All this speculation about how expensive it will be and the price hasn't been released.

Gee maybe you should wait for that little bit of information..........

The way I look at it is this:

I love my Xterra, but for all its charm and prowess, it could use a bit more help in the front end to enhance my off-road experience. I could go and spend $3k - $4k on an old Jeep or Sami and have some of that ability (more and less with shorter wheelbase), but I don't want two vehicles that do the same thing. That doesn't make good financial sense to me. I could spend the same amount and improve an already awesome vehicle whose background and maintainance record I intimately know. The Xterra is newer, everything works (including A/C - knock on wood), the reliability of Nissan should take me another 150k+ miles without much issue, and I think the X is one of the coolest vehicles out there. I'd rather spend the money on my current vehicle, sacrifice some on-road ride quality (DesertHB - is it that bad?), and have something I will be completely happy with for a long time. Like I said before, I will wait another year until I have the X paid off before I make this commitment, but I am looking forward to seeing my truck as a bigger contender in the 4x4 SUV market.

That's my excuse.

My justification for the SAS is this.

I am a crappy driver who breaks crap constantly. In the end I believe I will save money on broken parts by switching to a more durable setup. Also the added stability of that much flex will make a rollover less likely.

So due to my various off road faults I need this SAS.

Off2cjb: Well duh, you could spend under $5000 to buy and build up something else older and cruder than the Xterra, say buy a $500 Samurai with a tired engine but decent body, drop in $500-1000 worth of Sidekick engine/tranny/t-case in it, and drop another grand or two in suspension, gears, and lockers and have themselves a pretty nifty little off-road toy. But there are enough of us that want to do something that isn't a dime-a-dozen already, and Calmini can appreciate that. Not to mention it sure is nice to have a fully-enclosed SUV to 'wheel instead of some noisy, drafty, unreliable old thing.
We've already invested in our Xterras, both in purchase and mods, and we've grown attached to them. We've already 'wheeled the "new" out of them and aren't afraid to take a dent or scrape here and there, much less have major surgery performed on it. Heck, some of ours aren't exactly in cherry condition and wouldn't be an easy/economical sell if we were inclined to switch to another "cheaper" 'wheeling rig, and some of us don't even have a place/means to keep another vehicle if we wanted to keep the Xterra too.
I dare say there are more than a handful of people that are prepared to spend that kind of money on a well-designed, easy-to-install, and, perhaps most importantly, UNIQUE kit.

Brent

Even on my budget SAS, the additional capability and durability make the expense WELL worth it. If you're the occassional wheeler who never hits truly hard trails then don't waste your money. I totally see the merits in SASing a late model nice truck vs. and old worn out piece of shit. Go drive an open sammy or CJ5 across country to a wheeling event and that should become very evident.

The X with this kit will drive better on road than any of the vehicles mentioned drive completely unmodified.

Well, we will see. I am thinking the cost is going to be well over $5000. Then again, what do I know.

Apparently, not much.
Your guess is way too high.

Hmmm...you mean the CalMini kit plus a decently set-up D44 (I guess $750-$2500 depending on initial axle condition, how much work you do yourself, and level of axle customization), or just the CalMini kit?
C'mon ya damn teaser

I am willing to pay for it. I have been in many a tippy situation where a SAS would have been great. We shall see the final price and such though and then I will know when to start loonking for an axle. Once I get it I can work on saving the rest for the kit and clean up the axle at the same time.

The on-road manners are very good. The very little (next to none) bumpsteer will be taken care of with a steering stabilizer.

-Doug

Excellent!

I can offer this up as well.

I happen to own one of those 'old pieces of shit'. An '83 Toyota Pickup. Solid axle front, Spooled rear, EZ locker front, etc. etc. etc., and I can tell you all, I can't wait to get my Xterra finished.

The reliability of the newer fuel injected vehicles is great. The reliability of the older stuff is, well, not so great.

Don't get me wrong, I love my little Lemondrop. She wheels very good. Excepting for the carbueration, 35" tires and stock gears. Other than that, she's a tractor!

But SAS in my Xterra? Night and day. That's all there really is to say about it.

Quit whining about not knowing the price (yet). When it does get released, most of you will end up saying "That's frickin' awesome man....I'll have to save up the money for it over the next couple of months." anyway! So just relax. You'll all be happy, and some will do it because the price is so great, and not because of the added wheel-ability.

It has always surpised me that people complain so much about the cost of a lift kit, or gears or whatnot.

If you can't afford it and get a better paying job. 4 wheeling is not a cheap hobby.

Come on all. If some can make a SAS for a newer Toyota that cost about $1500 without axle, Calmini should be some where in that ball park.

Toyota SAS

I don't understand why the price is such a secret. If it is a descent price, they sould at least give an estimate so they could gauge the demand.

That's a leaf kit on the 1.5k Toy SAS. Calmini's is a coil over.

Because they are still developing the kit. R&D costs money and they need to price it accordingly.

All Pro Off-Road also has amuch bigger market than CALMINI does with Nissans. There are probably 10 million IFS Toyotas in the world dating back to 1986.
All Pros kit is also a much simpler design.

What is SAS the acronym for?

::ducking for cover::

Solid Axle Swap

OK, we all know that t-case reduction gears for other vehicles from other companies are considerably cheaper than Calmini's Nissan gears, and maybe you think that Calmini's prices are just plain high regardless. Let's take a closer look within Calmini's own product offerings and see...
I can't be sure it's 100% economy of scale, but look at the prices for their Suzuki ~4:1 transfer case gears vs. the Nissan transfer case gears. Zuk gears are $450, Nissan gears are $1295. You can bet your ass that they sell a hell of a lot more sets for the Zuks. Hell, there's apparently enough demand that they even offer 3 different ratios, 5.14 reduction is $550, and 6.50 is $795. Again, I'm sure there is less demand for the deeper ratios, so they sell less, and must charge more to see a profit on their investment.

I'm sure Steve will correct me if I'm wrong, but I can't imagine that the production of the Zuk gears is that much less costly in terms of material and machining than the Nissan gears. The initial R&D and tooling costs are a huge investment and must be recovered before they ever see a profit. The more you sell, the less of it must be included in the cost of each kit. If they're not confident that they're going to sell enough sets at $800 to recoup the up-front costs within whatever period they target (or if they'll even see it at all), then they'll just have to charge more, plain and simple.

I still expect the Calmini SAS kit to be quite reasonable. FORGET the $10,000 number that someone foolishly threw out as a hypothetical ceiling, I don't see it coming in at even half that. Just shut up and wait until the price is announced, THEN bitch and moan if you don't like it.

Brent

Brent

[sarcasm] But I want to bitch and moan NOW!!! [/sarcasm]

I'm just looking forward to seeing what's involved and start planning for mine. No matter what the cost (within reason), knowing the work and R&D Calmini puts into their product, I will be perfectly confident with money well spent.

To complain about what will cost is just silly, with in reason of course. This hobby, as Ian said is expensive,that is the nature of the beast.

The complaints about the cost of a mod sounds alot like the patients I deal with who complain about, by anyones standards, benign issues. If you dont want to be in the hospital or dont like somthing about it then dont fucking come to the hospital, same goes for this hobby.

The way I see it SAS kit "X" amount of dollars, spending time with my kids installing it and playing in the X, PRICELESS.

Shit Ivan, you'll figure some way out to break it..

Anyone have any pics of the SAS on level ground at all? Pics of the rear suspension? I know ,I know , i'm demanding.

I will post photos of it on level ground once the new rear springs are installed. I would prefer not to post any until things are finished to avoid a bunch of half cocked comments on the rear end sagging. Currently the rear springs are re-arched with Calmini AAL/shackles and works pretty good, but is a little low. The final spring configuration will be spring over with either a flat or negative arch.
I should have the final spring configuration in about two weeks.
I will try and get some more photos posted of the front.

-Doug

Cool, thanks.