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06 H3's Squeakin H3 Build

SlcHummer

Well-Known Member
Messages
368
Location
Salt Lake City, UT
I think the stock tune is fine for the average driver but I think you've proven that you need a tune way beyond average because it looks like you're pushing your engine and chassis of your truck way beyond what most of us do. What I'm saying is that a stock tune is fine for "grocery getters" but you're on the other end of that spectrum.

Maybe the wife/gf is messing with his rig and trying to send him signals to spend more time buying groceries...
 

06 H3

a.k.a. "The Jackal"
Messages
9,350
Location
Meridian, ID
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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.... :D

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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.

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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.
 

JPaul

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,400
Location
Way up north, UT
Awesome job. I'll be really interested to see what you figure out for the York.

Congrats on the ring btw!

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Mb30sdl

Hamster that pokes Bears
Messages
1,586
Location
Irvine,ca
[emoji106]
If u don’t mind I’ll take credit for nudging u along for years [emoji57] to a proper conclusion.






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scoreh3

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,024
Location
SoCal
You did a good job of nudging over the years, because Chris has become amazing and continues to improve his skills. Keep up the great work Chris, I always look forward to your posts.
 

06 H3

a.k.a. "The Jackal"
Messages
9,350
Location
Meridian, ID
Update: Man, life has been crazy. House in Sacramento area is sold and a house in Meridian, ID has been bought, we get the keys in a few weeks.
We are going from a 2 car garage with RV parking to a 3 car garage that is RV depth on the 3rd car garage and then also goes behind the 2 car wall that is a little shop area. Taller garage doors and ceilings from what I can tell. :D I took the drive over with the 6x10 trailer and work car. I will do the drive in the hummer in about 2 weeks. I have been living either in a hotel for work, down in so cal with my parents, in lodi with my brother or sometimes in a sleeping bag on the rubicon! :grinpimp: I cant wait to get back to a normal life.
Anyways, back to the Hummer. I installed a premier power welder and have parts accumulating!

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Making the bracket.

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I really need to tack in a better position, it always ****s up the bead when I hit it.

I don't have a picture of it in its final resting spot but I will get one. It worked great but for some reason the alternator stopped charging the battery on the rubicon. Luckily I had my stock one and was able to swap it in quickly. I need to call them and get that taken care of.

Here are some parts I am accumulating

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New lower link brackets (frame and axle end) a couple of coilover mounts for different options and a new frame side track bar bracket.

The goal is to do coilovers and ditch the ever bending coil buckets, get a longer track bar by bringing it on the outside of the frame rail (gain about 4-5 inches in length) and inboard my lowers on the frame and outboard them on the axle end to lower my roll axis angle. I also got baby heims to build sway bar end links for the front sway bar.
Currently, my links are almost further apart on the frame end then the axle end, I am sure bringing them inboard will help a ton for on road stability but bringing them inboard I have to decide either lose about 2in of link separation on the frame end to keep a flat belly or lose 2in of belly clearance.

I also hit the rubicon one weekend

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I've done soup bowl a number of times but this time was the easiest. I just about idled up where in the past it took a bump.

My buddy's yota...

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Took out a driveshaft on old sluice, the 1350 shaft is over 6 years old so maybe it was just time...I will probably upgrade to 1410 though. I put a hole through the floor :mad3: so I now have to fix that. I had a spare and was rolling again in 10 min.

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We met up with my buddy from so cal who came out a few days earlier and he broke a rear shaft going up old sluice and I towed him up old sluice and then near little sluice he sheered all 5 studs off his non broken rear shaft...he had 2 spare studs and got those in. He then had to leave his jeep in idle and I pulled dead weight all the way back to Loon. Squeaky to the rescue!

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These views never get old.

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Great night sleep...and I am honest lol

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I am going back to the rubicon next weekend for a Saturday sunday deal. I just did a refresh on my brother's JK so if he goes I will take the H3, if he doesn't I will take that to make sure all is well before I take off to Idaho.

After the rubicon, I have a 500 mile drive to Idaho in squeaky. Gotta get the garage situated. 220 outlets, setup shop and Epoxy the floors this time!!!! I wish I could just get to wheeling and meet fellow Idahoan's but I gotta get her tore down for coilovers as these coil buckets aren't getting any straighter.
 
Last edited:

06 H3

a.k.a. "The Jackal"
Messages
9,350
Location
Meridian, ID
Update:
Got squeaky up to Idaho. It was about a 600 mile trek and with my spare driveshaft that was dented I had vibes over 65. So I slowly drove 65 all. the. way. there....It sucked! She did make it in one piece though so that is what matters.

The garage height is much higher here so that's a plus! Before I was just about maxed out on 40's and getting in the garage. This just means maybe 43s could be in my future :D

First time in the garage....

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3rd Car

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Shot of the little shop space behind the 3rd car.

Then I have this little "cubby" covered area that I have stored all my tires, rollers for when I want baby tires on it, winter set of rims for my fiancé. Then a Shed that is attached to the house that houses my spare 3rd members, transmissions, transfer cases, leaf springs, fab parts, etc.

Storage

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Luckily I got it all set up, I am super excited with the added space I now have! 2 220 outlets have been added and then I had to move everything back out, had the floor epoxied and will have the clear coat on tomorrow.

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Nothing really hummer related but it will make hummer work easier with new room I have.

I did swap a valve stem I destroyed on the rubicon and got my beadlock back on the right rear and I went down to a 4x4 meet about 10 min from the house and met some local 4x4 guys. It was mainly JKs but I did meet 2 guys with built rock crawlers and said they will gladly take me out to see the gnarly rock trails they have. It definitely reminds me of Nevada in the sense that the trails are meant to stay on the DL from a location standpoint so no yahoo's get the trails shut down.

Once the epoxy gets cured I can actually start work on the Hummer!

Lastly, people here are so damn nice!!!! I almost forgot how nice people can be after living in CA for 13 years. Not everyone is like that but it seems for every 1 nice person in CA there's 10 in Idaho.

oh wait....I live here now, it sucks don't move here :flipoff2::rolleyes:
 

JPaul

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,400
Location
Way up north, UT
You'll be about 4.5 hours away from me after I move up to Cache Valley, UT hopefully before the end of this year (if we can ever sell our house, market is slowed down a lot for me). It'd be great to meet up with you some time, I'm curious what trails are available up that way.
 

SlcHummer

Well-Known Member
Messages
368
Location
Salt Lake City, UT
Not meaning to invite myself as a 3rd wheel but I'd love to make the trek out to ID for some new trails, meet another member and check out this amazing rig
 

scoreh3

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,024
Location
SoCal
Hey Chris I know you go to to King of the Hammer every year, did you hear the very sad news . Jessi Combs “Queen of the Hammer” died yesterday trying to break her own land speed record. She was a great young lady, I know her from racing Baja and off road events. She was always fun to be around and always had a big smile. She was a great role model for female gear heads and will be missed.
 

06 H3

a.k.a. "The Jackal"
Messages
9,350
Location
Meridian, ID
Absolutely guys! The hummer is down now. I just got the garage situated and pulled the battery, battery box, coolant resi, and more to punch some coilovers through the inner fenders. Fox 2.5 14in travel. Coil springs have worked great but in the desire to go faster for prerunning, tune-ability of the coilovers can help that. It also allows better packaging for my air bumps and some more room to get better #’s on the link calculator for a better handling rig. So she’s down for now but once she’s up and running I’m game!

I saw she passed away. So sad. I have had a few interactions with her. I met her prerunning the rock trails we were on one thanksgiving weekend. I met her other times volunteering and during koh. My fiancé and my buddy’s fiancé took a winching class for woman put on by warn and she hosted it. They said nothing but great things about her. I know you say nice things about people when they pass and overlook some negatives but someone at her level, where she is always being stopped for a pic or conversation, it can be probably annoying but she was truly so nice and always willing to talk or take pictures. From what I have heard and read many others feel the same. Truly sad.
 

fanugy

Well-Known Member
Messages
145
Location
Phoenix, AZ
Please keep careful notes- I just reached out to king shocks and am trying to get my T weighed at the corners to calculate coil overs and get rid of the torsion bars- I’m not ready for a solid axle yet and want to try the Bison CV’s beforehand.


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06 H3

a.k.a. "The Jackal"
Messages
9,350
Location
Meridian, ID
I am starting out with 225/350 coils and custom valving. I used a 3300 lb front weight and the unsprung weight they already had based on 1 ton front axle, 40s and beadlocks
 

Mb30sdl

Hamster that pokes Bears
Messages
1,586
Location
Irvine,ca
Just my 2c
On Alpha 250/250 coils are way to soft (on road)
I switched back to 450/350 a little loser preload vs it was set up originally


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06 H3

a.k.a. "The Jackal"
Messages
9,350
Location
Meridian, ID
Update:
Got all settled in and these showed up.

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Pulled the shocks and coil buckets

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Cut off most of the old brackets and frame brackets

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New track bar setup should add about 5-5.5in of length!

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Got axle back in at full bump and for mock up, lower link brackets are as far outboard as possible on the axle and inboard a few inches on the frame. Here is where things get interesting. Ram needs to be remounted in a different area.

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At full bump I can get an extra 1in of uptravel but it would require remounting ram (which I need to do regardless) flip the tie rod under the knuckle to avoid it hitting pitman arm, notch the frame 1.25in for the pumpkin to clear, and the draglink and track bar to clear. Then the limiting factor is the motor instead of the things listed above.


I am at the point where I don't know if its worth chopping 1.25in out of the frame in a 10in section and plate back in with 1/4in. the original SAS had given so much improvement for some work, I am not sure all this work is worth 1in of uptravel ( or 1in lower ride height.) I am shooting for 5-6in of uptravel and this could give me 6-7in or lower ride height.
I'll decide and think about it when I am gone. I will be at ridgecrest pitting for my buddy racing in Ultra 4.
 

RamRod

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,914
Location
AB, Canada
Update:
Got all settled in and these showed up.

hlBh3K9l.jpg


Pulled the shocks and coil buckets

LIlWMpjl.jpg


Cut off most of the old brackets and frame brackets

DnHwnWvl.jpg


New track bar setup should add about 5-5.5in of length!

Duo1HI8l.jpg


Got axle back in at full bump and for mock up, lower link brackets are as far outboard as possible on the axle and inboard a few inches on the frame. Here is where things get interesting. Ram needs to be remounted in a different area.

6pWtbpYl.jpg



At full bump I can get an extra 1in of uptravel but it would require remounting ram (which I need to do regardless) flip the tie rod under the knuckle to avoid it hitting pitman arm, notch the frame 1.25in for the pumpkin to clear, and the draglink and track bar to clear. Then the limiting factor is the motor instead of the things listed above.


I am at the point where I don't know if its worth chopping 1.25in out of the frame in a 10in section and plate back in with 1/4in. the original SAS had given so much improvement for some work, I am not sure all this work is worth 1in of uptravel ( or 1in lower ride height.) I am shooting for 5-6in of uptravel and this could give me 6-7in or lower ride height.
I'll decide and think about it when I am gone. I will be at ridgecrest pitting for my buddy racing in Ultra 4.
You will only regret the things that you dont do.

I say chop that extra 1.25" out and never look back knowing you did everything to max out the ability of your rig.

It's been a goal of your to be as low as possible/reasonable for a long time and that has served you well... I think you should keep that build motto going

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06 H3

a.k.a. "The Jackal"
Messages
9,350
Location
Meridian, ID
Update, I was able to notch the housing and move the track bar and drag link to get about 1/2in more uptravel at that point 3rd link was hitting exhaust and almost to the engine block and other things so notching the frame didn't make sense.

Here's some pics.

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mock up....Still need to clean up the edges

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As you can see the tube is angled the wrong way, that was done due to space. It gets tight. If it was angled straight up and down the tube would hit the brake booster, Ideally stretching the wheelbase would give me more room but I don't want to stretch the wheelbase. I will offset the tabs on the tube so I make sure the coilover is mounted straight up and down, not raked forward.

I also have some plateed artec coilover mounts I may try to mock up, we will see where that gets me but progress is being made!
 

fanugy

Well-Known Member
Messages
145
Location
Phoenix, AZ
Which Artec mount did you pick up and did you bend the tubing or buy and mod from someone else?


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06 H3

a.k.a. "The Jackal"
Messages
9,350
Location
Meridian, ID
Update, got some stuff welded in!

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Here is the cross brace on top of the motor, I would have loved to use bent tube at the top of the coilover hoop but my bender cant make a tight enough radius so by the time I have a straight piece to weld in the removable clamps it was already over the motor if that makes sense. This is before I fully welded it in on the coilover hoops as well. It may also look crooked but I think its the pic and the empty spot on the driver side between the motor. I measured twice and used a level :)

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The start of mocking up air bump mounts

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More tube...

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Still need to make a landing pad for the air bump.

Checking clearances...

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Got the 205 doubler together.

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Pulled the H3 case and you can see the shifter cables on the 205. That H3 case has been through HELL AND BACK. The best and beefiest component on the H3 IMO.

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Changed the 5 bolt 4l60E adapter to the 6 bolt and started mocking up the t case.

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The overall length of the 205 doubler and H3 case are about the same. The issue is when removing the H3 case I push it back over the factory torsion bar crossmember and then let the front end of the case come down first and out it goes. With this HEAVY 205 it is much tougher to do is. In an effort to make my rig very serviceable anywhere I am I am cutting the center 12-14in of the old torsion bar crossmember out and will make plates that allow the center of the crossmember removable. This will keep the rigidity of the crossmember but still allow for easier removal when working on the tcase or trans.

That's where I am at! Still need to weld in the air bump mounts, make axle landing pads for the air bumps, sway bar end links for the front sway bar. Weld in the frame side lower control arm mounts, make new links, mount limit straps mount the battery in a new location, get all the other crap back in the engine bay, mount shifters, get driveshafts, and test drive it before thanksgiving so I can drive it 900 miles to so cal to have thanksgiving with family and then go play at HAMMERS!!!
 
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