MTUH3 Build

[MTUH3]

All right boys and girls.....

I am not usually one for build threads. I just kinda puts around with the truck and add stuff and take stuff based on whatever comes available to me at a cheap price. Figured I share, but never intending on making a build thread, I don't have a whole lot of pictures....

We have been taking this truck to Drummond Island every year since my wife bought it, so here is are a list of pictures on how the truck has changed over the years on DI.

2006 - 2 months after the wife brought is home. Notice the sweet chrome side steps



2007 - Still stock added a CB mount to the dash and CB antenna mount to the license plate, OEM roof rails



2008 - I was on the island over memorial weekend, but didn't get a lot of pictures. We added the OEM Rock Rails and I moved my CB antenna to the rear fender

2009 - Trailduty leveling kit, 315 MTRs, Home build roofrack with Hella lights, OEM Brushguard, Rear Helper spring, Warrior Shackles



2010 - Home built winch mount, Rugged Ridge winch, roof rack delete, rear locker switch override, OEM UCP, GM performace Intake, GM performance exhaust, RidgeDemon Fox Shocks in rear played around with carpet delete for a while and moved the lights to the Brushguard



2011 - Put the carpet back in, roof rack redesign... again, child seat addition, Optima Yellow Top, External Trans cooler



2012 - No major changes to the truck since 2011. Most of the work has been maintenance related, but by Christmas the rear suspension should be converted to a spring over set up

 

[MTUH3]

Back in 2009 my wife, our 6 month old pup, and myself took my 1 week lay off and went on vacation. It was during the week of July 4th and started off in the 40's, and when we were in Copper Harbor, the morning temp was in the 30's.

We left out home in Plymouth, and travel up to my parents place in Alpena for a couple days. From there we took a trip to Whitefish Point, took old forest roads across to Pictured rocks, hitting a few rarely known lighthouses on the way. From Marquette we went up through Big Bay and down to Baraga, hitting Mt. Arvon (Michigan's Highest Point) along the way. Again all forest road. I got to take my usual trip up through the Keweenaw and to High Rock Bay and Estivant Pines. I would argue the trees there are better than the ones at Hartwick in Grayling. We spent a few days hiking in the Porkies, then took a trip down the south end of the UP. Hit some ORV routes and forest roads and spent a couple days in Seney and Big Spring. From there we wnet through the northwest side of the state, stopping at a few of our favorite wineries, then headed down to Grand Rapids for a GLFWDA quarterly meeting.

All told we covered roughly 2,700 miles that week, two time zones, and never left the state. Below are some of the pictures with the home made rack and all the goodies piled on it.

 

[MTUH3]

I'll try to do a better job documenting and picture taking going forward with what I am working on... but no promises.

 

[ArtHummer]

I like your build so far. And what i think you can do better job going forward is to make more pictures.

 

[MTUH3]

That was what I meant, do a better job documenting my progress. I'll edit the post above so it reads better

 

[06 H3]

Nice thread!

I didn't know this was your wife's toy...lol

 

[MTUH3]

Nice thread!

I didn't know this was your wife's toy...lol

Yeah, before we were married she bought it as her first car out of college. She washed and waxed it every week. It was so shiny and pretty... then somewhere along the line she lost her mind and let me start playing with it

 

[autumn walker]

Great looking truck! Why all the roof rack mods / redesigns?

Thoughts on carpet delete?

 

[MTUH3]

The roof rack started as a crude hoop design. It worked great for that long trip because the cooler and stuff could be secured very well, but as for the looks, not quite what I wanted. I like the low profile look of the rack now. After moving the lights to the grill of the truck, there was no need to have them on the roof, and I built the rack to fit the rear half of the truck. The first design was built to bolt on the OEM roof rails, the new one have mounts that go directly to the roof.

I think no carpet is an option, but will take time to get it figured out. There is a LOT of heat that the carpet keeps out of the cab, summer wheeling was not a lot of fun. I tried wrapping the exhaust to see if that would work, didn't hold up and didn't keep out a whole lot of heat. I think this would work well if you laid sound deadeding / heat shield material (lizard skin?) on the floor then bedlinered over top of them. The reason the carpet came out was because we had a big rain storm and the sunroof drains plugged and we had INCHES of water to the back of the truck. May be in a few years, when I water proof the electrical stuff in the truck more, I might try it again and put in a floor drain or something

 

[alrock]

Nice seeing the progress of the truck over the years and the evolution of items like the roof rack

 

[MTUH3]

Good or better the winch mount is copied from some of the other designed out there. The good thing about it is that it adds more attachment points, the down side is that is is made of more pieces and relies more on your weld strength.

The plate the winch actually bolts to slides between the metal bumper and black plastic grill. Right behind the grill are 3 points that hold the bumper pieces together. The plate attaches to these bolts and is wedged behind the brushguard. I made some plates that mount behind the front D rings and a gusset to keep the winch from bending down.

Those the more parts and more welds cause more things to fail, I like this set up because in order for the winch to pull out from the truck I would have to break 3 grade 8 bolts in the bumper, and pull though the brushguard. I wanted the winch outside the bumper because it gives me easier access to move the winch from Hummer to the Ford when I want to.

 

[3Hummers]

All build threads are important. They help encourage and pave the way for others to mod their trucks. Thanks for sharing your build.

 

[MTUH3]

Holy Crap..... This needs some updating. Sorry for slacking guys!

I will quickly try to catch you all up.

I did complete the rear SOA conversion.... After driving for about a year I took the spring in to a local shop and had them flattened by about an inch. These are nearly brand new springs, after the original set had one break at the front eye. My Fox 2.0 shocks bit the dust, so I put my OEM shocks back on for the time being. I also installed some new rear links from Hellwig Motorsports. These are adjustable to get the sway bar to the right height. After two years of no sway bar, it does help on the road. The attachment of these links will make it very easy to uninstall for trail use.

To level out the front, I have the Torsion Bars turned about as high at they go, I'll have to get the number later.

The entire front suspension has been replaced, for the most part. New uppers, new lowers and bushings. I also removed the Bilstien shocks and TD bump stops and went to OEM shocks, with about a .5"spacer and removed some of the metal stop on the frame. I also ground down around the top part of the knuckle where the UCA ball joint attaches) to help prevent binding. The shock is suppose to be the limiting factor in rebound travel from the factory, so to keep the CVs kinda sorta in line, I set the truck up the same way. I have almost 0 rebound travel on the road, makes for a stiff ride, but I am OK with that for now. When the snow stops flying, I can evaluate other options for the truck.

I also installed some KC Hilite Cyclones under the hood and Gravity Series LEDs on the bumper (spread beam) and cowl (spot beam).

I also replace the OE wheels with Method NVs. The stocks had corroded enough around the rim to make a tire seal difficult.

There might be more.... but I don't remember

 

[RazorbackH3]

Wow your 3 looks really cool, especially love that head on shot. :thumbs:

 

[Pappibri]

Nice pics. Looks better every time I see it...:thumbs:

 

[amrg]

Very nice head on shot! Keep the updates coming!!!

 

[MTUH3]

Hello again..... Sorry I go away for so long sometime. I just get distracted with the other truck / car. The 3 doesn't get the loving or attention any more....

While I was waiting on a few parts (replaced all the rotors, pads, and calipers) I pulled the brush guard, grill, and hood louver and painted them with Rustoleum bed line. I sanded the plastic parts then applied rustoleum plastic primer, a few coats of flat black paint, then a few coats of bedliner. Not perfect, but OK. The bedliner cans were not spraying very well, or at least some cans would, some would not, or they would stop performing well halfway through the can.

On a plus side... My younger brother picked up a H3T Alpha last weekend. So I will be helping him work on that.

 

[3Hummers]

Nice. Congrats to your brother also.

 

[MTUH3]

Re did the winch mount, swapped in an 09 Cast Front with elocker, and what started as a transmission rebuild.... escalated... just little bit...
I bet there is a ton of stuff I have done and not updated.... may be I will be able to keep this up...? who knows...
Going to need to fix the rockers too. I found some hidden dents under there too from the 1 few trips we took, before rock rails.

 

[JPaul]

Going to need to fix the rockers too. I found some hidden dents under there too from the 1 few trips we took, before rock rails.

I hate to tell you this, but those are holes, not dents. And now you have me terrified of what I might find if I ever get around to pulling my rocker covers off... :whaa:

 

[RamRod]

I hate to tell you this, but those are holes, not dents. And now you have me terrified of what I might find if I ever get around to pulling my rocker covers off... :whaa:

#metoo

 

[MTUH3]

Oh, yeah those holes are hug now. 3/4 the length of the rocker.... but there are some big dents in there too, lol. That plastic held up pretty darn well.
The rockers were full of dried dirt and mud, so there are enough holes in the body (from the factory) that they can fill up, but not really drain, and there is no good way to get in there and wash it out.... :roll:

 

[MTUH3]

Hopefully picking up a new motor and transmission tomorrow. Stay tuned for more silliness.

 

[MTUH3]

Swung out and picked up the replacement motor and transmission for the truck. We will see if I know what I am doing....
Besides the lack of power from the I5, it was just the right time to finally pull the band-aid and sway.
4L60 Transmission was toast, needed a rebuild
Exhaust manifold had a nice crack in it.
Radiator was pretty much toast
Front seal leaking oil
Steering rack finally died
And above - you see how the rockers need to be patched....

This is a 6.2L motor with a 6L80 transmission. I don't plan on putting silly power through it, but will be swapping the camshaft and removing AFM / DoD. I will probably study oil pan options to see how thin I can go, hoping for a front axle upgrade in the future. I also plan on using electric fans on the radiator, also using an external trans cooler. There is a small (and by small I mean large) list of other things I still want / need to do. After all, we have owned this truck since 2006 and it has seen too many Michigan winters.


Once I start putting the motor in the truck... I am sure I will be screaming HEEEELP plenty of times.

 

[amrg]

Keeping the stock tcase?

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