Its time to bump this again. After seeing Serge's posts I had to bump this...Contrary to popular belief, I have never gone home crying or had no fun because I had a Dana 44 or coil springs and leaf springs. I know its wild! In the world of posing for Instagram and facebook with flashy Dana 60's and coilovers I somehow have had fun all these years. My point is...whether you have factory IFS, a dana 44, dana 60 or bigger just go out and have fun!!!! Yes, the Dana 44 broke, the first one had nothing to do with strength. The guy sold me a ****ed up axle. Oh well....I got a killer deal for it anyways. My budget has changed since 10 years ago I am far from being able to drop 40k on a build at once....or 20k at once for that matter but I do have a bigger budget then when I was working 5-11pm after a day of college classes and working weekend, my knowledge has changed, and the level I push my H3. I would have never run the trails I do today if I didn't do the SAS with a Dana 44. Anyways here's a bump for squeaky.
Since Hammers I got the shocks revalved. I went way stiffer on the rear and a little bit stiffer on the front. I am just about ready to give that setup a goodbye and throw coilovers on it and be done. I will get into that later.
First I went to Prairie city for the U4 Metalcloak race. I live 15-20 min from there now so a few buddy's came out along with my buddy racing, hung out at my house then cruised over for the race. Hummer didn't get much action other then climbing some concrete thing but it was fun watching the races!
After that I got some chevy 63's and cut them down and used them as an add a leaf between the main and 2nd leaf. I am thrilled with the handling but not as thrilled with the additional ride height. The 63 main leaf cut down is quite a bit thicker and longer then the 2nd leaf on the H3 pack. I am curious if I ditch the 2nd leaf and keep the 63 how much the stiffness will change and drop the ride height. I am not sure but I am consider experimenting with it. Ideally it would be lower ride height no stiffness change. It went up about an inch.
After getting the shocks and add a leaf done I started a beautification process on squeaky. The bumpers needed some spray paint to be touched up and look all pretty again as well as cutting down the factory plastic rocker panel pieces to give it that factory look again.
Much prettier.
After that I drove it 472 miles to Hammers, beat the **** out of it, almost rolled it and drove it 472 miles home! Exactly what I built it for.
Next time I wash the hummer with full doors I need to remember wash the half doors too....lol
Ran Chocolate thunder Friday night, then Sledge and Full of hate Saturday then Turkeyclaw and blueberry Sunday morning.
It was me, and 4 first gen Toyotas and 1 unicorn 4runner with the factory solid axle and EFI. All had the typical stuff. 37s, dual cases, lockers, trailered, 1 had sticky tires, etc.
Sledgehammer carnage was a driveshaft on one of the Toyotas which was repairable. I didn't get the plaque and had to winch up it
Out of the 6 rigs 3 made it 3 winched.
After that we get back to camp and one of the 1st gen's had something feeling weird, stripped almost all hub studs and 2 knuckle studs. So we repaired that at camp.
Then one 1st gen and I ran full of hate at night!! It was gnarly. Most of it was ok, we had to bypass the squeeze (First gen could barely fit) and the last 100 yards is a straight winch fest with the waterfall being so damn steep.
Funny meme of the Hummer....
Then we ran turkey claw and off to blueberry. Blueberry was a non issue except the optional waterfall. Last time the 1st gen on stickies hit the line we ended up in a hour long **** show winch fest that took 3 winches, snatch blocks and a hi lift all working simultaneously. This time I was the idiot to try. I am not sure if you guys know what "stickies" are but they are non highway legal non DOT tires that have a special compound on them that make them "stick" to rock much better then a traditional tire. Due to the compounding, and super soft tread blocks they don't fare well to street driving...which I do.
YEAH....that went well.... I had the line according to the guys but my back tire slipped and I thought my cage would get used. They said if I had sticky tires I wouldn't have slipped but I don't trailer so no stickies for me. Anyways I aired up an hour after that incident and drove 472 miles home.
What's next?
Got a premier power welder. It's badass, I can weld and cut and it has a 110 outlet for angle grinders and margarita machines on the trail! LOL Gotta install that. I got a smoking UA hook up on it, they were a sponsor last year and had a killer deal. I passed because I just bought a house, an engagement ring, a trailer, gas money across the country, etc. Luckily I spoke with Premier power welder and told them my story and how I watched it in person and thought it was awesome...They said they would honor that one time deal!
York compressor because I want something fast and that doesn't run out. I am trying to become a mobile shop now that my buddy races...We need to wrench and have power tools in the middle of the desert. The York compressor can run air tools and fill tires very fast.
Then NP205 doubler and coilovers (I think)
I think I am at the point for coilovers. Its not because the coil springs don't perform. Its because having air bumps in the coil worry me about ruining the coil buckets from the load and I had no where else I could fit them. Also having air bumps in the coil made working on it and tearing it apart a much bigger pain in the ass. I like serviceability. We will see....Ditching coil buckets and coil springs can get me a longer track bar as well as better stability due to coilover positioning and I can lower my roll axis angle by triangulating my lower links more. The rig obviously works as is. I have put over 40,000 miles on the SAS and drive 80-85 mph frequently in it but I want to see how much I can improve it. The coilovers aren't for better ride or tunability it just gives me more space to enhance other things.
I am moving again for work so squeaky will have another 400 miles drive or so to the new place then the wrenching can begin. It currently drives and works fine, it can go wheeling tomorrow so I may try to get another trip in before we move.