looks good........ just WAY to expensive for front and rear shocks $1800 with no springs!!!! YOUR'E CRACKING JOKES!!! if the prices were realistic i would put the front adjustable shocks in tomorrow.
I dont expect the price to be the same as a standard 2inch lift set but $1800 WOW!!
you can now buy Bilstein adjustable for around $300, i just could never justify the massive difference in price......
The other point is you could buy a calmini 5" kit for not much more and the CV's would be perfect.
This is the "SPECIAL INTRO PRICE" what will be the RRP?? that will be scary
Nathan,
I appreciate your comments and your crystal clear opinions!
Here is some info for you to consider:
1. The price is the price. If it's too expensive for you then it's really simple... Don't buy them!
2. Are they really that expensive?
Lets consider what you get for $1800 delivered:
A. Assembled front coilovers ready to bolt in.
So you get the shock body, the coil of your choice and the coil top hats already assembled.
Considering you don't have to pull your old coilover apart to get the coil top hat to re-use you save on labour costs from your mechanic or from buying/borrowing a set of coil compressors, and it's a shitload more convenient.
B. These are a long travel front coilover with a threaded body, so they are height adjustable.
So you can dial in the perfect amount of lift to suit your exact needs between 2" and 4".
They have valving and shock set up which we feel is a cut above the rest, but time will tell as people who buy them report on the ride quality and wheel travel.
C. Long Travel rear shocks with the our specific valving and piston, not generic stuff a lot of companies run with.
These shocks ride really nice.
We put a lot of time, energy and money into the development of our suspension and the success we have had with the Hilux gear is testament to our capabilities and product quality. Our Hilux front Coilovers are $1495 a set, and rear shocks $595. We sell a lot of them.
We think outside the box so to speak and as such innovate with suspension systems, rather than "lift kits".
Other companies sell their assembled struts for $800 - $1000 plus delivery. They do not feature a threaded body and feature a 2" static/fixed lift. Some do feature dampening adjustment though.
With these static/fixed lifts you have no way to adjust them to regain your lost lift as the coils sag other than removing the coilover and replacing the coil, or adding a strut spacer or coil spacer. Far from ideal.
Our coilovers offer 2-4" of adjustable height, so as the coil settles and sags a little over time you can wind on a little more lift to maintain your preferred level of lift for a little longer until the coil needs replacing.
All for $1800 delivered.
While I agree it isn't cheap, it isn't cheap and nasty either.
It's a quality product with a lot of R&D and the results will speak for themselves for those who install it.
So I ask when you consider the features we have to offer perhaps it isn't that expensive?
No, we don't include a leaf spring in that package price.
Leaf springs are a crucial part of the ride quality and rear wheel travel and the only leafs we recommend with our kits are the Sax product. Not cheap, but generally in this world you get what you pay for.
We could include a re-badged cheap and nasty set of leafs and brand them as whatever and sell the kit for $2100 and tell you all how good they are. But I'd rather not run with the smoke and mirrors show a lot of companies do with leaf springs...
We have used Tough Dog, EFS and Dobinsons leaf springs in the past and have found them all to be a good quality leaf spring for a fair price, so we recommend those if you don't have the budget or want for the Sax.
Plus everyone's individual needs are different on the rear, so it is best to look at each individual truck and assess what that customer actually needs.
Compared to stuff you can import form the US like Bilsteins perhaps our gear is expensive.
But there is no local warranty or support for those products from the US.
In these recent times of $1 AUD to $1 USD parity everything here seems expensive. Not much we can do about that.
Questions on the Bilsteins you mentioned:
1. So the price you mentioned of $300 for the Bilstein adjustable is that a landed price?
2. Is that a adjustable height via C spanner on the coil seat?
3. Is that for a pair of front shocks or one?
4. Does it come with a coil?
5. Coil top hat?
6. Assembled?
7. How much are the rear shocks?
8. Delivery?
9. Import duty and GST if over $1000 for the complete set up
Not being a smart ass, I just want to compare apples with apples.
You mention that you can buy a Calmini kit for a bit more than our price and the CV's will be perfect.
Ok...
These guys have it for $3500, with rear shocks and front coilover 5" extensions...
http://www.4x4superstore.com.au/p/4...froad-for-nissan-navara-d40-frontier-550.html
Maybe it is available elsewhere cheaper, not sure. Probably is if you look hard enough.
No doubt out of the US it is much cheaper.
But you still have to get it here, and pay the import duty and GST.
Do you plan to go 4Wding with a Calmini equipped Navara?
Do you value clearance under your front diff?
What about wheel travel?
The most important things to maintain on an IFS vehicle if you plan on doing and real 4x4ing, rather than mall crawling is:
A. Front end clearance
B. CV angle (Or lack thereof)
C. Wheel travel
Otherwise you'll be smashing your front end on everything you try to navigate, break CV's and lift wheels everywhere losing traction and momentum due to lack of down travel.
A 5" Calmini kit gives away up to 5" of clearance at the front end as it is a "drop bracket" kit. I notice the newer version of the kit tapers the front drop bracket up in the middle section to gain some clearance back, so maybe it's around 3" in the middle.
These images should explain what I mean:
Old kit with both front and rear drop brackets holding a full 5" across the whole bracket profile:
And the newer version with tapered front drop bracket:
These type of kits serve a purpose and I'm not here to knock anyone's set up or another companies gear. Calmini make good stuff and we have a lot of respect for their products and fabrication.
But the simple fact is that if you take a stock truck and fit it with our Rekon kit at 3", and another stock truck and fit it with a Calmini kit we will have 6-8" (give or take due to front bracket tapering) more clearance up front, and much better wheel travel, as we have more down travel with our coilovers than the standard suspension.
Same wheels and tyres obviously in this comparison.
Why?
We add 3" of lift, so we gain 3" of clearance under the front crossmember.
Drop bracket kits lower the clearance by 3-5" by adding 3-5" of brackets under the front crossmember.
Total difference is 6-8" depending if the Calmini kit is clearanced in the middle section like in the above photos.
Yes you can fit lifted coilovers to the Calmini set up, but that adds more expense and you will still have less clearance than a stock or Rekon lifted truck without the drop brackets.
The basic benefit of these drop bracket kits is to fit bigger tyres.
But even if you fit 35" tyres on a Calmini kit, you will still have more clearance on 31" tyres with stock suspension.
So again Nathan with all due respect I just ask you to re-consider your points on value for money and also what different suspension systems actually achieve and have to offer.
If it is purely a comparison on price, well yes we lose miserably.
It is very important to compare apples with apples, not apples with oranges.
But if it is a comparison on other factors that actually effect on and offroad performance I am confident our kit will come out on top.
We set out to make suspension systems that have the following outcomes:
1. More wheel travel
2. More clearance
3. Good wheel alignment ability
4. Strength, durability and protection
5. Great ride quality and ability to tackle all types of terrain.
This Navara D40 Rekon kit is still a work in progress, once we finish the UCA's and bash plates the complete kit will certainly be something completely different from an Australian company.
Is our kit expensive? Maybe.
I guess it all depends on what you value, and what value you see in the components we have for sale.
As you can see by the amount of time it has taken us to get this kit to market we aren't a company who rushes stuff just to get it out into the market place to make quick $$$.
Bottom line for us is that we are running a business and not a charity.
We spend our time and money to develop products and sell them for a fair price.
We support our products with a 2 year unlimited kilometer warranty and pride ourselves on good customer service, quality products and no bullshit.
If our gear breaks, fails or we make a mistake we put our hands up and fix it, no questions asked. Our reputation in +05 Hilux circles is excellent and we hope to build the same reputation with the Navara and Pathfinder guys as well.
Sorry for the long winded reply to your post and questions, I just felt it was important to take the time to address all of your points and explain where we are coming from and what we are trying to achieve.
Thanks
Matt