My SA hummer build

08SolarFlareH3 said:

Great photos, keep them coming (I know you got a lot more :wink

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hehe, I'm a photo horder, lol

So the next mod was the PCM for less flash, took 5 weeks to reach my hands with our fast postal service .

and what a difference the PCM flash made. the hummer pulled stronger, shifted better, and golly the offroading felt improved, suddenly I could say traction control was working

Sennin said:

Thanks, the trailer works like a dream

I keep the tongue weight between 10 and 50kg's (22.5 - 110lb's) as I usualy do the hitching by myself I don't like to work that hard to get it hooked up

Edit:
When towing the Trailer with my daily driver pickup, I don't have this issue, thats why I'm thinking it might be the softer suspension :roll:

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The recommended tongue weight is 10% of the total for the trailer. Try increasing it and see if that helps.

Your probably getting more coupling into the H3 because of the shorter wheelbase. The only solution is to trade it in on a H3T. :wink:

Love the pictures BTW.

That one heck of a geocaching trip. Glad to see another cacher here

Did some more trails with the hummer, and then it was the rainy season....

"Photo updated"


Decided it was time for a Snorkel (think this was more of a cosmetic thing, than of a protection thing, as the electronics location will prevent me from trying to do deep wadings)

Obviously Safari snorked doesn't have a Snorkel for the 2007, so I got a 2008 one, and had it fitted at a offroad specialist

This littel piece that came with the snorkel was discarded, as it doesn't mount on the stock 2007 airbox


It was heart wrenching to see the holes being drilled in the fender and window pillar



But with the Snorkel on, it was worth it




A fitting was made to fit over the existing airbox inlet pipe (But after reading another post I will be doing some adjustments here later to improve the airflow thru this little pipe)

And the end result

Portager said:

The recommended tongue weight is 10% of the total for the trailer. Try increasing it and see if that helps.

Your probably getting more coupling into the H3 because of the shorter wheelbase. The only solution is to trade it in on a H3T. :wink:

Love the pictures BTW.

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Will Definately test this out a bit.

The main concern I have, is that we have cr@p laws regarding towing, vehicle capacity etc.

For instance:
The hummer can legally tow 2,200kg, but our law states that anything above 750kg needs to be braked (have own run in braking system, etc). Luckilly my trailer is rated for 750kg:thumbs: so at 10% that means I would have to put 75Kg (165pounds) on the towball

Secondly the allowable weight a vehicle is allowed to carry is GVM - GCM which gives the hummer a carrying capacity of about 521Kg(1150 pounds).

So filling the petrol tank reduses the carry capacity to:
480kg (1058 pounds) (lose about 40kg)

Adding me and 3 passangers reduces the carry capacity to:
100Kg (220 pounds) (Lose about 380Kg and this is a bit optimistic, as i weigh roughlt 130Kg myself :emb

Adding the trailer at 10% reduces the carry capacity to:
35Kg (77 pounds) (Lose about 75Kg or 10%)


So this leaves you with only 35Kg or 77 pounds for the coolerbox, camera's laptops, extra fual in jerry cans(the trailer only has 2 jerry cans fitted), gazebo. and don't forget all the add ons I have on the Hummer, ARB Bullbar, Winch, roofrack, 35" muddies. It's actually a huge problem the way our law works.

On my pickup I don't have this problem as the carry capacity is 1800Kg (3,300 pounds)
and usually load 6 x 20liter jerry cans giving me 200liter total diesel or 2,200km travelling (1367 miles) as most places only stock 500ppm diesel, and I prefer to use only 50ppm

Decided to go and play with the Hummer just before our planned trip to mosambique over easter weekend.

Stability trac failure and check engine light illuminated on dash when I got into this position. Unable to pull away as the engine's power gets reduced and then stalls.




Booked The Hummer in at GM, and it took them over a month to find the problem, obviously I had to go on holiday without the hummer.

First GM said it was the PCM (I gave them the original PCM and problem was still there). then they got a auto elect. in to check the wiring, gearbox encoding motor etc. at the end of the day the whole engine wiring harness was replaced and problem solved.

had the hummer resting in my garage for 2 weeks, and when I wanted to go for a drive, i noticed some oil on the garage floor, so got under the hummer and saw this:


So back to GM, where the informed me that the gearbox was over filled and thus the excess oil was pushed out!!!

everything sorted, I set off to go and play:


And I drove the one stepsill off on a obstacle, so naturally it was time to take all stepsill equipment off at home:

Glad to hear that the H3 mechanical problems were solved but you sure did a job on those steps!

:agree:


Seems you wheel your 3 than i do mine!:wink: Glad everything go resolved!:cheers:

You fixed those nerfs good.

You need some Rigid Demon Rock Bashers.

Portager said:

You fixed those nerfs good.

You need some Rigid Demon Rock Bashers.

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he he, thats one of my next mods, but the importing costs is going to be a killer

I'll buy you a set and send then as a gift.

Portager said:

I'll buy you a set and send then as a gift.

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Ooh, now youre talking :woot:. Could you pm me your info if youre really serious :wink:

Bigunit said:

Glad to hear that the H3 mechanical problems were solved but you sure did a job on those steps!

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He he, well I needed to be sure that I really required rock sliders :emb:

next up is some under carriege protection:

first went to a guy doing custom fabrication parts, and told him what I wanted, I wanted a full chasis skid, running from front skid to crossmember after transfer case...

This is what I got:


I didnt really like it, as the gearbox was still exposed...

so I got my tape measure out, started up my PC and opened up CAD and created the protection I wanted:

the raw cut and bend UCP:


Holes drilled and painted with ceramic paint:


Installed on the Hummer:


This is so far the best mod I have made ( although the 44kg plate is a mofo to install it works perfect)

P.S. sorry for the crappy phone pics

Skid plate / UCP looks nice, might want to consider cutting a few slots for cooling and to help with cleaning. Skid reminds me of this one I saw on a Russian hummer forum but its slotted like I mentioned.

08SolarFlareH3 said:

Skid plate / UCP looks nice, might want to consider cutting a few slots for cooling and to help with cleaning. Skid reminds me of this one I saw on a Russian hummer forum but its slotted like I mentioned.

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Thanks, did some temperature test with my multi meter, and couldn't see eny significant rise in temp. but one of my next mods will be the exhaust system witj branches and have it heat wrapped :horns:

Wheeling time again.

Time to stretch the hummers legs again :wink:

So we went to the 3 Provinses 4x4 track thats about 100km (60miles) away from me.



I'm always surprised when I get to a trail, and its the first time the trail owners see a Hummer coming there, and I'm always happy to chat with them

Time to lower the tire pressure (lowered it to 1.4 bar, but only on a later trip realised that the 35" needs to be deflated to below 1 bar for any improvement)



And off to the first scenic obstacle:

The photo's doesn't do the scenery justice from the top...
View attachment 1708

Going back down again (should try to rotate the Horison to be more even)
View attachment 1709


En ruite to some more abstacles



A little obstacle fun(Going Up)


Coming down

Some places are overgrown and some "pinstriping" from the branches is inevitable



There was some mud, but not much as it wasn't the rainy season yet....



and then we got to Hells Hoogte (Hells Hight). its a 3:1 climb (3 meters forward, 1 meter up) with rocks at the top to overcome at roughlt 35-40 degrees





Reaching the top:


Taking the gorge down:

Great pics Sennin!

Nice pictures Sennin! Thanks for sharing.

Did Another Trail,

This time it's the Moegatle trail, its actually a trail running on a local townships ground, so you pay for the trail, and then you go to the township council, and show that you have payed before you are allowed to go on the track (the council then goes and fetch part of the payment for communil upliftment)



First up we attempted "Koos se klip" which is a incline of 43 degrees when you have your wheel in the air














other pics

Then it was time for some more toys for the Hummer.

Ordered myself a roofrack and ARB Bullbar, and it was time to go and fetch it. (Ordered a Warn 9,500 XP winch and some Lightforce 240 HID's but they are taking longer to arrive via courier)

So off I went with the BT to fetch the Hummer toys



First Up was the Roof rack installation (I only had the afternoon, and the sun was setting fast)









And the next day was spend stripping the front of the Hummer, splicing in the wiring harness for the ARB lights and indicators, reaming some of the chasis holes so the arb bracket fits perfectly, etc.

The whole combo you have on there looks Bad A$$!:horns: