Hi Folks,
I am posting this to make you aware of the potential nightmare when\if dealing with the Mob at Caloffroad from my experience and hopefully save you going through the same...
Of course there always more to a story and two sides but this is my side :-)
I did my research (clearly not on the right things) for well over a few months with my well earned money burning a whole in my pocket and in the end it came down to a 3" lift and tossing up between CalOffroad and Superior Engineering.
So I ended up getting lured over to CalOffroad with the website and how they had Custom Made\tuned Bilstiens for my car... And I went the whole hog with Diff Drop, Swaybar extensions, UCA's, Adjustable Panhard Rod, Springs, Shocks\Struts - and they even managed to sell me an extension bracket for the Brake Proportioning valve that my car doesn't even have...
They went on to take the full amount from me on the 27th of January and it was two weeks before I started to see any of the bits. and almost 4 before I received everything after numerous call where I would get told the same thing each time, "Oh yes mate you stuff is just here and it will go out tomorrow"...
So here's the real trouble - I bought a 3" lift Kit. However when installed, the rear barely went up 2" and the front went just over 4"!!!
More concerned about the front this is where I have been focusing my attention for now.
on a test drive it was like a pogo stick with literally next to zero suspension movement and the front strut only 20mm from Topped out when on the ground.
So took it out and found that the spring they sent me was 420mm free height - No other manufacturer has a spring even close to this height for a Prado not to mention that it is a progressive rate spring but when installed onto the strut the top three coils are fully compressed so really not much use anyway.
The other problem identified is that the so called custom built strut for a 3" lift is only 555mm open length and this is basically the same open length of the stock standard Prado Struts.... So even taking the hard\long spring out of the equation, At 3" height the strut is way to close to topping out anyway...
Now all of this wouldn't be so bad if they could just accept the fact that they have clearly got this one wrong and help me get it sorted...
Instead they have continued to insist that there is nothing wrong with the setup and it must be something strange about my car that is the issue - They have agreed to send me 20mm (their idea) springs... According to the guys at Cal there is no such thing as softer or harder springs, only shorter or taller springs...
They also insist that the strut length being no longer open than the stock strut even when lifted 3" is not going to be an issue at all.
So this all ended this afternoon with me trying to have a cival convo with the guy about my concerns when he started at me about whether I was a Shock Engineer and if I should think about moving to Germany to work at Bilstien - then suggesting that I I think some of the other "Australian supplied Crap" (his words) is better, then I should just go ahead and get that.
So I am now left waiting for the replacement springs to arrive and with any luck they get me to the right height and aren't to harsh\hard a ride... But still have the concern that the Strut length is to short and will probably destroy them prematurely due to constant topping out.
There is so much more to this story but anyway.
So there you have - If you already have gear from Cal are happy with it and had a good experience then that's awesome and feel free share... If however you are in the market then I would suggest you tread carefully on this one and remember.
I am posting this to make you aware of the potential nightmare when\if dealing with the Mob at Caloffroad from my experience and hopefully save you going through the same...
Of course there always more to a story and two sides but this is my side :-)
I did my research (clearly not on the right things) for well over a few months with my well earned money burning a whole in my pocket and in the end it came down to a 3" lift and tossing up between CalOffroad and Superior Engineering.
So I ended up getting lured over to CalOffroad with the website and how they had Custom Made\tuned Bilstiens for my car... And I went the whole hog with Diff Drop, Swaybar extensions, UCA's, Adjustable Panhard Rod, Springs, Shocks\Struts - and they even managed to sell me an extension bracket for the Brake Proportioning valve that my car doesn't even have...
They went on to take the full amount from me on the 27th of January and it was two weeks before I started to see any of the bits. and almost 4 before I received everything after numerous call where I would get told the same thing each time, "Oh yes mate you stuff is just here and it will go out tomorrow"...
So here's the real trouble - I bought a 3" lift Kit. However when installed, the rear barely went up 2" and the front went just over 4"!!!
More concerned about the front this is where I have been focusing my attention for now.
on a test drive it was like a pogo stick with literally next to zero suspension movement and the front strut only 20mm from Topped out when on the ground.
So took it out and found that the spring they sent me was 420mm free height - No other manufacturer has a spring even close to this height for a Prado not to mention that it is a progressive rate spring but when installed onto the strut the top three coils are fully compressed so really not much use anyway.
The other problem identified is that the so called custom built strut for a 3" lift is only 555mm open length and this is basically the same open length of the stock standard Prado Struts.... So even taking the hard\long spring out of the equation, At 3" height the strut is way to close to topping out anyway...
Now all of this wouldn't be so bad if they could just accept the fact that they have clearly got this one wrong and help me get it sorted...
Instead they have continued to insist that there is nothing wrong with the setup and it must be something strange about my car that is the issue - They have agreed to send me 20mm (their idea) springs... According to the guys at Cal there is no such thing as softer or harder springs, only shorter or taller springs...
They also insist that the strut length being no longer open than the stock strut even when lifted 3" is not going to be an issue at all.
So this all ended this afternoon with me trying to have a cival convo with the guy about my concerns when he started at me about whether I was a Shock Engineer and if I should think about moving to Germany to work at Bilstien - then suggesting that I I think some of the other "Australian supplied Crap" (his words) is better, then I should just go ahead and get that.
So I am now left waiting for the replacement springs to arrive and with any luck they get me to the right height and aren't to harsh\hard a ride... But still have the concern that the Strut length is to short and will probably destroy them prematurely due to constant topping out.
There is so much more to this story but anyway.
So there you have - If you already have gear from Cal are happy with it and had a good experience then that's awesome and feel free share... If however you are in the market then I would suggest you tread carefully on this one and remember.
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