BEWARE!! dealing with CalOffroad

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

I am without a shadow of a doubt convinced at this point that CalOffroad are not to be trusted, have limited knowledge of the gear vs. vehicle combos of stuff they sell and certainly would not be recomending them to anyone...
If you got something from them that works then it was a matter of good luck

He told me he"d be inspecting my struts personally and calling me when they ship out - No phone call recieved... Amd after his last comment on here was sort of expecting that there was going to be at least a stubby holder (not that I wanted it) but not even so much as a couple of stickers that came originally in all the boxs...

And another thing has become quite clear out of all of this - He sent me the wrong length strut in the first place but instead of just admitting it and getting it sorted, they first tried to convince me that there was no issue, then told me I should go to germany and work for bilstien if I was that smart before dropping the phone in my ear. Not to mention coming on here and trying to tell everyone else the same thing.

BTW - My Rims are 17" and 0 offset.

Cheers

[Guest Close Guest]

Adding the fact you were without a vehicle for months. I know what I'd be doing. But I have avenues in that profession so it's a bit easier.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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

Hi Mark,

Haven't had a chance to measure strut yet (mmm big weekend) just had a look at the Amada vs Bilstein thread where all this started.

I will confirm but i definitely have the Roadsafe Top Hats supplied by Caloffroad and i am guessing the 555mm length struts.

They advised me the top hats didn't change any measurements when i was searching for answers as to why my Prado looked like a drag car launching of the start line.




Do you think this will cause any issues?

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

[QUOTE=B
They advised me the top hats didn't change any measurements when i was searching for answers as to why my Prado looked like a drag car launching of the start line.
[/QUOTE]

Ha, exactly what I currently have to deal with, rear to low, front to high...

Anyone with CalOffroad kit should do a proper review of their setup and seek some "Professional" help to get it right.

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

Wow.. Interesting read with some good and bad points raised.

Im a little disheartened at how quick and the shear number of replies with people suggesting lawyers, suing, commissions, ACCC etc etc etc. I respect that someone handed over some hard earned cash for a product, but this is Australia, not the US where everybody sues each other at the drop of a hat. If it gets seriously hard for two people to talk to one another, then communication through a mediator will sort 99% of problems. Rant over.

I have Caloffroad 3 inch kit, including diff drop, UCA's, and sway bar extensions. My build thread can be found here and about page 3/4 the suspension starts.

http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...-Altitude-quot

Personally I did my research and it can down to either Caloffroad or an Autocraft kit with Icon's or Kings. But the extra 2K for the kings put me off. Superior did some work on my old cruiser, but I just wasnt keen in Armarda's.

Ive found Cal to be very approachable, helpful and non biased when it came to advice. Im pretty sure Cal in one of two Bilstien importers into Australia, the rest are resellers.

Regarding my car, I couldnt be happier. Any questions please feel free to ask.


Happy to jam it onto a jack this afternoon and take a droop measurements from Rim to guard.

Cheers
Chris

+ 1

I have to agree with Chris.

My customer experience with Cal was fairly average but not bad (had to do a lot of chasing on the phone) however i was happy with the products supplied.

I haven't read the whole thread, but I wonder if this is just a case of a one off mistake. Hopefully an opportunity for cal to set it straight though.

You know, I actually had a very bad experience with a very well known reputable brand/company used on here, however will not post this due to a mutual agreement to do this and I respect that, as it was just a matter of bad luck on my product experience it seems.

In other words there will always be bad experiences out there and I don't think it's fair saying "BEWARE".

Anyways, hope it all works out for you mate!

Matt

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

I haven't read the whole thread....

It might pay to...

[REN470 Member Find all posts View Profile Close REN470]

It might pay to...

Ive read the entire thread and honestly I say beware the both of them, Caloffroad seem a bit "cow-boyish" for me but Zero sounds way too fussy to be buying something mail order - IMO

And I agree about we are getting way too quick to sue or go legal on someone

[Guest Close Guest]

I don't think Zero was being fussy. The parts supplied didn't suit the original intent.

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

Hi Mark,

Hard to get accurate open length but struts have part number 24-21528 can anybody help with open closed measurements?

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

Hi Mark,

Hard to get accurate open length but struts have part number 24-21528 can anybody help with open closed measurements?

Hey bushki,

I think the 24-21528 part number is used for the strut no matter what open length it is.

If you're using the Roadsafe strut cap and your strut is 555mm, then that explains how you've achieved 90mm of droop, as the Roadsafe cap sits around 20mm lower than OEM, which will push your open length to 555+20 = 575mm. Your setup should be fine with this.

The reason both you and zero have pimped out drag cars at the moment is likely due to the front coil springs being too tall.

The only fix is to change to a lower free height coil, eg, Dobinsons C59-314 is 405mm, and will get you plenty of lift on the front.

I didn't think your ride height at 800mm was an issue, but you've said your front end is too high compared to the back, so what is your rear ride height?

It sounds more like your front coils are ok, and you need taller rear coils?

Best

Mark

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

Hi Mark,

Hard to get accurate open length but struts have part number 24-21528 can anybody help with open closed measurements?

...just found your rear ride height on p8, you said 820mm.

800mm front and 820mm rear seems ok to me?

Can you measure ground to underneath your sidesteps front and back to see how level your car is sitting?

Best

Mark

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

Hi Mark,

Sorry for the confusion I am happy with the ride height now, I too had the same issue at first as Zero with a way to hard and long spring.

This has since been rectified (27 emails and a few phone calls) with the Dobinsons springs I have now part no :c59-296.

Glad u cant see any probs many thanks.

Geoff.

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

Hey Geoff,

Good stuff, glad to hear you finally got it sorted out!

Best

Mark

[Guest Close Guest]

A couple of threads over at FJCC where there is not enough droop with the supplied kit or incorrectly supplied springs.
http://www.fjcc.com.au/f36/bilstein-rattles-5037/
http://www.fjcc.com.au/f36/noise-after-lift-3301/
http://www.fjcc.com.au/f36/front-end...roup-buy-5193/

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

A couple of threads over at FJCC where there is not enough droop with the supplied kit or incorrectly supplied springs.
http://www.fjcc.com.au/f36/bilstein-rattles-5037/
http://www.fjcc.com.au/f36/noise-after-lift-3301/
http://www.fjcc.com.au/f36/front-end...roup-buy-5193/

Good - Thanks for posting Andrew. One of the key reasons I started this thread was to create awareness to other people and also give those that already have this kit who have been unsure if something wasnt right with thier car and just living without some info and assurance that they arent alone and if they feel something isnt right then it probably isnt...

So I think we can summaries so far fom my own experiance and many others with CalOffroad as follows:

1 - Poor Customer Service, not only after sales but suprisingly during as well.

2 - 3 out of 5 times, the short strut length is sent to customer (my guess is it is default length from Bilstien so the extra effort to rebuild to a more suitable length is made based on on much other work they have on rather than whether it will fit the customers needs or not)

3 - Springs... Not sure I need to say to much here - Clearly there is 0 consistancy in this space from CalOffroad and you dipping your hand into a lucky dip bag over and over till you get the right ones.

Call me fussy if you like but I simply want what I paid for and I was certainly expecting a very different experiance with all the Blurb on the website suggesting Hours of R&D specifically for Prado's, FJ's, Hi-Lux's etc. etc. etc. clearly just sales pitch...

This isnt the first 4x4 I have modified and\or bought a comprehensive lift kit mail order for and I have never had an experiance like this.

I am sorry for those that may think this "BEWARE" is to harsh but my view\point is that we always hear Aus retailers moaning that we are just buying all our stuff from internet\overseas and not supporting them... And what happens when we do???? They take our money, treat us like crap and then when things arent going quite right they make like we are the ones that have created the problem.
I am generalising here of course and its clear from this site that this isnt the case for all retailers and its great to see that there have even been some on here trying to help out when they have nothing to gain.