BEWARE!! dealing with CalOffroad

[Whitey]

Hey again zero and chris,

I've added a bit more scale to my original lift vs droop plot for 120 series, and added your data to try and get an idea of what open length chris might have;



For zero's case (i) and case (ii), you can see that the lift of over 3.5" is the real culprit behind the limited droop. zero, if you can lose 30mm of ride height on the front, your droop will improve to around 80mm.

Bearing in mind this plot uses the 120 series leverage ratio (1:2.2), and that the 150 series may be slightly different, it suggests chris has something like a 582mm open length strut.

...but hold the phone, I've just looked at the photos in post #91, and chris is running FJ Cruiser rims, which have a different offset to 150 series rims, so chris has a longer leverage ratio due to the bigger offset of the 150 rim (ET15 for FJ, ET25 for 150, meaning FJ wheel sits 10mm further out giving longer leverage ratio).

I now believe chris has a 575mm open length strut, and his excellent droop of 105mm comes simply from his much lower ride height of 810mm, and a slightly longer leverage ratio.

Hopefully chris can confirm this soon.

Best

Mark

[Whitey]

I have a 17" wheel and open strut of 575mm - my messurement from bottom of rim to gaurd is 890mm
Very interested in your 910mm messurement...

I guess iether you have their 595mm Length Strut or simply different rims can vary the results??

Hey zero and chris,

Different diameter rims will not change your droop result, as it's just subtracting one figure from another, but if chris is running something higher than 17's, then just take his 910mm measurement and subtract 1/2 of the difference in rim diameter to get it standardised back to 17" rims. eg, for 18" rims, 910-(0.5*25.4) = 897.3mm for a 17" rim.

If chris has a 595mm open length strut, then applying the difference in leverage ratio means (595-575)*2.2 = 44mm extra in wheel travel as measured on the outside of the rim.

So compared to your 890mm measurement, chris would be at 890+44 = 934mm for his droop measurement. Even if the leverage ratio were 1.5 (which I still doubt), then he would have 920mm at full droop.

The easiest way to tell is for chris to jack his Prado up and get the wheels at full droop and measure the open length on his strut.

At the moment, I doubt chris has 595mm struts.

Best

Mark

[zerosecta]

Hmmm So it sounds to me like you have the 595mm open length struts from them... Unless you specifically asked for that, I'd be betting them rebuilt to 575mm - I can confirm that I have no binding at all.

Starting to sound to me like CalOffraod's R&D is infact done on unwitting customers vehicles... :-)

[christofurry]

I have a 17" wheel and open strut of 575mm - my messurement from bottom of rim to gaurd is 890mm
Very interested in your 910mm messurement...

I guess iether you have their 595mm Length Strut or simply different rims can vary the results??

I would say the rims have some differences, but something I have been holding back slightly is my CVs start binding on full droop. Just enough that when you rotate the wheels by hand you can feel the suspension compress slightly and ride up over the balls in the joints... It's not great but I could probably fix it by adjusting the top of the strut rubbers.

I had cal assemble my struts too.

[zerosecta]

Forgetting droop measurement for a minute, with the 555 struts the measurement from rim up was 860 and now with 575 strut it is 890.

[Whitey]

Just a qiuck point...

The extra 20mm Length strut gave me an additional 30mm of droop.

So I guess tht would indicate a ratio of 1:1,5 when trying to calculate how much travel\sag etc you can get with varying strut open lengths.

Hey zero,

I believe you said in the Amada vs Bilstein thread that your original droop measurement of 20mm was an approximate one.

I would be very surprised if the leverage ratio on the 150 IFS is not the same/close to the 120.

On the 120 series, it is 1:2.2 for strut travel vs wheel travel.

Anything lower than 2 is usually bumpstop closure gap, around 1:1.5.

You can of course just measure your strut travel vs wheel travel, just get your front end up on jack stands, and from full droop, get a trolley jack and jack under the lower control arm in steps until you lift the car off the jack stands, measure bottom rim to guard and measure your strut length (bottom of washer to center ring eye).

I'd be happy to make a plot if you get the data, it would be valuable info for 150 series drivers!

Best

Mark

[zerosecta]

Rim to guard 810mm wheel on the ground
Rim to guard 915mm wheel off the ground

I have a 17" wheel and open strut of 575mm - my messurement from bottom of rim to gaurd is 890mm
Very interested in your 910mm messurement...

I guess iether you have their 595mm Length Strut or simply different rims can vary the results??

[zerosecta]

Just a qiuck point...

The extra 20mm Length strut gave me an additional 30mm of droop.

So I guess tht would indicate a ratio of 1:1,5 when trying to calculate how much travel\sag etc you can get with varying strut open lengths.

[BlakMoth]

My brother did that years ago to his Fairmont Ghia. Couldn't even go over a speed bump 😂


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[MDS69]

what if I just take the angle grinder to the coils and tak off 10 or 15mm off the end till I get the height I want??? Or is that a big no no for some reason??

Don't cut springs

[zerosecta]

I thought there would be others out there with similar story :-) feel both bad and good at the same time about it... You do start to feel after a while like it is you that is just being difficult.

[Bushki]

I too had similar problems with a suspension package I ordered from Caloffroad.
Don't get me wrong I am happy with the combination and quality I have now but getting to this point was a hard and painful journey.

My tip if you purchase from Caloffroad is to pay them to do the fitting that way they can install and remove the struts countless times like I had to, to ensure you receive the end product as advertised on the website and only pay on the completion of the job.

[Whitey]

Hey zero,

Your front end at 845mm is obviously too high with still not enough droop, but give it a little driving time. The front end will typically settle much more than the rear, and dependent on the spring, the IFS can settle up to 30mm of ride height.

It may all work out, just drive the Prado for a couple of weeks, if it still hasn't settled, then it's new coils time!

Best

Mark

[zerosecta]

Will do, just about to leave for a few days off in NSW and will be back on Wedensday next week so I'll get onto it then. Cheers

Can you measure the wire diameter, free length, number of turns & outside diameter?