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Hummer H3 HD Dana 50/ CV shaft upgrade

EndeavoredH3

Well-Known Member
Messages
407
Location
Arizona
This is really incredible news. I am excited! Do you guys have any idea what's the price will be? I have a feeling that this is going to been more expensive than the S10 diff since it is heavier duty, and with the cost of materials.
Ahem
Atvspeed4:
IMG_0501.jpeg
 

H3TONKA

Member
Messages
7
Location
Australia
Fantastic news guys, well done getting it all sorted. I'm hoping we can work out a way of sending one here to Australia when they are available.
 

pickledill

Well-Known Member
Messages
48
Location
Nebraska
Pretty rad, can't wait to start seeing them for sale. would it be possible to get one with the diff on the driver side as opposed to the OEM passenger side?
 

cgalpha08

"Like Nothing Else"
Messages
3,654
Location
Indianapolis, IN
Pretty rad, can't wait to start seeing them for sale. would it be possible to get one with the diff on the driver side as opposed to the OEM passenger side?
Why would you want this? The H3 has a passenger drop t case. If it didnt, this wouldn't be an issue and you could shoe horn any of the hundreds of other driver drop IFS diffs in place. If you're running a driver drop t case or planning on it, just get literally any other driver drop ifs diff and make it fit in there and call it a day.
 

EndeavoredH3

Well-Known Member
Messages
407
Location
Arizona
Pretty rad, can't wait to start seeing them for sale. would it be possible to get one with the diff on the driver side as opposed to the OEM passenger side?
If the H3’s were driver drop we’d have different front differential adaptations since 2006.

Tons of ifs driver drop diffs available in junkyards. There’s a few that went driver drop when going the solid axle route. Many of which used a different tcase (obviously) to start.
 

pickledill

Well-Known Member
Messages
48
Location
Nebraska
Why would you want this? The H3 has a passenger drop t case. If it didnt, this wouldn't be an issue and you could shoe horn any of the hundreds of other driver drop IFS diffs in place. If you're running a driver drop t case or planning on it, just get literally any other driver drop ifs diff and make it fit in there and call it a day.
I spent some time researching diffs to drop in and I personally did not find any didn't require probably 100s of hours to modify. custom passenger side tube and diff mounts would all have to be fabricated. I feel like atv whos spent God knows how long developing this who has already done majority of the r&d, from my understanding it would be as simple as swapping the tube from driver side to passenger side. But maybe I'm wrong, you probably know more than me
 

pickledill

Well-Known Member
Messages
48
Location
Nebraska
If the H3’s were driver drop we’d have different front differential adaptations since 2006.

Tons of ifs driver drop diffs available in junkyards. There’s a few that went driver drop when going the solid axle route. Many of which used a different tcase (obviously) to start.
From my understanding if you swap the tcase you lose abs and TCS. Idk if anyone's attempted a work around to this.
 

Alpha X

Well-Known Member
Messages
445
Location
The Motor City
Well it was finally a success! No leaks and the new HD plunging CVs fit. At full lock and full compression with the bump stop slammed all the way into the cup the inner rubber boot barely touches the control arm but it won't cause any issues. Our old cvs with the tripod joint and larger boot rubbed often at just below ride height and we never had a boot fail in 8 years so we are not concerned with this ever so slight contact in extreme conditions.

We are waiting for a run of bushings and updated pricing from all of our vendors to finally list the first five for sale.

Looking forward to these when they become available.
 

atvspeed4

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,190
Location
massachusetts
Went to the Vermont Pilgrimage overland event and blew three cv shafts as they came in contact with the lower control arm cross piece. This has never happened in 6+ years so we are trying to figure out what changed on the truck to cause this. Other than that everything is working perfect no leaks
 

EndeavoredH3

Well-Known Member
Messages
407
Location
Arizona
Went to the Vermont Pilgrimage overland event and blew three cv shafts as they came in contact with the lower control arm cross piece. This has never happened in 6+ years so we are trying to figure out what changed on the truck to cause this. Other than that everything is working perfect no leaks
Any photos? I feel like photos are needed here
 

atvspeed4

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,190
Location
massachusetts
Worn out bushings? Or some mounting bracket got tweaked
The diff bushings are non-wearable and won't compress but the lower control arm bushings are stock with 140k miles on them so you might be right that might be it allowing arm to move up higher in the bushing
 

EndeavoredH3

Well-Known Member
Messages
407
Location
Arizona
The diff bushings are non-wearable and won't compress but the lower control arm bushings are stock with 140k miles on them so you might be right that might be it allowing arm to move up higher in the bushing
From the information that you’re providing, and just to make sure. Seems like this happens at full bump?

I had a set of bump stops that looked fine but were fatigued, would allow for some extra up travel. Best of luck in finding the culprit
 

atvspeed4

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,190
Location
massachusetts
From the information that you’re providing, and just to make sure. Seems like this happens at full bump?

I had a set of bump stops that looked fine but were fatigued, would allow for some extra up travel. Best of luck in finding the culprit
Thats correct only happens at full compression. The bump stops are GM ones and only about two years old and less than 1000 miles on them. We are definitely not giving up but this is a tough one as its hard to guarantee that all buyers are going to have good bushings before installing diff. Hopefully there is something else we can adjust to stop this from happening.
 

pickledill

Well-Known Member
Messages
48
Location
Nebraska
Suppose you could just warn about the issue and highly recommend installing new bushings, I'm going the way of a 8.25" front diff swap currently so I can't say I'd buy one, unless you could get it in a driver side variant
 
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atvspeed4

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,190
Location
massachusetts
The 8.25" is junk and also like to explode I wouldn't waste time on that especially with the work for building a custom lift kit to try and get low enough to clear the steering rack. I'd rather run a Alpha cast iron diff than the 8.25". I've spent enough time wheeling with half tons to know not to go down that route. No locker selection as well
 

pickledill

Well-Known Member
Messages
48
Location
Nebraska
The 8.25" is junk and also like to explode I wouldn't waste time on that especially with the work for building a custom lift kit to try and get low enough to clear the steering rack. I'd rather run a Alpha cast iron diff than the 8.25". I've spent enough time wheeling with half tons to know not to go down that route. No locker selection as well
8.25" is a lot bigger than the 7.6, I also don't off-road so theres that. Can you elaborate on building a custom lift kit to clear the steering rack?
 

atvspeed4

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,190
Location
massachusetts
I'm just trying to give advise based on years of experience going down this rabbit hole. If you do a search on the forum you can see how old the threads are from those of us that have been modifying this platform for a very long time trying to solve this very issue. The ring gear is not the immediate weakness with the aam 8.25 its the clamshell design and housing. We originally looked into swapping to driverside drop to run a 242 AMG t-case when we installed the 6l90e and found that the rack and pinion, being a LHD truck is physically too large where the diff housing would need to sit. The distance between the oil pan and the steering rack is not large enough for the diff to sit so you would need to build a sub frame to drop the diff like the rancho lift to get enough clearance.
 

pickledill

Well-Known Member
Messages
48
Location
Nebraska
I'm just trying to give advise based on years of experience going down this rabbit hole. If you do a search on the forum you can see how old the threads are from those of us that have been modifying this platform for a very long time trying to solve this very issue. The ring gear is not the immediate weakness with the aam 8.25 its the clamshell design and housing. We originally looked into swapping to driverside drop to run a 242 AMG t-case when we installed the 6l90e and found that the rack and pinion, being a LHD truck is physically too large where the diff housing would need to sit. The distance between the oil pan and the steering rack is not large enough for the diff to sit so you would need to build a sub frame to drop the diff like the rancho lift to get enough clearance.

There is a Colorado build out there running a 8.25" front diff, they did have to use a very custom oil pan to make it fit. I'm currently really torn on that or doing a solid axle swap. I'm not insanely confident on cutting up and welding my chassis (not like I can just go find a new one) and I'm not a huge fan of the 5-6" lift that it seems to add. Although looking at 57hemicuda's build, it seems they got maybe a 2" lift or so by going with leaf springs
 
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