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ReconH3 Build Thread v2.0

ReconH3

ReconH3

Guardian Angel
Messages
2,288
Location
Raleigh, NC
After DPG I got Lee at TLC Transmission to put on an external tranny cooler. We isolated the OEM one so we wouldn't have any contamination issues in the future, if the factory one fails. I also installed my AirDoc I had ordered some time ago.

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ReconH3

ReconH3

Guardian Angel
Messages
2,288
Location
Raleigh, NC
Whilst overseas, I organized long before I returned, to get with East Coast Gear Supply to help out with some fabrication. I also organized with Lee from TLC Transmission to go over some mechanical stuff. Even though he's a tranny expert, he's a great overall mechanic.
 
ReconH3

ReconH3

Guardian Angel
Messages
2,288
Location
Raleigh, NC
The day after I got back in the US, the H3 went into East Coast Gear Supply in Raleigh NC.

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They were going to make some custom UCP as well as solve some drive line issues. They were also going to help to center both axles in the wheel wells.

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Here is the beginning of the front skid plate. It was complicated since it had to clear the control arms.

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They also modified a crossmember to clear the front drive shaft that was hitting it. They also added some limiting straps to stop some binding in the pitman heim as well as the drive shaft u-joints. Here we discovered that ORE had ordered the drive shafts way too short!!! Same goes for the rear drive shaft. :mad:
 
ReconH3

ReconH3

Guardian Angel
Messages
2,288
Location
Raleigh, NC
Two days later, keeping to a tight time schedule so I could go wheeling that weekend, they had finished all their work.

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Front skid plate.

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Rear skid plate that protects the transfer case. They do amazing work. Just enough to protect everything, but not too much to cause heat issues or accumulate mud. Just right!
 
ReconH3

ReconH3

Guardian Angel
Messages
2,288
Location
Raleigh, NC
The day after I went to TLC Transmissions to do some drive line and alignment adjustments. Lee and his assistant were great. He also solved the bad e-brake cable routing. Whilst doing the drive line angles, he also mentioned the way too short drive shafts. He said I should got to Winston-Salem to get Oliver's Custom Driveshafts to fix everything. I called them and asked the if they cold do an emergency fix if I came in the next morning. They said yes!!!
 
ReconH3

ReconH3

Guardian Angel
Messages
2,288
Location
Raleigh, NC
OCD.jpg


Next morning I showed up at Oliver's Custom Driveshafts at 08:00. It was a 2:30 drive from home so I left early. I was there most of the day with temps well above 100. At lunch they asked me if I wanted anything, and had it brought over. As promised they redid both front and rear shafts. They even had them high speed balanced. The 2:30 drive back home I had a huge smile on my face. Between the custom shafts, and lee setting up the correct angles the day before, all the vibration were gone!!! Thanks guys!!

While I was there I had the Ridge Demon frame plates welded on, that I had gotten on his 4th of July sale.

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I had them welded on "upside-down" I did this because otherwise I couldn't remove my HMMWV winch plate. It's also better because the lower part is usually the part that hits the rocks, therefore making it stronger. I'm so glad I got these, because the OEM setup is so weak.
 
ReconH3

ReconH3

Guardian Angel
Messages
2,288
Location
Raleigh, NC
After all these mods, and adding the limiting straps I figured I had lost some suspension travel. So to see how things were, I went back to 4Wheel Parts in Raleigh to try out their 20 degree ramp.

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Still hitting 1000! :) All the mods had been done so well it didn't affect any of the suspension travel. I also got to see that centering the axles will probably permit me to go up a couple of inches on tire size. That will have to wait till a later date. While I was there I asked some of the guys if they knew anywhere to get a custom exhaust. I hate the sound of the Flowmaster. Magnaflow is more my style. They suggest R&J Custom exhausts in Apex. He said many of his customers have been very happy with their work. So I zoom down there to talk to these guys and set up an appointment. Whilst I'm there, I find out that they don't do Magnaflow, but if I brought it in they would gladly install it. They even give me a number for a Magnaflow dealer. Great guys! I set up the appointment for right after the weekend.
 
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M22KLARS

M22KLARS

Unsafe At Any Speed
Messages
2,315
Location
Minnesota
If you ever sell that thing there's gonna be dudes stabbing each other to get to it first. :giggle:

And I'll take out anyone in my way. :wink:
 
ReconH3

ReconH3

Guardian Angel
Messages
2,288
Location
Raleigh, NC
When I had a house, I had a sign in the entrance that said: "Forget the dog, Beware of owner". ;)


"Ex Umbris Venimus"

Sent from my iPhone
 
ReconH3

ReconH3

Guardian Angel
Messages
2,288
Location
Raleigh, NC
After all those mods got done it was time to hit the trails. I had been trying to organize an outing to Uwharrie National Park on July 16th with all the local NC Hummers. Some had already planned going more south, but in the end Griff said he would go. I also hooked up with some other people from NC4x4. It was a great day. The local guy that was showing us around, brought us directly to the roughest part of the park!!! It wasn't what I had planned since I was still testing the H3, but it performed flawlessly. I couldn't push it too hard because I still don't have bump stops. Here are some pics of that great day.

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Griff in action. His completely stock H3 performed quite well, and he was willing to put it through it's paces.

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A nice scenery shot.

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Another flex shot.

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More Griff in action.

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Big Goofy in his ZJ. He volunteered to be our guide for the day and turned out to be one of the best spotters. He lives 5 minutes down the road. Great guy and his wife wheels too :)
 
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ReconH3

ReconH3

Guardian Angel
Messages
2,288
Location
Raleigh, NC
The Monday after Uwharrie, I had set up an appointment at R&J Custom exhaust shop. I showed up with my Magnaflow and they installed it in no time.

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They even fixed an issue with the ORE setup, where the pipe was banging a body mount every time I hit a bump. Turns out they build drag cars and will do any type of mechanical work. I know where I'll be going, the next time I get back to the US, to get my steering pump replaced.
 
06 H3

06 H3

a.k.a. "The Jackal"
Messages
9,352
Location
Meridian, ID
So we were leaving Cali with an unfinished H3, with no UCP, and a fried electrical system. All courtesy of ORE. They do amazing work, but they also drag their feet and leave other things unfinished. I had no clue if I would find anyone decent in NC, so I left kind of unmotivated. :([/QUOTE]

I havent really posted on your thread but just watched and read this thread on the other forums more then 15 times. Great build. I definitely dont blame you for feeling unmotivated. I am assuming you probably felt like this whole project would just end and be screwed up forever huh? Btw how the hell do you replace an entire fried electrical system? lol
 
ReconH3

ReconH3

Guardian Angel
Messages
2,288
Location
Raleigh, NC
06 H3 said:
I havent really posted on your thread but just watched and read this thread on the other forums more then 15 times. Great build. I definitely dont blame you for feeling unmotivated. I am assuming you probably felt like this whole project would just end and be screwed up forever huh? Btw how the hell do you replace an entire fried electrical system? lol
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You're right on the money. I really felt like: "who knows if this would ever get resolved". It was very frustrating. Since they had been leaving so many things unfinished, I really started to lose confidence on the reliability of the build, which was the #1 priority! Even if I resolved the electrical issues, I didn't feel I could trust the custom suspension to be able to wheel it without everything breaking apart. The saviors, were the local Raleigh Hummer dealer, Hendrick Hummer. They figured out and fixed the whole disaster in 2 days!! They did an amazing job. The guys at East Coast Gear Supply and Lee at TLC Transmissions also helped debug all the issues that were left unfinished. Coming to NC was the best thing that happened to this build.
 
3

3Hummers

Super Moderator
Staff member
Messages
10,400
Location
Central Texas
I had wondered about your mental state throughout this process. There had to be times when you thought " what the hell have I done, I just destroyed a perfectly good truck and don't know if I will ever get it right". Turned out great but there had to be a few sleepless nights in there.
 
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ReconH3

ReconH3

Guardian Angel
Messages
2,288
Location
Raleigh, NC
3Hummers said:
I had wondered about your metal state throughout this process. There had to be times when you thought " what the hell have I done, I just destroyed a perfectly good truck and don't know if I will ever get it right". Turned out great but there had to be a few sleepless nights in there.
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Most of my doubts were due to ORE not meeting any deadlines, so I could test the vehicle. You can't build something like this and not test it to see what needs to be fixed or modified. Every time I would come back from overseas to start testing, things hadn't been done. So many things got compromised because they couldn't be bothered to do their part. Had it not been for the great people that helped out in NC, I would have a big useless H3. :(
 
06 H3

06 H3

a.k.a. "The Jackal"
Messages
9,352
Location
Meridian, ID
Well atleast you got it all taken care of. Now you have one of the baddest H3's around. Definitely groundbreaking too, all the electronics on it with the solid axle, most didn't think it could be done but you got it finished. ORE isn't more then an hour to 1 1/2 hours away from me and I have heard the best of the best for offroad customizing. I have seen the builds on facebook and forums. They took an F150 and threw a dynatrac 80 and 60 on it with king coilovers. Millions of jeeps have been built there. It seems like they specialize in making JK's into custom rock buggies with a street legal body on it. the quality, craftsmanship and creativity all seem amazing. Is your only issue with them is deadline issues?

I also wish I got to see this before you left so cal. I saw the pics of you and the H3T in the snow by castaic. I live right 10 miles from castaic and wish I could have seen this beast. That H3T guy said he was a maybe on a few runs but ended up never showing. Your H3, Bebes H3 and this guys H3T I really really wanna just look at it and just see all the fab work that was done. I would probably faint, suspensions, creativity and fab just amaze me.
 
ReconH3

ReconH3

Guardian Angel
Messages
2,288
Location
Raleigh, NC
It wasn't only deadline issues. The fried wire issue was caused by just leaving cables hanging on the exhaust. Many times when they pulled something off to work on something, they wouldn't reassemble it right or even put it back on at all. They lost many parts, and I had get them out of my own pocket. When they installed the winch, they didn't use three of the mounting bolts. I wanted to keep all the IFS stuff to sell cheap to service members. Especially diff, steering rack, and tie-rods. I told them many times. They threw everything away. In the end, it seemed like I had to be there to hold their hands, or they wouldn't do what had to be done. Every time I told them about something, they would say:"you're right. I'm sorry". It started to sound like a broken record. In the end, I did get a great rig, at a price that I could afford, even if it was half finished. That's what has kept me from taking any further action against them. Sometimes I think it's a dream, and I can't believe I actually own the damn thing. :D
 
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