Fox1 edition H3t, getting started buildin' her up.

So heres what I've done the past few days.

Started off with a bunch of chrome I wanted black and accessories I wanted to remove for now.

Got most of that done.

Installed the softopper camper shell and am impressed how cool this thing is. My dog and I were hanging out in it waiting out some rain today and checking it out for a bit and were perfectly comfortable lounging around in the little room with plenty of space to sit up. Some cushions, mats and led lights and it would be real comfy back there playing cards, having a meal while waiting out bad weather even a little curled up nap. I also got the bug screen to replace the zip out window.

I also want to be able to use my extang hard trifold tonneua cover alternately. Once the softopper rails and brackets are installed it is very easy to remouve and swap out as is the extang hard bed cover. Only the bed cover will allow items in the bed to be locked with the tailgate cover pop lock I also installed, the softopper anyone can get into if left unattended with cargo and gear. But hopefully the places I choose to use the softopper this won't be a problem and in urban areas I can put on the bed cover if I have stuff in the back. Modifications will be needed to use both at one since both of the brackets want to occupy the same space on the top bedrail but I think I have it figured out where the brackets can overlap if some strategic holes are drilled to let bolts pass through the bracket that interferes and also to raise the extang bracket 1 inch since it will be 1 inch higher where it sits. The whole cover can rest on the softopper square rails if some eyelet secureing points are relocated off the top of the one inch alu tubing. All I need is some 1 inch square tubing for the tops of the tailgate and frontside of bed. I can velcro it on and off perhaps.

I'm excited that both these bed topper solutions will be available to me for different purposes. It really allows maximum versatility of the bed with the option to also remove everything is for example loading motorcycles/dirtbikes.

I also swapped the chrome handles out for the black ones I got. Makes such a difference in not being a gaudy truck. Don't be like me and take the whole door panels apart before realizing all you have to do is remove the little round rubber cover and undo the bolt and the whole handle comes free with a little tug. It pays I guess to unpack and actually look at the part you are attempting to disassemble and see if it gives any clues before diving in thinking you know what you're doing. But at least I know how to take apart the door if now needed, only broke one clip! But thats okay it doesn't need them all.

Lastly I got the mirror housings off, thanks Hunner for the instructions. They are at lineX for a bedliner couting that will match the bumper I already did.

I actually added some chrome back in with the addition of the Wolo dual horns I found on amazon after Hunner suggested these also. Soldered in some positive leads from the stock horn wire and hooked up the supplied ground wires to the bracket mounting bolt and jerry rigged the splyed brackets to hold 2 horns where stock there is only one puny made in India horn with the brand name Klaxon. The stock horn sounds like such crap, this added a nice amount of depth to the horn for less the $20. Thanks Hunner!

Also got this universal for rubber cargo mat that needs to be cut to size. The mat is huge and seems to weigh like 65lbs, not sure how amazon makes money shipping it for free.
http://www.amazon.com/Dee-Zee-DZ-86...20B6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323233980&sr=8-1
Looks like this is double the size I need for the bed of the H3T. So I'll have plenty left over and at least it's only half that weight getting lugged around. Should help things not slide around in bed but will also prevent stuff from sliding when loading and unloading when you do want it to. Still I think it will come in handy I'd rather not have stuff sliding around while driving.

Lastly I put on the window wind deflectors. They say Hummer just in case someone from the profile didn't know what kind of truck this was.


Does anyone know the weight capacity of the tiedown points on the floor of the bed? The bolt holding it down does not look all that big. I know the sliding ones on the bedrail are rated for 500lbs.

So that's where I'm at right now. Activated the XM and was surprised it's more expensive setting up a new XM account then the plans me and my family already had with sirius for years now. Even though it's the same channels I guess you get screwed signing up as a new customer to XM even though they are merged and you already got grandfathered in at at an old promotional pricing on sirius.

I'll be adding some more goodies as ups boxes get in and the GM dealer calls me that my parts have arrived.

Stay tuned, it's far from over yet.

Alright! Keep it coming, Fox. Looking good so far.

Looks good! I have always been a big fan of those softtoppers

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Sweet... is the perfect word...

You have been busy. Tell me, what card games does the dog play??
I hit my horns with the stealth black paint, just for good measure.

Lookin good!! especially the color! :shifty:

If I was ever to get an H3T, the soft topper would be my first mod! Look forward to seeing what else you have in store.

Nice, I can't wait to see the rest of this build!

cgalpha08 said:

Lookin good!! especially the color! :shifty:

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I agree!

Congrats your off to a great start

Haha yes Hunner my dog is not the best card player.

Got mirror caps back from bedliner sprayer and got them installed back on without breaking anything, I was about to give up on pushing the mirrors back on the motormount thinking I did not know the trick they need and then the clicked on all of a sudden.

Finally all the chrome is gone. Just need those steelie spare tire wheels with the holes to complete the look. Are all H3 wheels the same width? And they just put on 285's instead of 265's on the off road package ones? Or are there different width stock wheels?

Put on a shorty 14 inch antenna I found on amazon. Same black stainless steel as stock but much shorter. Reception for distant stations did not really seem to be affected when I tested it.

Put on the rubber bed mat. lot's left over after I cut out a 59 by 43 inch piece for the H3T bed. No more sliding around of cargo which is safer also for my dog back there also if riding with some cargo. Heavier things should still be tied down though of course.

You can see some of the insides of the softopper.

Had fun using the back as a little perch for lay down shooting. Was shooting a little high but I have the scope set at 100 yards and I was well over 150 yards I think. Just need to aim a bit higher then bullseye for those distances I guess without resetting scope.

Another fine day of fun with the Hummer. Wheeling pics should be coming soon, if I can get out this weekend. Man if I had no newborn baby I would have been off already on a 2 week trip somewhere.

More parts coming tomorrow with UPS.

Stay tuned...:corn:

Oh so at DMV they asked the combined weight I wanted to declare. Gross combined weight is 12,000lbs with the 6000 it can tow. But that goes over the 7500lbs limit for vehicles without truck plates in Virginia. The clerk just told me to declare 7,499lbs and if I did ever plan to tow up to capacity come in and get the truck plates so I don't get an overweight ticket which is apparently a hefty fine if I get sent to a scale. Anyone else ever run into problems with this? I could just get the truck plates but then I don't get a heafty deduction when I pay my personal property taxes on this vehicle. Curious to see what they asses this at for next years taxes. VA sucks when it comes to this car tax stuff (I have 4 cars and 5 motorcycles, it adds up to have everything registered) but no emissions testing at least.
:rant:

FOXedupONE said:

Just need those steelie spare tire wheels with the holes to complete the look. Are all H3 wheels the same width? And they just put on 285's instead of 265's on the off road package ones? Or are there different width stock wheels?

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All the stock H3 wheels are 7.5" wide regardless of size. Great choice on wheels

Thor Parts UCP plates arrived looks pretty beefy with nice layer of surface rust already. Better give it some coats of some rustoleum primer or something.

Still waiting on GM UCP part.

Is it art if my brush is a 4WD mudslinger, my canvas is white steel that will eventually be washed and my paint is nice red Virginia davidson clay mud.

Just little stuff so far today towards building my perfect H3t.
Weathertech mats from an 04 and up Colorado fit beautifully in the H3T. Perfect in the front and slightly off but not bad and it will settle in, in the back.

Little daystar dash organizer. I like how it snaps in and even has all the vent openings.

Magnaflow exhaust, except when I dropped it off today they couldn't even get my spare tire off and say I am missing a piece that goes into the end of the rod to disengage the tire. Is that true? Or does the rod just need to be stuck in and the tire carrier tightened until it releases? He says suburbans have a piece but that GM part didn't fit in mine. I'll have to look into it tomorrow and see if there is a piece missing out of my toolkit or if they just didn't know what they were doing. Can't wait to hear that magnaflow V8 sound once i figure out how to get the damn spare tire off!

Lastly the digital urban camo vinyl arrived for the hood and tailgate. Should be fun to put on and I can't wait to see what it looks like. It will really cap off the look for how this truck's black and white theme and set the mood for the rest of the additions nicely. They said the color is way off and purplelish under florescent lighting but is totally gray tones under sunlight.

So on third inspection got the spare tire figured out but it didn't even need to come off to install the exhaust anyway. Turns out there was a third rod in the toolkit but it was very craftily hidden away in the tool roll and jack they put in H3T's under the back bench seat.

Magnaflow sounds great, not too loud, nice low burble and you can at least hear it now way more clearly when you rev it out a bit.

Hunner skidz installed! Fronts welded on a bit sloppy but should do the trick. Backs bolted on while axle was sitting on a jack and frame was lifted a bit off the ground. I should probably spray some paint on the welds soon. I'll be glad I have these on when I need them. Still waiting on UCP and rocky road rockrails to complete underside protection for now.

My candy apple green purple cranium diff guard also installed today while we were under there doing all this stuff. There are so many colors you can choose from for the dif cages and dif covers that they offer I decided to get a little crazy with the color of this cage for some sparkle for the people in lowered Hondas who will pretty much be at eye level with this dif guard when stopped at a light.

Here's some pics of the results of todays efforts,

Nice to see another welder here! I would recommend going with an extra bead along the side of the skid and frame. You will be surprised how much they get beat up and the better they are on the frame the happier and easier your life will be in the long run

Yeah the sides just have shorter seams hunner said top edge seam and some spot welds would be fine. It has welds on all 3 sides, some only did top seam and an outside spot weld if they did it without putting it on a lift. Even small spot welds unless they are rusting away are stronger then a bolt. But yeah I sure wouldn't want pieces of 1/4 inch steel flying off on the hwy at 80mph.I'll recheck it before I paint it and see if I should add any more welds on the sides.

Painted the H in the emblems the last bit of chrome a rubberized black.



Added little blind spot corners the biggest I could find at tractor supply the view of the whole side of the truck and underneath and the back tire is better then I even expected. Backing up in a tight space with things all over in the garage and I would imagine on the trail with being able to place rocks these will serve well. Oh and they also might help for me to not crush a car as I do a lane change. Hummers sure have some blind spots so anything that helps is good.


Really starting to get it's proper look now with the black and white tactical theme.

Got my camo on the hood and tailgate. Once the wheels are darker colored it will all tie in better. I just wanted something to break up the huge expanses of white but this type of thing would look even better on a grey or black one like I origionally would have prefered. Oh well, with the white and black it's hard not to have this utility work truck look going on which is not necessarily a bad thing but the decals help to differentiate this from the plumbers truck a bit.

Looks cool!

It looks like you need to spend some on the house! The truck is looking good.
I think I meant spot weld across the front edge rather than filling in where half of the frame fold does not touch. I guess of course more is better. I did that on mine thinking I might have to re-position them or put on a new design but never went back and added more welding.
I think on the install I pointed out going down that outside line. Just depends on how much rock scraping you think you might do.

FOXedupONE said:

Got my camo on the hood and tailgate. Once the wheels are darker colored it will all tie in better. I just wanted something to break up the huge expanses of white but this type of thing would look even better on a grey or black one like I origionally would have prefered. Oh well, with the white and black it's hard not to have this utility work truck look going on which is not necessarily a bad thing but the decals help to differentiate this from the plumbers truck a bit.

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WOW :whaa:.....

The camo is certainly unique.

Is it a vinyl?

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Yeah just vinyl wrap, it comes off if I ever wanted to. Some people do their whole truck in real tree camo or other graphics, or just matte black is popular these days or the carbon fiber prints. I just wanted to play with mine and use some wrap in a limited way on just a few panels and not change the whole color, although that would be fun to. I controled myself from my strange urge to want to mark it up as an emergency blood and organ transport vehicle written backwards so people could read it in rear views and big red crosses to make it look like red cross disaster relief , but I controlled myself from those urges.

lThe 2 police cars were getting done at the same time as mine I thought was funny. I asked if they had any spare police and county crests stickers to put on mine. They laughed and said sorry but no.