Amada vs Cal off-road/Bilsten

[Dominator Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Dominator]

I am ready to order my lift however I am torn between the Cal Offroad lifter front struts or Armada remote resivours. I have heard heaps of good reports about both. I will be doing a 50mm lift, want to do 3in but need to keep it all legal, and am happy to spend the money toget something really good and comfortable.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Whitey Shockie Maker of the Month Award Find all posts View Profile Close Whitey]

Hey,

Is the lift for a 120 or a 150?

Personally I wouldn't use either, the Amada's have a long history of seal failures, and the CalOffroad Bilsteins are valved more softly than the Oz spec Bilsteins, and I find the Oz Bilsteins way too soft. The CalOffroad Bilsteins are really only suitable for 150's as well, as the bump safety margins are gone for the 120, with a closed length that is too long.

If you're happy to spend the money, I would be looking at least at Icons, King if you have the money will give you 10-way fully adjustable remote res custom length rebuildable for around 4K.

Best

Mark

[Dominator Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Dominator]

It's on a 150. So neither are that great. I know I said I was happy to spend the money but 4k is probably over stretching the budget.

[tieste510 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close tieste510]

Hi Dominator,
I,Ve just fitted cal offroad 2" silver bilstein struts/bilstein rear shocker with king springs. King springs are front comfort taper and rear are HD. Had to play with the front set up a bit to get the 150 sitting level after receiving the kit from cal,s. The silver struts have 4 hieght adjustments for the spring base so I,Ve set mine on the second groove up from the bottom. It now gives me the following heights with a 5 mm spacer on top of the front struts
Front 820mm
Rear 850mm
Look level and sits perfect on the road now. Not happy at first but are a few adjustment more than happy.

Initially when I fitted the front struts that were supposedly assemble to meet my requirement the front was to low (795mm) and to soft. Up one cerclip position and a 5mm spacer fix it for me.

[Dominator Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Dominator]

Thanks tieste. That is about the height I want mine to sit too. I am having a look at the profenders shocks at the moment as they are adjustable too. I am thinking I will get Dobinson springs (C59-302/C59-325) as there are plenty of people happy with them and if it need to top the front up I will get some spacers. How are your cv angles at that height? Are you going to fit a diff drop kit/adjustable upper arms?

[vxcruiser08 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close vxcruiser08]

Cal off road is great. I had ultimate suspension originally and the cal off road kit was an amazing difference. If you want good handling and comfortable ride i can't speak highly enough of their kit!

[AussieAndy Find all posts View Profile Close AussieAndy]

I've sent cal an email to try and order a kit for myself, does anyone know if/when he is back from holidays? The phone message just says mid Jan, I think we're past that

[wholesalesuspension Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close wholesalesuspension]

If you want something decent that won't entirely destroy the bank, go for Koni's.
I have sold many sets of 88 and 90 series Koni's to Pradopoint 150 owners with nothing but praise for them.

Regards, Jason.

[Sydneydude Member Find all posts View Profile Close Sydneydude]

+1 for Cal off road

[Guest Close Guest]

Anyone got pics of the Caloffroad suspension? And part numbers?

[Whitey Shockie Maker of the Month Award Find all posts View Profile Close Whitey]

Hey amts,

I posted closed-open lengths and part numbers late Oct last year, post #147 in suspension database thread. Nobody has updated the strut/shock list yet.

This is what the struts look like;

http://www.caloffroad.com.au/product..._allmodels.htm

I think they may have quoted me the part numbers back the front, as in the image, the front strut has 24-218528 on it. Rear is then 24-228602.

Best

Mark

[AussieAndy Find all posts View Profile Close AussieAndy]

All good, Cal and co are back on deck. Spoke to them today, he's worked out a kit for my needs and sent through my invoice, need to ring back tomorrow to pay for it, and ask about UCA's, thinking I might just do them now and get it over and done with. What are people's opinions who have the UCA's, should I just bite the bullet? I'm only planning on some medium type 4wd work and touring, but want a perfect wheel alignment because I plan on clocking up some serious kms on this bad boy.

[Guest Close Guest]

Aftermarket UCAs gives you caster adjustment. So better on-center steering feel. Apart from that, if you are going for a 2" lift, there is no need for aftermarket UCAs.

[AussieAndy Find all posts View Profile Close AussieAndy]

After speaking to a few different people, Cal included, we decided I didn't need UCA's, but the car would definatly drive better with them. The tyre shop we use for work said they can usually wheel align them fine usually without the aftermarket UCA's, but occasionally they are needed. With them fitted they can dial more caster in with the UCA's, which will make it drive nicer though. Plus the after market UCA's will let me put bigger tyres on later, and allow a higher lift if desired without any worries. So I figured I may as well just bite the bullet and do them while it's all apart, then there is no excuse not the get a perfect wheel alignment.

[crliin Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close crliin]

CalOffroad front struts

Wow Mark you seem to know allot about these shocks.
The CalOffroad struts actually have models suited for 120 and 150 series and the lengths can be ordered in specific sizes if needed. The actual valving is very different than the yellow Bilstein A712. The CalOffroad valving is deleloped in Germany with the Toyota TRD engineers and is a much higher rate than the A712. This helps handle larger tyres as well as heavier loads e.g bull bar winch dual battery etc etc. all are fully rebuildable. If you need any acurate information drop CalOffroad an email [email protected] and they will be happy to help

Hey,

Is the lift for a 120 or a 150?

Personally I wouldn't use either, the Amada's have a long history of seal failures, and the CalOffroad Bilsteins are valved more softly than the Oz spec Bilsteins, and I find the Oz Bilsteins way too soft. The CalOffroad Bilsteins are really only suitable for 150's as well, as the bump safety margins are gone for the 120, with a closed length that is too long.

If you're happy to spend the money, I would be looking at least at Icons, King if you have the money will give you 10-way fully adjustable remote res custom length rebuildable for around 4K.

Best

Mark