks, cu guys in the sand. Hope the car is completely fixed for Friday's trip
Ronald
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manolo;11280 wrote:Hey guys,

I was personally involved with all the Xterras we modified the past 2 years. I am also personally following up on Ronald's project.

As a start, my name is Marwan. I'm from the Ramy team. I also join Almost 4x4 whenever I can and hang out a lot with most of the members.

As for the Xterra, we strongly recommend to add the upper control arms when fitting the 2.5" lift kit. This is based on experience and from our close relationship with Calmini. Even an OFF ROAD version should change the upper control arm as it is already slightly lifted and lifting it a little more will lead to a "clunking" noise coming from an upper ball joint that doesn't articulate properly on the stock UCA. The Xterra cannot be compared to the FJ Cruiser when it comes to the upper control arm. The FJ cruiser has a more advances stock upper control arm that allows up to 3" lift (2.5" mostly recommended).

Ramy refuses to install a 2.5" lift kit on an Xterra without installing a UCL because we know that the client will come back to us and we are responsible of the work we do. Hence, we will only install something that will keep the client happy instead of creating back fire. We understand that the upper control arms are an investment on their own, but unfortunately there are no other safe solutions for the Xterra yet.

I am more than happy to answer any questions you have.

Marwan
Hi Marwan,
It's good to see you on the forum and we hope that you visit us more often to share your technical knowledge and we can learn a thing or two from you...

Thanks...
Darshan
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manolo;11280 wrote: I am more than happy to answer any questions you have.

Marwan
Hello Marwan: Welcome to the forum. I have heard good things about you so far.
:045:

I am keen to know what is causing the noise on Ronald's xterra :032:. So far i was thinking that the Calmini was the issue. Is the bushings the old Delrin type (White colour) or the new ones (Black colour) Apparently Calmini released new black colour bushings to solve the squeek issue, but still many people seem to have the same issue.

Search on google with "Calmini UCA squeek" and tons of them turn up.

See a few excerpts from other forums regarding Calmini UCAs.

"I've come to the conclusion that there is NOTHING "sqeak
free" about these latest Calmini bushings. Holy shit. Get some sand or mud
anywhere near 'em and after a day they squeal like a stuck pig
.

I keep a can of spray lube (synthetic) handy in the truck, and a quick spray of the
bushings (four seams on each side, eight total) quiets them right down to
silence. WD-40 doesn't work as well as a real lubricant. I know, I've tried. I
might try some spray greases next, but this works well. It's not "Tri Lube" but
something similar... Silver can, maybe "Quick Lube" or such. I'll double
check."

Another one with possibile solution? :

"Try some white lithium spray grease, mine started squeeking a week after they
where installed, so I blasted them with white lithium grease,
then we went
on vacation to Hatteras and I got to bouncing really bad one night on the beach,
and ever since, no squeeks. Just had to re-crank the t-bars after the bouncing
episode. "

I am sure that you will sort it out with another try and Ronald will be happy with his toy. But for the sake of education of the mechanically oriented, Pls let us know when you fix it as to what the cause was.

Thanks in advance and yet another thanks for your personal follow up with your techs to solve a fellow almoster's issue. :047:

On a lighter note: I can visualize Capri sitting somewhere and laughing at us and all the issues people are going through just because they lifted their car and did not like the advice :011:
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caprihorse
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Darshan;11393 wrote:Hello Marwan: Welcome to the forum. I have heard good things about you so far.
:045:

I am keen to know what is causing the noise on Ronald's xterra :032:. So far i was thinking that the Calmini was the issue. Is the bushings the old Delrin type (White colour) or the new ones (Black colour) Apparently Calmini released new black colour bushings to solve the squeek issue, but still many people seem to have the same issue.

Search on google with "Calmini UCA squeek" and tons of them turn up.

See a few excerpts from other forums regarding Calmini UCAs.

"I've come to the conclusion that there is NOTHING "sqeak
free" about these latest Calmini bushings. Holy shit. Get some sand or mud
anywhere near 'em and after a day they squeal like a stuck pig
.

I keep a can of spray lube (synthetic) handy in the truck, and a quick spray of the
bushings (four seams on each side, eight total) quiets them right down to
silence. WD-40 doesn't work as well as a real lubricant. I know, I've tried. I
might try some spray greases next, but this works well. It's not "Tri Lube" but
something similar... Silver can, maybe "Quick Lube" or such. I'll double
check."

Another one with possibile solution? :

"Try some white lithium spray grease, mine started squeeking a week after they
where installed, so I blasted them with white lithium grease,
then we went
on vacation to Hatteras and I got to bouncing really bad one night on the beach,
and ever since, no squeeks. Just had to re-crank the t-bars after the bouncing
episode. "

I am sure that you will sort it out with another try and Ronald will be happy with his toy. But for the sake of education of the mechanically oriented, Pls let us know when you fix it as to what the cause was.

Thanks in advance and yet another thanks for your personal follow up with your techs to solve a fellow almoster's issue. :047:

On a lighter note: I can visualize Capri sitting somewhere and laughing at us and all the issues people are going through just because they lifted their car and did not like the advice :011:
I'm not laughing out of you guys, but I feel sad. You are spending lots of money and energy to bring your car out of balance, shifting the weights into abnormal positions and then wondering what's going wrong and some of you later ending with fatal accidents in a desert...
Duck Commander
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caprihorse;11398 wrote:I'm not laughing out of you guys, but I feel sad. You are spending lots of money and energy to bring your car out of balance, shifting the weights into abnormal positions and then wondering what's going wrong and some of you later ending with fatal accidents in a desert...
you are right but we need to be mature enough to keep our cars in stock position, may be when I will be angry marshal :))
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