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JPaul's H3 Base build

JPaul

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,400
Location
Way up north, UT
So I figure I'd start a build thread since I will be making modifications to my 2008 H3 Base.

Planned upgrades/additions:

2M Amateur Radio (Icom 228H - Callsign KE7TYY)
CB radio (I have an old Cobra 29LTD, but might go with a new Uniden Bearcat 980SSB eventually)
Brush guard/winch mount
Adjust torsion bars
Undercarriage protection
Roof rack
Winch
Aux lighting
???

The radios are going to be first, probably followed by the torsion bars. After that, it's anyone's guess what order I will do everything in and how long it will take me to do it. But for now, here are some pics of it as I got it from the dealer (just a couple weeks ago). I have already put some black door edge guard on all 5 doors, it's a tight fit in our garage and I don't want to be constantly chipping the paint on the doors.


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JPaul

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,400
Location
Way up north, UT
I need a bumper sticker that says "R2-D2 is my copilot" but no one seems to make one. I plan on getting one made, I know a couple people that have vinyl cutters that could make one up for me.

I don't think I'll get too crazy with the mods. This is also my daily driver so it needs to be reliable. I do like the color though. Pretty much anything comes in either red or black, so I don't have to do much in the way of color matching or repainting.
 

RazorbackH3

Wooo Pig Sooie
Messages
528
Location
Tecumseh, Mi
"I don't think I'll get too crazy with the mods. This is also my daily driver."

Haha, that's what I told myself when I first got my H3... then came the 35's, winch bumper, rock sliders, this that and everything else...
 

JPaul

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,400
Location
Way up north, UT
Well, after having to refill the coolant overflow tank after having this H3 for ony a few weeks and 400 miles, I learned that it's a common issue with the radiator cracking. Went back out to check and sure enough, I found the crack:

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I'm going to go to the dealer after work today and try to get them to repair it for free, since I can tell this has been cracked since before I got it. Even if they won't do it out of the goodness of their hearts, I fortunately purchased the extended warranty which would cover it, though I do have a $100 deductible, but I'll try to get them to at least pay for that.

I've already had to eat some cost for getting the windshield replaced after noticing a crack in it the day after I took it home. They split the cost halfway since they think it happened after I took it, and I know that it didn't (though it may have been the rockchip was there on the edge of the windshield but it hadn't cracked yet, either way, it was pretty crappy). Frustrating thing now though is I get wind noise above 35 MPH which I am quite certain wasn't an issue before getting the windshield replaced. I've already taken it back to Techna Glass to have them try to re-seal it, but I still get wind noise. Next step is having them pull the windshield back off and putting it on again. It was originally one of the mobile installers that did it, and according to the guy at the shop, he's been getting people back in due to improper seals.
 

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JPaul

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,400
Location
Way up north, UT
So I got the radiator replaced yesterday. Took a look at the work they did and noticed the radiator was right up against the top support. Stuffed a rag between the support and the radiator for the drive home, then dug into how exactly it mounted so that I could get it fixed and hopefully prevent any issues.

Fortunately it's a relatively easy fix, especially with a Dremel that has a cutoff wheel.

First I realized the top radiator hose is actually too long, it tries to push the radiator forward, and if you try pushing it back, it starts to kink the hose at the bends. That wasn't going to do, especially since it'd add stress to the radiator's top plastic housing, potentially leading to failure down the road. So I ended up trimming a quarter inch off the end and notching it at the two stop tabs. This effectively shortened the hose by a half inch, enough to eliminate any kinking when I pushed the radiator away from the top support.

Next was modifying the top bracket to hold the radiator away from the support. Using my Dremel with a cutoff wheel I notched the support and then filed the piece I cut out so that it'd help keep the bracket in place once bolted down. Otherwise if the bolt loosened up it could slide forward again and allow the radiator to rub against the support.

I've realized that the whole design is flawed, as there are several things wrong with it.
1 - The radiator is too close to the supports due to how the top bracket is designed.
2 - The radiator hose is too long and tries to push the radiator forward into the braces
3 - There is a portion of the brace on the drivers side that for some odd reason is formed so that it drops down lower than the rest of the brace, thus coming far too close to the radiator (there is no structural reason for it to be there that I can figure, as it doesn't exist on the other side of the brace, so it's not like it's part of the crumple zones or anything)
4 - The radiator seems to be too tall by about at least a half inch or so, based on how the top portion is designed. If it was 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch shorter (either the whole radiator or by shifting the side brackets up), it'd clear the top brace just fine.

Now as far as the cracking in the housing goes, I realized last night I should have asked for the old radiator, or at least that part of it. I would have liked to have cut it apart and checked it with calipers to see if there was possibly thinning of the plastic in that section. Given how many of them are cracking in the same exact spot, I'd imagine that is the root cause, rather than any inherent weakness in the plastic itself, as that would exhibit cracking in other locations as well. If it was that spot being too thin, then hopefully the replacement radiators made since have been corrected to ensure proper thickness of the plastic throughout. I have a feeling it is in fact a thickness issue, as the cracks looked like stress fractures to me. It's probably due to flexing repeatedly with each heating/cooling cycle that would have induced pressure outwards in that area as the system came up to temperature, followed by flexing back in when the system cooled and pressure dropped. Plastic will behave similar to metal, flex it too many times in the same spot and it will eventually fail and crack, especially the more rigid plastics like what is used for the radiator sides.

Here are some pics of my fix:


Here is the bracket after I cut to show you how I cut it:

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Here it shows how the left over piece is placed to help hold the bracket in place:

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Modified bracket mounted:

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Pics of the new gap, it's about at least a quarter inch away from the brace now, you can see that spot that dips down for some idiotic reason, as if they are trying to destroy the radiator:

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Other end (note lack of that extra forming):

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Shot down the length of it:

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JPaul

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,400
Location
Way up north, UT
So I haven't been able to do much with the Hummer for the last few weeks because of other stuff going on, but I did get the chance to take it on a short trail a couple weekends ago while on a camping trip with the Boy Scouts. I managed to find a trail up a mountain ridge, which after getting about 3/4 of the way up, turned out to actually be an ATV trail (it was when I noticed how my tires on one side were still in the tracks, but on the other side I was clear out into the grass...). A good testament of how well these vehicles do offroad when stock. Heck, I didn't even really have that good of tires for offroading, just some street M/S truck tires. I did manage to get some damage, but it was just when I apparently hit a rock with my passenger side steps and pushed the rail back into the rear tire. I simply looped my strap around it and hooked the strap to a friend's truck and reversed enough to pull it back into position. Aside from the dent on the front underside of the rail, you'd never know it had happened.


Some pics from the run (rest of them are here: http://imgur.com/a/rQA06 ):


I noticed this when I was looking at the back end of the H3, the tire was getting wiped clean on the inside edge, when I walked over tot he passenger side I saw this:

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Nice shot looking up a trail that led down to a creek.

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A river (creek) runs through it...

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Stopping point to let everything cool down (it was kind of hot and first time taking this thing off the streets really) and take a look around.
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I made it up about to just past that first small peak there, then I realized the trail was a lot narrower than my H3's track width was, and then it hit me that this was actually an ATV trail, even a Jeep has a wider track than these ruts...

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Another awesome shot.

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Panorama from that same spot, you can see the trail I came up. You come up the valley and then up the side of the mountain, where the trail disappears at the ridge it actually is hooking left up some rocks and through those trees you can make out on the ridge. I nearly went over the other side because I did not realize the trail kept hooking sharply to the left once you made it over the rocks and through the trees.
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Looking back down the trail when I was coming down, nearly to the valley here.
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It was a pretty good grade, and the trail was mostly loose gravel made up of sharp broken rock. My tires took a decent beating, but stood up pretty well.
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Looking up the trail, you can see the point with the trees at the top of that particular peak.
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All in all I had a blast doing it, though I probably should have gone with someone else, and probably should have had a map so that I could see where it went exactly. I tried getting some offline topo maps into my phone, but ran out of time before the trip to get them all set up. Next time I will definitely be more prepared. But the H3 did awesome, especially considering it's bone stock and I don't think it was EVER driven offroad before.
 

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Panzer07

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,548
Location
Ontario, CA
Nice trip mate. And next time just take the nerf bars off, some happened to me, couple of sledge hammer hits and they'll be back to normal.


Torres
 

JPaul

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,400
Location
Way up north, UT
So last week the thought came to mind that I could build a roof rack for pretty cheap if I used a ladder rack off a truck as a source for steel. Spent $70 on a bolt together job that went on a Ford Ranger. Well, turns out the steel for the side rails on the rack is just too heavy, to make a 6' long rack just the sides would weigh 45 pounds. By the time I got done adding the crossmembers and the grating it'd weight over 70 pounds at least, if not more. So, scratch that idea. I'll just get some new steel to use for the rack, there is a metal supplier near my work that has a surplus section, they've got a bunch of what looks like 12' 1" square tube for $9 a piece, and a sheet of 1/2"x4'x8' expanded steel is $70, so I should be able to make something fairly inexpensively.

So, what to do with this pile of steel I bought for $70? Well, figuring that based on the weight of each 6 foot section of side rails (1"x1.5" rectangle tube) the wall thickness is around the 0.125" area, it seems like it'd be plenty thick for turning them into an OEM style UCP. Took some measurements tonight and I can make something that is 2'x4.5' using the steel from the sides with 4 or 5 full length beams. I'm thinking of building it to cover the full width of the underside that needs to be protected, and just making it a single piece instead of two. I'm assuming the OEM setup is in two pieces for shipping/weight/cost concerns more than anything else, since I have seen solid plates that are the full 2' wide or so running the whole length. And since the sections I have are long enough, I will probably just carry it the rest of the way to third cross member under the belly there, just to help it from getting hung up on anything.

So I think this will all work out. Anyone have any suggestions? I fortunately have a buddy at work with a welder that is going to help me fabricate all of this. Once I get the UCP built, I'll probably start figuring out how I want to fabricate some rock sliders for the sides to replace my nerf bars. While I love the stuff I see for sale, especially Schwarttzy's stuff, I really don't have the money for that right now, and won't for a couple years at least. I have a good chunk of cash after selling my Neon, but only enough to be able to get UCP, sliders, and basket if I build them all myself, and I really want to pick up some recovery gear to keep in the H3 for offroad trips and winter (mostly for rescuing motorists that can't figure out how to drive in the little amount of snow we get here in the Salt Lake valley of Utah).
 

JPaul

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,400
Location
Way up north, UT
Picked up some 1/8" steel plate for fabricating the UCP, as well as some 1" square tube in 12' lengths for building the roof rack. It'll weigh about 14lbs more than if I used 3/4, but I got the 1" at $9 per 12' piece. The 1/8" plate (6 feet x4 inches) for $8.25. Got to love the remnants section of the local steel shop. :)
 

JPaul

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,400
Location
Way up north, UT
Picked up a Thor Parts front bumper today! Just happened to fine one for sale locally at a killer price from PCH2! Hopefully I can get it installed this week.
 

JPaul

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,400
Location
Way up north, UT
I was able to get the bumper installed today. I actually started on it last night since I wanted to undercoat the exposed portions of the body, partly to help everything blend in and look nice, and partly to help protect it.

Here it is before the install:

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Only issue with it was one of the studs for the grille was snapped off. Not a big deal though as I just ground it down and popped out the rest of it, which left a nice hole to put a bolt in. I realized the grille must be made from stainless steel, which makes me super happy since I don't have to worry about it rusting, and I used stainless hardware for the replacement bolt. I also ended up having to get a couple bolts for the skid plate. I got a killer deal on this bumper though, so I am not complaining :)

This is where I got to last night (used a pic from this morning so that you can actually see anything):


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And here it is after I finished the installation and trimmed the splash shield:

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The grille is a bit lower than I'd like it, I tried to space it about 3/8" above the bumper, but after marking and drilling, it ended up only about 3/16" above it. No biggie though, I think I might do a 1" body lift eventually, and the spacing from the light pods to the chrome grille is nice, so I'll take it. I undercoated all the exposed/visible body sheet metal to protect and blend it, and I also sprayed undercoating on ends of the bumper that face the wheels to help protect it from rocks and to blend in the mounting bolts back there. I also sprayed the backs of the light pods for additional protection as well. It took me about 3 hours last night to get to the point of the first pic, and then to finish it all off I think it took another 3 hours or so.

All in all it turned out really nice and makes the H3 look a lot nicer. Now I just need to get a winch for it to complete the front end.
 

JPaul

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,400
Location
Way up north, UT
Almost forgot I needed a license plate bracket for the front bumper (apparently it's required by law in Utah to have both front and rear plates). Built one out of some aluminum flat I had kicking around, turned out better than I thought it would. The license plate completely covers it, which makes for a nice clean look, and I got lucky with drilling the outer holes as big as I did, as it turned out to be the perfect size for some flat headed bolts so that it didn't push out the ends of the plate. Now I'm all legal and whatnot.


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JPaul

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,400
Location
Way up north, UT
Picked up some OEM rock sliders last night for a good price. I will be getting these on either tonight or tomorrow morning.

There is some damage from a hit to a rock on one of them, but it's pretty minor. Plus, that is what these are for, not just to look pretty. :)

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JPaul

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,400
Location
Way up north, UT
I was able to get the rock rails on yesterday. I paid $150 for them, which is far cheaper than anything I could have built. As for installing them, all I can say is thank heavens for having an air ratchet. The clearance for getting a ratchet on most of those would have limited the swing of the ratchet. It would've taken me far longer to install them by hand, especially considering I had to chase three of the bolt holes on each side since they were exposed to the elements. By the way, for anyone that doesn't know, an old bolt with notches cut along it like a thread tap makes a great, cheap thread chaser. I couldn't find my M10 metric tap, so I grabbed a bolt from my box of Dodge Neon parts and cut grooves in it with my Dremel. Some cutting fluid and the air ratchet and it worked great.

Eventually I want to make some steps like the H2 has that are quick attach/detach. I have twins that are only 4 years old that are now going to have a hard time climbing in and out every day when I take them to the babysitters.

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JPaul

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,400
Location
Way up north, UT
I spent most of the day yesterday on the H3. Part of it was installing the rock sliders above, but the bulk of it was due to a find from Friday at the Harbor Freight. They were having their Parking Lot Sale (this one actually has it in their parking lot) and they had a bunch of their returns/open box stuff marked down as well. One of these was fortunately a 12,000 Lb winch. They were selling them new for $295, and this one was marked down to just $200 since it was a return. I figured that was a great price for that much winch, and I just happened to have enough cash left from selling my Neon to get it.

I had the cashier open up the box for me so that I could check to make sure everything was there and in good condition, and it was. I don't think the original purchaser even mounted it, though later on I realized he must have tried, because the fairlead bracket had some of the "powdercoat/paint/whatever it is they used" ground off of it, and there are a couple holes drilled in the top, presumably for lights. Which is just as well with the holes, as I got some 18W LED spot lamps from Amazon to try out, and it gives me a place to mount them.

Now, one of the things I have heard a lot about the HF winches, and a lot of other winches actually, is they are terrible at keeping out water. So the first thing I did was this:

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I took this picture after already working on the gearbox. I took off the gearbox end plate and went to work on the gasket and sealing surfaces. I think part of the problem is there is over-spray from the coating used on the gasket surfaces, and those paper gaskets are not meant for rough surfaces, you'd need something that can deform and fill in the low spots. So I used brake cleaner (a great coating remover, do NOT get it on any painted/coated surface you want to keep that way) to clean off the gasket surfaces on the end plate and the gearbox housing end. Then I used some Permatex anaerobic gasket maker/sealant to coat the paper gasket with and bolted the end plate back on. I did the same with the other end of the gear box.

I also pulled out the lever and took a look at it, it has a pretty pathetic o-ring that honestly doesn't really fit quite right to try and keep out water. It also has a rubber flat faced ring around the top underneath that beveled washer on top to help keep out water as well. Since I didn't want to spend time running around right now finding a better fitting o-ring, I used some dielectric grease (very thick/sticky stuff, and meant for helping to waterproof connections) to help act as a sealant. Not the best solution, but better than it started out.

The motor end was different, it actually uses rubber gaskets on both ends of the housing, so I put some dielectric grease on the gaskets to help with keeping out water, same with the little o-rings on the bolt heads for the motor.

Another thing I did with the motor was used that Fluid Film stuff you see in the foreground. Apparently it works really well at protecting metal from water/salt/etc. It's lanolin based, and gets really good reviews on Amazon. I sprayed all of the exposed metal with it as a protective coating, in case water does manage to get in. I am a little concerned about how it will do when the motor is heated up, I'm not sure if it will cause any issues with it's operation or not (like if it will gum up the brushes accidentally or something). So we'll see. Worst case I take it back apart and clean it out.

You'll see in later pictures that I also used some brush on Plasti-dip to seal up the coil bolts in the motor housing. It looks like they do use some type of nylon/plastic washer to act as a seal, but I wasn't terribly confident in it's ability to actually still be intact and seal completely.

That is pretty much everything I did to seal up the winch against water ingress. I'm not sure how well it will really do, but I know it's at least going to do a lot better now than it would have as it came from the factory.
 

JPaul

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,400
Location
Way up north, UT
Mounting the winch ended up taking a lot longer than I was figuring on. Part of this was taking the time to work on the seals, but a good chunk was figuring out where on earth to put the solenoid box. I tried looking around for ideas and test fit several options, and ended up making some brackets out of aluminum which I also mounted my horn to. I had to route the cables to the motor through some of the holes in the Thor grille, since they were not long enough to go down through the opening at the bottom he as. The ground cable did go that way though, since it is more than long enough and mounts to the bottom of the motor. I put some wiring loom over the cables to help protect them, and to blend in more. I'm eventaully going to get some grommets that pop into the holes in the grille to further protect the cables, but I just needed to get this all done.

Here is the winch after bolting it in and finally figuring out where to put the control box. Pro-tip: do NOT use an air ratchet on stainless steel bolts that have a nylon locknut on them. I tried that on one of the bolts for the skid plate and about 3/4 of the way it galled up in the nut and I ended up having to break the bolt off. Brand new bolt and everything! :shame:

Still need to rout the power cables and add some protection to them:

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That's better!

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I routed the power cables up by the intake for the batter box and zip tied them to the AC pipe:

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Possibly not the best idea, but again, it will do for now. I'll probably find some heater hose or something that I can slit and put over the power cables at this point to protect them from chafing. Possibly put some over the AC piping as well. I want this setup to be solid and not give me any problems 50,000 miles down the road. Even though I'll probably replace the winch with a nicer one long before then.

Closer pic of the brackets. I used the aluminum from the license plate bracket I made, plus the rest of that bar of aluminium. You can't see it, but I added a spacer using the same aluminum bar behind the second bolt from the top on that upright bar to keep it all nice and tight, and straight:

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