it was a reasonably simple question...

yeah,
so i just got off of the phone with calmini.
you know, i love their stuff, they make a great product and they also don't stick out in my head as people with bad customer service... but the guy answering the phone just hung-up on me and was being really short with me and it pissed me off. i don't want to hear about short-staffing or time differences, i am the customer and i am what keeps the company going and i needed to ask a question and couldn't. i just wanted to ask where their shocks were made and THEN one more question...
first of all, i KNOW that they do not make a steering stabilizer for the x, they make a complete steering kit, i am not going to pay $500 for it, i want a stabilizer like i had on my trooper that THEY MADE. so, i got the brackets from rancho that fit the x and after seeing that rancho's kit for the trooper used the same shock, i wanted to start with asking to find out if the shock with the calmini kit from my trooper would fit on the X, he then told me, [once he came back on the phone,] that "we do not make a steering stabilizer for that vehicle." well, before i could say, "i know that, that is why i was asking for someone with the technical knowledge, or whether or not i needed to call the other line..." he jacked me onto hold, without even saying hold on or anything.
anyway, i am pissed and i hope that someone else starts making idler arm braces because that is the ONLY thing i need to buy for the X right now and i'll be damned if CALMINI isn't the only company making them.

anyway, i'll probably cool off, but if anyone is willing to help me, i would appreciate it.

david

SLR makes an idler arm brace.

spencerlowracing.com

So does AC. If you want to talk shop with someone at Calmini ask for Steve. He is the owner and he has talked to me for hours before.

Order now and you might get it by next year..

but only if you pay twice..

Just like the Calmini steering system that was on the site for 8 months before anyone saw one? How happy were the first group with theirs? I guess "CALMINI blue" doesn't work best with everything does it?

Get your facts straight before you bash.

How many items have YOU ordered from SLR yourself Carlton? Me myself , I've purchased the steering , the lift , fiberglass and shocks twice.

My experience with SLR has been fantastic. Tell me about YOUR experiences with SLR. After repeated problems with other people's experience with improper allignment with SLR upper arms , Spencer sent me THREE sets of arms with varying degrees of caster in the attempt to find the correct specifications once and for all. He paid to have them installed and pictures were taken and new specs were made. He designed a new fixture based on my requirements so that all new arms he sends out will have proper allignment.

Everything was shipped on time and with all items included and it all performs perfectly. ]

Tell me all about your expereinces with SLR. As wonderfull as Calmini is , as happy with their lift and steering everyone seems to be , tell me when the last time they came out with a NEW product for the X. Take a look at the CALMINI site and then take a look at the SLR site and then tell me which company is making a bigger effort to create MORE and NEWER products for our trucks.

Doing a SAS on a 7 year old hardbody is hardly making progress for our late model Nissans is it?

A few people have recieved shipments later than they anticipated. There have been backorder and production delays at SLR. But how does that compare to a company putting products on their site and collecting money for them 6 months to a YEAR before producing a production piece and filling orders?

How many NEW products has Calmini produced for your truck compared to their line for Samis and the Full Traction line? This is by no means to bash Calmini . I like Calmini and when I met Steve he seemed like a really good guy who is willing to talk shop until the cows come home. The more companies making parts the better , but your constantly bashing the one company who's SOLE PRIMARY focus is producing the widest variety of NEW products for our trucks is totally ignorant.

I don't care if you don't like Spencer personally , item for item they are doing MORE for Nissan than ANYONE else in the aftermarket.

Well.. I am not going to bring up my fun experiance that I had with SLR JR with my Shocks..

Considering all the problems that people have had with them CONTNUALLY I would avoid them like the plague. It was SLR SR that built that company into an upstanding business and SLR Jr. that is tearing it down.

Anyway.. here is some reading of recent SLR events.. And note that some of this is NOT from this board.

Some thoughts on SLRs customer service and products
http://nissanoffroad.net/messageboard/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=6538

some observations on how SLR says they are going to produce something then does not

http://www.xterraownersclub.com/cgi-local/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=002173#000000

And what ever happend with this??
http://www.xterraownersclub.com/cgi-local/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=60;t=000110#000000

And there are PLENTY of people here on this and other boards that have had CRAPPY service and such from SLR. Perhaps in the past I was one of few that was having problems with them but now I seem to be in the majority.

That is a laugh. I have read posts from MANY people that are having problems with SLR, especially recently. Items not shipped promptly or at all, not being able to contact them, and of course they totally ripped of Calmini's a arm design.

What wonderful new products is SLR selling? Calmini has recently introduced their AFFORDABLE steering solution and t-case gears. They never collected money from anyone before they shipped out the steering. I got mine first and have been happy with it ever since. The t-case gears they are selling are one of the single best products that has been made to improve the off road performance of our vehicles.

hmmm... $539.95 (10-1-03, 2:10 p.m.) Calmini Steering Upgrade System VS. $51.00 (9-30-03, 6:00 p.m.) Four Wheel Parts shipped Rancho steering stabilizer bracket, and use of old strut from Calmini steering stabilizer for Isuzu {Free} [Thanks Kyle at 4WP, and also Kyle at High Country 4X4 for finally giving me an answer.]
I think the cheap bastards who only want to pay $50 bucks have it over the rich folks who have an extra $530 lying around and then, OH there's shipping too...
Yeah, $50 is cheaper than $530+ anyday...
david

Well it looks like you are 0 for three. If that was the extent of your retort you're reaching. In link number one there are as many negative things said about Calmini as there are SLR.

Yes things ship slow. Yes sometimes he takes his sweet ass time getting things shipped. But from what I see a majority of the time people are happy with what they get when they get it.

You left out one SMALL fact about the guy who is complaining about not gettting his fenders yet. He's in Greece. The shipping charge is going to be a great deal larger than was anticipated and more than one attempt has been made to ship them. There were very specific requirements to ship them including box size ect. Now the box is too large for UPS and I believe the new shipping costs ammount to about $800. The customer knows this and has not gotten back to SLR regarding this.

In the thread about the bumper it said what the story was . It was a one off pre-production bumper and it was determined that it didn't have the strength , stability and regidity to be made into a production piece.

Why don't you call Calmini and ask about their pre-production pre-runner bumper that they have on their Frontier in all of their magazine adds and ask them when it will be available. I did and they told me it was just made as a prototype and the rude guy on the phone who didn't want to talk about it or give me any indication weather or not it will be produced.

While you're at it. Ask them about their first crack at manufacturing torsion bars. I recall that effort wasn't 100% effective either. Are they better than the Nismo bars or is there a larger profit margin when you make them yourself? Then compare them to the 300M bars that SLR makes.

As far as the stage 5 suspension system from SLR I know that it is on at least three , maybee four trucks. It is expensive but it is in production. He has the items listed in his brochure and I'm sure if you gave him a call , he'll discuss pricing options with you.

I've seen it in person and it is far beyond what ANYONE has done with a production long travel suspension for Nissans.

It's amazing that I have been able to pick up the phone and get Spencer on the line almost any time I have a question about anything yet there is this huge complaint that he's never available. He's there every day from 8 am until usaully 5 and some times later. The phone number is 1-928-667-4757. He answers it all the time and returns calls.

He's not the biggest computer guy and doesn't spend his day typing. He makes parts. Give him a call , I'm sure he'd be happy to chat.

It's interesting. You were able to completely dodge any rational argument about the quality and quantity of available parts for our trucks and you resorted to the same old crap. So typical.

Are you kidding? A steering stabilizer and an actual tough steering system are not even related. That is like comparing a Yugo to an M1 tank. If you have not run into the weaknesses of the stock Nissan steering with or without an idler brace, you will soon enough if you off road your truck.

I just ordered shackles from those guys, and besides the fact the guy taking my order was a complete moron who tried to overcharge me, then lied to me about the shipping date, they weren't too bad... actually, I ordered on Monday, he said would be here by Thursday, package actually arrived on Monday... checked my charge and it was correct (he quoted me $10 too much), and all the parts were a perfect fit... no instructions included, but it was pretty straight forward, especially with all the info I've gathered from the boards... I would order from them again... my .02

Well, I've order once for SLR - a set of Bilstein shocks. Was told I would get an email with the tracking number, did not. Called back numerous times to find out if they had shipped, after about the third time when someone finally had the time to look for my order while I was on the phone (the other times I was promised a call back which I never got), I was told they had not shipped yet, and that when they they would call me with the tracking number. Finally after a couple of weeks of this I sent an email to the owner, and a couple a days later I got an email back with the tracking number. Which also happened to be day the shocks showed up at my door. Sorry, this type of customer service sucks, and it was my first and last time to order anything from them.

I personally have had bad phone communication with Calmini and have had no experience with SLR. I can't say enough about Calmini's products, I have their bumper and their sliders. I called before getting their bumper to inquire about ideas they had on their bumper, I wanted the light guards like the ARB. They had no plans on updating their design, then less than 4 months later their new bumper comes out. So then I consider selling my current bumper in order to get the new bumper which I really want, so I call them back and ask about production on the new bumper, they put me on the list plus mention that I should consider waiting for the retrofit kit for the light guards for those of us with the old style bumper. I say OK. that will work. I then wait a few months, and call to check the status on production of the new bumper, they tell me that they have been trying to reach me for weeks because my bumper is ready (my contact #s have not changed) So I ask about the retrofit kit and they say they have never had any plans for a retrofit kit for the old bumper WTF. At this point I am pissed, thats two strikes. would I still buy from Calmini? the answer is yes, are they straight with their customers and do they have good costmer service the answer is no.

I will say I have had some problems with their customer service people once or twice. When I do I just ask for Steve.

well said, my sentiments exactly...

david

To add... I personally picked up my bumper and sliders from their shop, so its obvious that there are only a few people answering the phones. All I was asking is for accuracy and consistency on what they tell me over the phone. I will admit I am not that experienced in offroading knowledge especially parts, but their way of handling phone calls in a condescending manner and treating their customers as though your stupid is unprofessional. The one time that I asked for Steve after the rude and unprofessional service I was told he was unavailable. So next time if it ever happens i will go straight to Steve.

well, everyone's right...
slr makes one and so does ac, but i can't use slr's because i have two tow hooks, so how about the quality of ac's? does anyone have one?
i haven't ever ordered from ac, how do they do with customer service and timely shipping?
anyone is welcome here, i just wanted to know about the quality and service aspects because slr's kit is out.
thanks,
david

oh, and if anyone wants to know, you can use the calmini strut from their steering stabilizer for an isuzu trooper in conjunction with the rancho stabilizer brackets for the xterra to make one sweet looking calmini-rancho steering stabilizer that works really well.

I just ordered my snorkel from them... the first time I spoke with them they were very nice... we discussed the differences between the two snorkels offered, and he seemed pretty knowledgable.. the guy said that they had to get an exact shipping total and would call me back... never called back... I called the next afternoon to get total and tracking number... it had not shipped and they didn't know a total... he told me it was on backorder (guess they were just gonna blow me off)... Ordered the TJM snorkel and he gave me total within a few minutes... called the next day and spoke with a woman... we kinda joked around about me calling them too much, then she got me the tracking number... very nice lady... this was on Tuesday... just checked, and my part should be here Friday... yeah... I'll work with them again...

That would be Jane you spoke to... and yes.. she is much nicer than Mike

Jane rocks. Anyway, the AC idler arm brace will work fine. I had one, and the guy I sold it to is still using it with no problems.

Count yourself lucky.
I gave SLR 5 million ads on this website in exchange for a defective lift kit, sagging springs and a bad attitude.

You should appreciate CALMINI a little more since half the shit on your truck (like your roof rack) was stolen from their project vehicle.

I have yet to order from Calmini (my wish list includes Control Arms, steering system, idler arm brace and swaybar disconnects) but have spoken to Steve who sounds eager to help and answer any questions I have.

My Bilsteins and AALs all came from SLR which arrived in a week and a half sans tracking number. So far my experience have been positive and would order again.

I've gotten stuff from both, in a timely correct manner from both.

I know people who have had problems with both as well.

What always bothers me on the good ol' XOC is that because (cough) some people get free stuff, suddenly the other vendor is a rip off artist etc.

Such poor taste, really.

As an aside, if you want something from any vendor you can't walk into a store for, CALL them. It's a neat little invention some of you techiedweebs may have heard of called the TELEPHONE. Then when you get someone on the phone you have to be (gasp, the horror) NICE. This will help you. Ordering things via email from mechanics is not the best way to go.

Thank you, good day. :rolleyes:

No Ian.... SocalPunx has updated his Truck.... I think its just the rack and lights that are Calmini pieces, Spencer did the rest

Since you basically just called me a thief

Is anyone else still whining about that roof rack , or are you the only one? Stolen huh? You obviously haven't seen my truck. While it is nice , the rack is one piece in the whole puzzle. It hardly represents "half" of anything that I've done.

Maybe you are still confused about the facts. It wasn't Calmini's project vehicle. It was a pre-production X that a magazine got from Nissan for a YEAR that Calmini was given a chance to demonsrate their products on. So was Skid Row , ARB , Yokohama Tires and whoever supplied the ugy ass wheels.

The magazine did a write up on the truck and used it for a year. It was not Calmini's project truck. If so it would have spent the year in Bakersfield and not Placentia. When a manufacturer DONATES parts to a project truck , they are doing so to gain exposure for their business. They do it with the expectation that they are never going to see the parts again.

The logic is , that the exposure from a major off road magazine reviewing their parts is a greater benefit than the cost of the parts. It happens all the time. Do you really think that after SEMA the project vehicles are delivered to all the participating companies so they can be dismantled?

Calmini got the exposure they wanted , as did Skid row , Yokohama , PIAA , the ugly wheel manufacturer and that was that. Nissan wanted their truck back and the parts were distributed and the truck was destroyed. I got the rack. Someone else got the skid plates and someone else got the ARB. and you're still whining about it. Before you call me a thief here get your facts straight.

It's pretty par for the course that when I give facts about Calmini, I get attacked with this bullshit. The torsion bars problems , the blue paint on their steering , late arrival and people waiting for their bumpers and steering are all facts . Aren't they? Am I bad mouthing them? No. Are they using a "pre-runner" style bumper on their Frontier in their magazine ads that is not avaible to anyone while listing "pre-
runner stuff" as being available? Absolutely.

Facts.

If you cruise the same boards that Carlton used as examples of dissatisfaction with SLR you will find some people unhappy about delays with Calmini as well. You will also find people who aren't 100% satisfied with the product. Hell if you go on the Sami boards or Pirate you will find people there too who don't think the world of Calmini.

My point was not to slam Calmini. I think it's great that they make anything for Nissans at all. I love my rack. It get's compliments all the time and I allways point people in their direction. But the point was that there is no company that is 100% insulated from production delays and less than perfect products.

I'm sorry if you think that on one hand giving examples of SLR's deficiencies is allright but fairly and accurately stating issues with Calmini is somehow slamming them.

The point I was making , and that no one here has disputed , is that some people are going to have some problems every now and then no matter where you go. Calmini is not perfect and constantly bashing SLR every time their name appears on this board is rediculous.

Carlton has no problem bashing them , but at the same time he also has no problem sending them an advertising proposal. It looks a lot like if they were willing to pay you money for banner ads they wouldn't be so bad. But they aren't so we get the bullshit quips ever time their name is mentioned. Is there a connection?

Other than the gears , what new products for the X have they introduced? Why if Nissan is so important to them why is Full Traction on the list of exhibitors at the Off-Road Expo this weekend but not Calmini. It makes sense for them to concentrate on competing with the likes of pro-comp in the lucrative Jeep market. Add that with their work with Isuzu and Suzuki and SASing old harbodies and it's easy to understand why there hasn't been more products available from them for our trucks.

The fact of the matter is that they have a lot on their plates and the primary concern is not making new parts for Xterras and Frontiers.

SLR's only focus EVER has been Nissan trucks. They haven't been the most dependable when it comes to shipping and on time production but they are making progress. He is young. But I think Spencer is learning what it takes to take a small fabrication shop and turn it into shop that makes bolt on production pieces for the masses.

It's a switch from what they are used to. And it takes some time and genuine effort to teach a guy , who's focus has been racing and fab work, the art of running a detail oriented , production business. But , I think he's making progress.

Seeing that I have never worked with SLR before, I decided to give them a try and ordered new tire rods and the steering stabilizer from them last night. It's been one day and the only thing I have received is the email saying they received the order. That is all I really expected in the first day. We'll see. If it goes past two days and I don't hear anything, I will cancel it.

yeah, that's what this was about, that little miraculous invention called the telephone and calmini's lack of etiquette with it.

i mean, in case you neglected to read the thread and all...

david

I've bartered (look it up) products from quite a few vendors, and the only vendor I have had trouble with is SLR.

If I was CALMINI, and you cranky, know-it-all fuckers kept pestering me with stupid product questions, I'd hang up on you too.

Come on Ian. The original question was legitimate.

yeah dudicus maximus, you have to admit that no amount of know-how on the part of anyone can answer the question i had for them right off the bat. what i was really looking for was them to tell me that i could try it and it wouldn't fuck up my steering, that was my main concern, but no, they wouldn't even do that, they just spouted the same old dribble as though i was a clueless individual and didn't even take the time to listen. now, everyone on the board who responded did, as did the local shop which ended-up giving me the knowledge that enabled me to try it without breaking anything. that was all i was looking for, it sucks when you know more about the products than the vendors/sellers/makers give you credit for and you come out feeling like the asshole because you had a good question but because they deal with asses all day, they will not take the time to listen to you.

david
rant off

edit...
oh, and sometimes i come across as a cranky know-it-all-fucker, but that has kept me from getting ripped off more than once and it also shows that the people i want to converse with can talk tech with me if they need to.

Did you ever think of liability issues ?
If CALMINI said "sure, do whatever you want with parts not designed for your Xterra", and then your steering failed and you ended up a quad, do you think they would appreciate that ?
A manufacturer shouldn't be required to talk about anything but the products they make per vehicle. If you want to put Isuzu parts on a Nissan, give it a whirl, but don't ask them for help with it.

I'm good friends with Steve Kramer at CALMINI, (we talk almost daily), and I am shocked at some of the stories I hear about from people on this board calling them. I would just unplug the phone if I had to listen to it all day.

I can't say enough good things about Calmini; especially after my most recent dealings with them getting a Centerforce clutch right away. Dave at Calmini went well beyond what I could have ever expected to get things taken care of, saving me from missing the Nissan Titan release in B.C.

In contrast, while Dave was trying to find a clutch for me right away, I called SLR just to see if they might have one in stock. The guy on the phone told me they didn't carry Centerforce clutches for the Xterra (they are on the website?) and hung up on me. Gee, thanks!

Thanks to Calmini, they were able to get Centerforce to build a clutch for me in one day and overnight it after Centerforce made a mistake and sent me the wrong one the first time.

On top of this, I was a total basket case worrying about getting my truck done on time and Dave was still patient with me and put up with all my calls and FAX's.

DAMN IT, MY COMPUTER FROZE SO YOU GUYS AREN'T GOING TO GET THE VERSION I SPENT 20 MINUTES CRAFTING, HERE'S THE SHORT-SHORT VERSION
I am not trying to bash Calmini, their quality is excellent, they are the first aftermarket company I consider when I consider any modification for my Xterra.
I was not looking for someone to blame when I tried to find out whether or not the Calmini Steering Stabilizer for my Isuzu Trooper had interchangeable parts with some sort of Xterra set-up, namely a set of Rancho Brackets, I figured I would start with a simple question to Calmini, who makes your shocks, if it's Rancho, is it this size... if it's not, then do you see any problem with using it for this...
What I got was cold response on the other end and getting put on hold in mid-sentence two times without explanation, and I hung-up...
Once again, Calmini makes a great product and I am not questioning that, but why not at least entertain a reasonable question? If everyone wanted to answer questions based on whether or not they were time-effective or stupid or whatever... what would you do when someone asks you, oh I don't know 3 times in the same day, "how are you doing?"
I mean, why piss in your own pool? Why take so much time and effort to be rude to the people who give you money for goods and services? Last time I checked, parts suppliers did just that, supplied parts, and who buys them, consumers and who am I, a consumer. Hell, for that matter, I am already a costumer from the past and that should've warranted a little respect on the phone, I mean, I was trying to get the most out of the already $80+ I had spent on my previous Calmini Stabilizer. I didn't call to try to be that little egghead with the impossible question who just wanted to know the other person on the line was squirming under the wrath of my perfectly formulated unanswerable question. Somewhere along the line, everyone needs to drop their ego, suck it up and answer a dumb question or two to make someone happy. It makes the stupid moron worthless, shouldn't-waste-anyone's-time-and-should-shoot-themselves-in-the-kneecaps-instead-of-asking-a-question-they-don't-know-the-answer-to customer happy and more often than not leads to either party benefiting, either directly or indirectly. The CUSTOMER SERVICE personnel feeling good for having helped his fellow man, and the customer for knowing that someone took the time to answer them. Hell, I buy stuff when people are nice to me, I TRY to find something, no matter what it is, to buy when a vendor, shop, mail order company when they are nice to me just to show my appreciation.

Oh and yes Ian, I did think about liability issues, that is why I tried asking locally before I went to the other side of the country with my querry. I had nowhere in my mind the concept of taking any liability route with it either, I simply wanted to know how to check, but I never even got to say that part of my question. So the local shops told me how I could do it after I consulted what everyone had written on the board. I was not looking for someone to take the fall, I was looking for the method with which to test to make sure that I wasn't Fucking Up MY steering not Calmini, I was asking for guidance and got an earful of country and western hold music in reply. BUT SINCE I NEVER EVEN GOT TO ASK THAT, THERE WAS NEVER A QUESTION OF LIABILITY, IT NEVER CAME INTO PLAY.
David

Wait... you hung up on them because they put you on hold ? I thought you said they hung up on you ?

Yeah, that is what I thought as well. They probably were going to find out the information for you. If you can't wait on hold to find out the answer to your question, quit whining and

While everyone's bitching... I'm a little pissed now... got my snorkel in from AC (very excited as it was a day early)... box was quite a bit mangled... TJM hadn't bothered to put the bolts in a bag or anything, just left them barely screwed into the snorkel... needless to say, I'm missing atleast one bolt and nut, who knows what else (no parts list)... bah! Plus was told it was built for Xterra, no, built for Navara, also... oh well... ready to just get the damn thing on... there, now I got mine out... you may resume...

The Navara is the same thing pretty much as far as the fender and airbox are concerned.

when my "helper" thought he heard enough of my question to answer before i was done talking, he spouted out some generic rhetoric i had read myself and then put me on hold while i was in mid-reply. to me, getting slammed on hold while i am talking to someone with not so much as a "hold on one moment," or "could you hold on for a second" is the same as being hung up on.
sorry, should've been more specific, and no i wasn't going to get the answer to my question because after getting interrupted and put on hold two times while talking, i wasn't going to hang around in the hopes of asking anymore, i was going to go somewhere else.
once again, this was a general thread, an "F.Y.I." if you will about how i was annoyed, i didn't mean to sound all that bitchy and apologize to my fellow threadees if i sounded as such, so i will save the fine unicorns now. i am over it, i got my answer and i wanted everyone to know my experience that's why i put it in the alr, it seemed like the place for a quasi-rant.

thanks all,
david

oh, and waiting on hold and being forced on hold are two different things to me, so i don't think i was whining, just bring my opinion into the mix and making it heard, but anyway, back to saving the fine unicorns.

david