[Bebe]

We started the SOA project on my H3 today.

The goal is to net a 3 inch lift, add more flex, get rid of the obnoxious spring hangers, and increase ground clearance by flattening the underbelly.

We are not raising the front anymore than it already has been with an HD torsion bar lift. 2 1/2"s.

We will not be changing the IFS in the front. We will be returning to the stock rake (2 1/2" difference between front and rear fender heights)

I have had some problems with the rear leaf springs going flat, and when I added the H20 gear I went through 2 sets spring packs in about 40K miles. (I'm at 88K now and they are starting to get very saggy)

We had it weighed on the corners to get an idea what type of hybrid spring pack its gonna take to support the vehicle with the amount of trail time and commute time it gets.

It weighed in at 5950 lbs.

So we are going to use some Tahoe springs (4WD with a tow package) with the H3 main leaf and overload.

There is a fair amount of work left to do:

Remove Gas Tank Skid and build an outer skid
Cut off those ginormous spring hangers and weld on a much shorter hanger
Go back to the stock shackle (to net less lift than with the current extended shackle)
Rework the top of the axle spring plates ubolt flip yada yada yada

We are going to use the same Fox shocks (relocate the brackets)

So lots of ramping and measuring.

BTW the ramp part was embarrassing, but read it was about the same as a stock Jeep score...445.

 

[Bebe]

some pics of today's progress...

 

[Bebe]

The new springs + the stock vs extended shackles

 

[Bebe]

Oh, and my S/O speedy is doing most of the work

But I'm keeping the floor clean, getting tools, beers, margaritas, lunch and whatever else he needs.

yay me

 

[The Architexan]

Sweet!!! I can't wait to see it when you're done..

 

[Overdosed]

Carefull on that RTI ramp see my sig

nice to see a hummer project!! ever planning on doing an SAS on the front end? I dont know how difficult/expensive that is on H3s but jesus that would be cool.


Edit:

What tires are you running now and what tires will you be running? How much clearance are you going to gain? Are you worried about axle wrap? Nice fox shocks im jelous.

 

[miniyota]

ha ha ha

my commander has more flex then that! :flipoff2:

bebe, we are winning the land battle in northern wyoming!!! thanks for your suggestions!

 

[miniyota]

 

[Bebe]

Carefull on that RTI ramp see my sig

nice to see a hummer project!! ever planning on doing an SAS on the front end? I dont know how difficult/expensive that is on H3s but jesus that would be cool.


Edit:

What tires are you running now and what tires will you be running? How much clearance are you going to gain? Are you worried about axle wrap? Nice fox shocks im jelous.

SAS according to Silly Fab would be 12K :flipoff2:

However I think it could be done for less on your own.

Not in my future for the next 2 summers, but who knows, Campbell is building and IFS for KOH.....maybe it's the wave of the future.

I have not had problems with the IFS yet, other than the Aluminum Front diff. But hey, if I have run the Rubicon and Fordyce without breaking a tie rod, either I'm a great driver or the IFS on this thing is stout. (I vote for stout IFS).

IFS has sucked in previous applications, but I think Hummer has done a great job on the H3.

An SAS is too involved with all 14 computers. Not saying it can't be done. but you would have to want it bad and get it cheap first.

With Stabilitrak, and Traction Control, it makes bypassing the systems a pain.

I'm runnng 35" KM2's, and will run them with Hutchinson Beadlocks I posted in an earlier thread.

I've been running 35's since I put my first set of BFG KM's on at 21K miles in Jan of '06.

 

[Bebe]

ha ha ha

my commander has more flex then that! :flipoff2:

Dood, I'm running 35's with no lift. If I had my stock 33's on, then we could compare

bebe, we are winning the land battle in northern wyoming!!! thanks for your suggestions!

I hope it works for you. I'm a PM away if you need more help


Check out the stuff on this 35.

 

[stjames151]

Glad to see you finally starting your project. I'm sure Speedy loves the idea of goin after a Hummer with a plasma torch. What did you decide to do for shock geometry or are you still working that out? Are you keeping the upper mounts in the same place or moving them inboard for more flex?

 

[Bebe]

We are planning on moving them to the axle, similar to the pic below and keeping them in the stock location on the upper mounts.

We are trying to minimize the fabrication and expense, and if that doesn't work we'll change them up to something that does.

We are hoping to keep it simple enough that most folks can do it on their own.

In my mind those hangers are the worst part of the Hummer H3 Design.

Here are some pics of a SOA that was done on a test vehicle we saw in Moab...

 

[miniyota]

how about almost 33" tires with only 2" of lift on a mall crawler!

but i may swap a solid axle under mine soon. the front end doesn't like being tortured like i torture it. but it has not broken yet.

 

[Bebe]

how about almost 33" tires with only 2" of lift on a mall crawler!

but i may swap a solid axle under mine soon. the front end doesn't like being tortured like i torture it. but it has not broken yet.

:laughing::laughing::laughing:


lucky you, I hear the older style KJ had problems with the diff like us. They fixed their issues with diff collar. Ours...it would take a diff saddle. So now they make the H3 case out of CI.

SAS is a ways off for me. I really like the comfy ride, and I have an FZJ80. It's a straight axle and rides like crap.

 

[Overdosed]

I see now in your OP how much clearance you will gain didnt catch it the first time. Also you said you have a leveling kit you could probably gain another few inches by tweakin the front torsion bars downward like I did on my 04 chevy tow rig, but it destroyed the fuck out of the ride so keep that in mind.

I was on my way home from work today and saw a lifted hummer, thing was friggin massive... but he had 20 inch rims on it :mad3: Sucks that asshats like that with way too much money have to ruin it for the rest of you. Anyway he had a solid axle in the front looked to be a d44 possibly 6 inches of lift and about 38 inch tires. It didnt look very stabil at least by my judgement have you heard anything about destroying the center of gravity on these things with a high lift?

 

[Bebe]

Sorry,

I already have the torsion bars cranked in the front and added HD 30% spring rate over stock SAW t-bars when I added the winch. Stock ride height sits at 37" from ground to the bottom of the fender flare. With the t-bar crank I gained 2.5" to 39.5".

In the rear I added an extended shackle, which at the time got me to 40" from ground to fender flare, but the springs are sagging again so now I am at 39". 05" lower than the front. The goal is to gain 2.5- 3" of lift in the rear. Stock is 39.5".

I would like to have the stock rake back. So total lift front and rear will net 3 inches +/-.

As far as ride, like I said in the above post, it rides great.

But I think the HD t-bars and the fox shocks helped a lot.

My friend has a similar set up w/o the fox, and mine definitely rides better.

As far as COG, I've got a friend in Utah that has a lifted H2....that thing rocks in Moab, which is one of the tippier places to wheel...here is a shot of him on Moab rim, which by the way is the first and last time I'll ever wheel that trail.

 

[Bebe]

Oh yeah, he's running a 6 inch lift with 38's in that pic.

 

[makya]

Bebe, what are you using for the new hanger? Is it something you two are making or is it an off the shelf piece from one of the vendors?


And if you guys need an extra hand, I'm right down the road.

 

[Bebe]

Bebe, what are you using for the new hanger? Is it something you two are making or is it an off the shelf piece from one of the vendors?


And if you guys need an extra hand, I'm right down the road.

We picked up supplies today from Parts Mike.

U Bolt plates
Spring Hangers - may be too long....jury's out for now
Spring Perches - also may be too tall...we may be able to customize them
U Bolts
new Center pins

I'm in the garage now....grinding is stinky

Speedy said it was nice of you to offer, he may take you up on that...

 

[miniyota]

the commander has an iron front diff case. AEV built one and put 38" tires on the stock front end. it held up to that. i think they are pretty beefy. the upper control arm ball joints tend to break. but we fixed it with some beefy 1" uniball control arms made from chromo.

i have bilstein shocks in the rear, 5150. they defiantly make the ride very nice.

nice hummer. i'm hoping to get some JK axles and do a SAS.

i've thought about getting an H3, but i can't stand the small windows. i feel like i'm in a coffin.