wvracer821
Well-known member
the bling will be right, I have no doubt.
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Hummer H3 Build
- Thread starter 06h3
- Start date
Thanks, I appreciate the feedback LScout800
As for an update, I replaced the inner axle seals since one started leaking. I think it tore after I broke a u joint and the shaft could wiggle all around. 7 years was a good run on inner axle seals.
New wheel bearings will go in and new brake pads. The wheel bearings are probably fine but after 7 years with thousands of miles of highway use it’s probably decent preventative maintenance.
I have some wheeling trips at the end of this month, April and May so I’ll get more seat time with the 3 link rear
As for an update, I replaced the inner axle seals since one started leaking. I think it tore after I broke a u joint and the shaft could wiggle all around. 7 years was a good run on inner axle seals.
New wheel bearings will go in and new brake pads. The wheel bearings are probably fine but after 7 years with thousands of miles of highway use it’s probably decent preventative maintenance.
I have some wheeling trips at the end of this month, April and May so I’ll get more seat time with the 3 link rear
YotaAtieToo
Thick skull
Slander
Team no stickys
This. I put polished wheels on my crawler and any blingness was quickly scraped off
Just got back from Moab. It was a trip that had me grinning ear to ear saying, holy fuck my rig kicks ass and then minutes later, my rig sucks.
This is my 8th (I think) Moab trip. I have been to Moab completely stock to my current rig today. We had different plans then normal. Normally we run the traditional trails. This time we added in a trip to area BFE and we got a permit for Coyote canyon. In total we ran Pritchett, Helldorado, Green day, Hells revenge, part of brittany spears and Coyote Canyon.
I hauled my rig to Moab which is just under 600 miles but once in Moab I drove it all over on the highway which was important to me. As per usual, right when I get something dialed, I make more changes and that takes time to get it all dialed. This is my 3rd trip on the 6l80e swap and 2nd time out wheeling the rear 3 link so I wanted some street time too.
I was not concerned one bit about coyote canyon or helldorado and green day, they are rock crawling trails and I am a rock crawler! I was concerned about the moab trails. I have always felt the hummer struggled on those type of trails even after the SAS and in the end it was quite the opposite!
As stated in previous posts I felt I was under sway bared. I felt unstable and like a boat in rough waters. I had a Schroder sway bar 30in length .825 diameter for about a spring rate of 74 at 14in of arm length. I ordered a .95 bar which they said would take 4-6 weeks since they are back logged. Moab was 7 weeks away. I was good right? Well, they said it was done the morning I was leaving. I had put the arm down to an 11in eye to eye to bring the rate up to 120ish but it was still a tad soft. Given Moab is a tippy place I wanted the bigger bar so I reluctantly spent $118
to overnight it to Moab. I got it and installed it there, set it to the 2nd hole which gives me a rate of 153 which was ON THE MONEY. Does it sway a little bit on road? Yes, but it returns to center and feels very stable now. I could up the rate by swapping around holes and go down to 120ish 180ish and up to 220ish. I may try 180 but 150 feels good.
So Day 1 we hit Pritchett, we drove to the start, dropped off the trailered rigs, and then we drove to the end, dropped off the tow rig and trailers and I drove them back to the start with the Hummer. It did well on the road and seemed happy minus a tire or driveline vibe.
Pritchett was fun and I quickly felt confident on its stability which was a huge plus because my first test run I felt a ton of instability.
Chewy hill was my first problem. Last time out I had gas pouring out of the evap canister and caused it to flood the engine and run like dog shit. I had a purge valve CEL and replaced the valve, the CEL light went away but on chewy hill it started doing that again. Run like shit from flooding the engine and at this point I winched because I needed steady throttle and it would only work with heavy throttle inputs. I ended up plugging one of the lines to the evap and that fixed it.
We continue to rocker knocker and I took a bad line, get sketchy and winched. I am so bummed because I literally took the wrong line. From there we hit axle hill and I got that, rockpile was FUCKED up. It was so dug out. The drive out was long but hit the highway and headed back to camp.
Day 2 we hit Area BFE and ran helldorado. Same thing, it was FUCKED up and dug out but it was cool to knock off a legendary trail on the bucket list. We ran Green day and had fun then headed to Hells Revenge.
The hybrid cage saving my bacon again.
Hells Revenge was fun, its an easy trail so I did the entire main trail in 2wd as a challenge. Then we did hells gate, my buddy hit devils hot tub and made it which took big balls. I finally hit mickeys hot tub. After years and years of wanting to hit it, I finally did and got it. I also hit a big climb which historically I would lift because I am a bitch when it comes to commitment on ledges and climbs but the rear suspension didnt lift or squat too much, it felt stable and put the power to the ground. After hells revenge I was stoked!!!! This thing was doing stuff in Moab I struggled with in the past.
The video above is what I think shows my new suspension working, no hopping, or lifting not showing AS over 100%, it doesnt seem to squat so much it pulls the front to full droop. It seems to work nicely.
Going down escalator
Day 3 we hit coyote canyon, this one was rough, I winched on the first obstacle everyone else got. On the one line I took I was hanging up on my frame side lower rear link mount, I don't think with leafs I would have. Another line I tried my buddy said I do not have the steering angle I needed (18in wide Mickey AG tires hurt steering angle.) From there, I was frustrated and drove like a fucking idiot. The left hand turn on coyote I was going to get, I just couldnt get my tires to steer. Shitty excuses, just like....if my aunt had balls, she'd be my uncle so enough with the excuses. I had moments of FUCK YEAH and moments of FUCKING POS.
In the traditional rock crawling trails I thought I would have hit my lower shock mounts more and surprisingly I didn't I'd say my lower control arm mounts were worse.
Overall, I had a fun trip with friends and got some seat time with the new changes.
Some things I need to fix before the next run.
-Tap shift: I have resistors in my tap shift wiring and the wiring moves with the shifter and the resistors use such a small piece of wire it broke. I need to mount the wires where the resistors are to lay flat and have the excess wire where no resistors are to move with the shifter.
-Battery: My battery decided to puke all its acid out at the end of the trip. WTF. So I need to replace that and rewire some stuff.
-Ram: my ram assist started leaking so replace the seals.
-Fix the evap leaking bullshit once and for all.
-lastly, and most oddly, if I had sustained higher RPM at highway speeds something is smoking. It didnt do that ever before. I wonder if something from the 6l80 is touching hot exhaust or something. It only happens at 3k rpm plus for grades and such. It didnt do that the first day or up grades on sustained rpm in Idaho so something is up....
As you can see I have my work cut out for me. It was a good trip, I have a lot more confidence in the rear suspension now. I feel it is leaps and bounds better on ledges and climbs, the power is put down, doesnt hop, deflect or do any of the leaf spring things it used to do.
This is my 8th (I think) Moab trip. I have been to Moab completely stock to my current rig today. We had different plans then normal. Normally we run the traditional trails. This time we added in a trip to area BFE and we got a permit for Coyote canyon. In total we ran Pritchett, Helldorado, Green day, Hells revenge, part of brittany spears and Coyote Canyon.
I hauled my rig to Moab which is just under 600 miles but once in Moab I drove it all over on the highway which was important to me. As per usual, right when I get something dialed, I make more changes and that takes time to get it all dialed. This is my 3rd trip on the 6l80e swap and 2nd time out wheeling the rear 3 link so I wanted some street time too.
I was not concerned one bit about coyote canyon or helldorado and green day, they are rock crawling trails and I am a rock crawler! I was concerned about the moab trails. I have always felt the hummer struggled on those type of trails even after the SAS and in the end it was quite the opposite!
As stated in previous posts I felt I was under sway bared. I felt unstable and like a boat in rough waters. I had a Schroder sway bar 30in length .825 diameter for about a spring rate of 74 at 14in of arm length. I ordered a .95 bar which they said would take 4-6 weeks since they are back logged. Moab was 7 weeks away. I was good right? Well, they said it was done the morning I was leaving. I had put the arm down to an 11in eye to eye to bring the rate up to 120ish but it was still a tad soft. Given Moab is a tippy place I wanted the bigger bar so I reluctantly spent $118
to overnight it to Moab. I got it and installed it there, set it to the 2nd hole which gives me a rate of 153 which was ON THE MONEY. Does it sway a little bit on road? Yes, but it returns to center and feels very stable now. I could up the rate by swapping around holes and go down to 120ish 180ish and up to 220ish. I may try 180 but 150 feels good.So Day 1 we hit Pritchett, we drove to the start, dropped off the trailered rigs, and then we drove to the end, dropped off the tow rig and trailers and I drove them back to the start with the Hummer. It did well on the road and seemed happy minus a tire or driveline vibe.
Pritchett was fun and I quickly felt confident on its stability which was a huge plus because my first test run I felt a ton of instability.
Chewy hill was my first problem. Last time out I had gas pouring out of the evap canister and caused it to flood the engine and run like dog shit. I had a purge valve CEL and replaced the valve, the CEL light went away but on chewy hill it started doing that again. Run like shit from flooding the engine and at this point I winched because I needed steady throttle and it would only work with heavy throttle inputs. I ended up plugging one of the lines to the evap and that fixed it.
We continue to rocker knocker and I took a bad line, get sketchy and winched. I am so bummed because I literally took the wrong line. From there we hit axle hill and I got that, rockpile was FUCKED up. It was so dug out. The drive out was long but hit the highway and headed back to camp.
Day 2 we hit Area BFE and ran helldorado. Same thing, it was FUCKED up and dug out but it was cool to knock off a legendary trail on the bucket list. We ran Green day and had fun then headed to Hells Revenge.
The hybrid cage saving my bacon again.
Hells Revenge was fun, its an easy trail so I did the entire main trail in 2wd as a challenge. Then we did hells gate, my buddy hit devils hot tub and made it which took big balls. I finally hit mickeys hot tub. After years and years of wanting to hit it, I finally did and got it. I also hit a big climb which historically I would lift because I am a bitch when it comes to commitment on ledges and climbs but the rear suspension didnt lift or squat too much, it felt stable and put the power to the ground. After hells revenge I was stoked!!!! This thing was doing stuff in Moab I struggled with in the past.
The video above is what I think shows my new suspension working, no hopping, or lifting not showing AS over 100%, it doesnt seem to squat so much it pulls the front to full droop. It seems to work nicely.
Going down escalator
Day 3 we hit coyote canyon, this one was rough, I winched on the first obstacle everyone else got. On the one line I took I was hanging up on my frame side lower rear link mount, I don't think with leafs I would have. Another line I tried my buddy said I do not have the steering angle I needed (18in wide Mickey AG tires hurt steering angle.) From there, I was frustrated and drove like a fucking idiot. The left hand turn on coyote I was going to get, I just couldnt get my tires to steer. Shitty excuses, just like....if my aunt had balls, she'd be my uncle so enough with the excuses. I had moments of FUCK YEAH and moments of FUCKING POS.
In the traditional rock crawling trails I thought I would have hit my lower shock mounts more and surprisingly I didn't I'd say my lower control arm mounts were worse.
Overall, I had a fun trip with friends and got some seat time with the new changes.
Some things I need to fix before the next run.
-Tap shift: I have resistors in my tap shift wiring and the wiring moves with the shifter and the resistors use such a small piece of wire it broke. I need to mount the wires where the resistors are to lay flat and have the excess wire where no resistors are to move with the shifter.
-Battery: My battery decided to puke all its acid out at the end of the trip. WTF. So I need to replace that and rewire some stuff.
-Ram: my ram assist started leaking so replace the seals.
-Fix the evap leaking bullshit once and for all.
-lastly, and most oddly, if I had sustained higher RPM at highway speeds something is smoking. It didnt do that ever before. I wonder if something from the 6l80 is touching hot exhaust or something. It only happens at 3k rpm plus for grades and such. It didnt do that the first day or up grades on sustained rpm in Idaho so something is up....
As you can see I have my work cut out for me. It was a good trip, I have a lot more confidence in the rear suspension now. I feel it is leaps and bounds better on ledges and climbs, the power is put down, doesnt hop, deflect or do any of the leaf spring things it used to do.
ridered3
Low Talent Wheelin
Enjoyed the post trip report. Looked like a mighty fun time.
Mike Honcho
Red Skull Member
Cool report, moab is on my list this year. Your rig makes the hot tub look like a pot hole
Boomtacoma01
3rd Coast
Coyote Canyon is my favorite 1/2 mile of trail. its tough. We didn't get to Run any of Area BFE when we went in 2020. I need to go back soon.
Looks like you had a great trip and nice recap..
Looks like you had a great trip and nice recap..
Thanks. It is tough, what surprised me most was the ending where you go downhill and loop back around. Every video or forum recap ive seen of coyote talks about the last "main obstacle" being the obstacle before you go downhill so I just assumed you took a dirt road out but going down that last part has you on your toes too.
Boomtacoma01
3rd Coast
Yeah it was a bit of a surprise. You gotta go into it knowing some body damage is imminent for sure.
I beat the shit out of my truck. It still took us about 3.5 hours to run with 5 rigs.
I beat the shit out of my truck. It still took us about 3.5 hours to run with 5 rigs.
Well, I have never had this happen before but my fucking lead acid battery exploded!!!!
It’s next to my fuse box so hopefully it doesn’t wipe out any electrical. Just ordered an AGM, supposedly they don’t leak? Either way I’m livid.
It’s next to my fuse box so hopefully it doesn’t wipe out any electrical. Just ordered an AGM, supposedly they don’t leak? Either way I’m livid.
ridered3
Low Talent Wheelin
No idea. The battery is swollen and 3 years old.
Do I let it sit in baking soda/water?
Lincoln
Well-known member
- Joined
- May 20, 2020
- Member Number
- 408
- Messages
- 190
What brand of battery? It was probably a broken plate that shorted. I used to see it a lot with the junk costco sold. I don't sell like I used to but the battery shop tell me it is on the rise again with all the chinese batteries. Also good AGM's have been in short supply because all the new cars use them but US production hasn't increased at the same rate.
I still buy from sterling if you desire.
I still buy from sterling if you desire.
I would think just wipe it down with a rag soaked in it, as the baking soda is basic and will stop the acid from corroding anything any more than it has, then cleaning it up best you can with water.
Never had a battery explode, but I had some leak, that acid will destroy anything plastic and rust sheet metal through pretty quick, nasty stuff. Not really good for skin either.
cgalpha08
Red Skull Member
Well, I have never had this happen before but my fucking lead acid battery exploded!!!!
It’s next to my fuse box so hopefully it doesn’t wipe out any electrical. Just ordered an AGM, supposedly they don’t leak? Either way I’m livid.
Dude that blows! I know the fuse box has that large electrical connector on the back side, i would definitely take the whole thing apart and make sure nothing got in there.
Before I do anything I feel like I should reach out to you, you have all the places to go. From trailer axle stuff to batteries to random bearings. You know the mom and pops that have the good stuff.
Is odyssey still decent? I know optima took a shit. Im going AGM.
Yeah fuse box will come out. That’s one of the last things I still need to pull. I sprayed water from a water bottle then basically “pasted” baking soda on it. Hopefully that works.
YotaAtieToo
Thick skull
I had a battery blow the caps off and blow acid out on my 1st Gen 12v from an alternator overcharging.
The funny thing was that it ended up melting the one wire that truck needed to run and it later died on me
The funny thing was that it ended up melting the one wire that truck needed to run and it later died on me
Damn that sucks. Hopefully it's all just cosmetic and didn't get the fuse box or plug.
Lincoln
Well-known member
- Joined
- May 20, 2020
- Member Number
- 408
- Messages
- 190
I run sterling branded flooded and agm, jeep junk has odyssey. All have been good. Sterling has been getting erratic shipments of odyssey and pricing hasn't been great. The last two I bought at autozone.
I run a 925 and 680 Odyssey's in the stock tray, connected with a big relay. The second battery is for a little separate reserve for radios and the fridge. It also works for self jumping. I was in JV forever ago and the 925 puked. I rewired it and ran the week on the 680. Cranked the 4.0 fine and handled the bit of winching I did.
Odyssey's hate being ran dead. Couple times and it's junk. They won't save you space if you need reserve.
Lincoln
Well-known member
- Joined
- May 20, 2020
- Member Number
- 408
- Messages
- 190
I keep mine on a 1 amp battery tender brand charger. I have a norco (?) as well and it seems ok. The better brands turn on and off so they don't cook the battery.
Also size is reserve. If you do much winching I would buy a bigger one even though the smaller will crank and run it fine.
Giving an update here.
Other than Gavin Newsom I wouldn’t wish battery explosion and acid on anyone including my worst enemies (minus newsom, fuck him)
Maybe I’m overreacting but I felt it was horrible. I have a lot of tubes and crevices that the acid got into, leaked down by my fuse box, in between 2 layers of inner fender. So I took my time with baking soda, water, engine degreaser, more baking soda, more water, a wire wheel, and then paint. Fuck that. It was terrible, let’s hope it doesn’t rust anything out in the future.
I went with the odyssey version of my group sized battery. AGM so hopefully it never ever leaks again.
I also took the time to rethink my existing battery mounting. Before the coilovers I had a multi wall inner fender with all sorts of reinforcement for a battery box, it was the factory setup and worked. After the coilovers in 2019 and going in the engine bay, I had to change up the battery mount. It was single wall thin sheet metal inner fender and maybe allowed too much movement/vibration causing this explosion. So I worked on a new mount.
This is 3/16 plate that’s sitting about 1/4-1/2in above the inner fender. It’s welded to the coilover mount so it should see less vibration.
From there, I will rewire my rats nest of wiring….I have dual posts now which will help and probably allow me to avoid needing a junction block.
Now for steering. I have pondered the history of my steering. Historically, I have NEVER had steering issues, many friends with ram assist have suffered from slow steering, steering that wouldn’t steer when loaded, etc. I never had any of those issues unless I had hurt parts in the system.
Some interesting facts for you LS guys. PSC sells a 6in pulley, as an “upgrade” I think LS’s use a 6.5in pulley from my research. I have measured and have a 5.5in pulley, from an envoy Denali 5.3 maybe that’s why I have had no turning issues. Anyone feel free to correct me if I’m wrong on pulley sizes.
I also run no cooler. Never have, but that will change. I am not sold on those “heat sink” coolers that PSC recommends being better, can I just use one of these?
So back to my issues on steering, with ram assist, the only time I had issues turning was in 2019 when my pump was basically dead. This was about 1.5 years after I probably torched my pump on UA2017 when it was 120* out.
Then 5 years later my pump was roached again. It wasn’t happy on the rubicon this past summer in 2023, it was making noises, I probably should have said, hmmm…let’s change it but I didn’t.
The only other change I can think of is throughout time I had swapped back and forth between steering arm holes. One closer, one farther from the kingpin centerline. Last year I went back to the closer hole which puts more stress on the box and ram but reacts quicker. I can’t imagine that being too drastic.
On my last trip I also had my ram leaking so I’m sure I lost power there, put more pressure on the box, with an already weak pump and did this to the factory Xterra pitman arm.
I also went back and studied they video where I lost steering, it appeared I would back up passenger then go forward driver, but it wouldn’t actually go driver, so I’d back up passenger again (more passenger since it didn’t go driver at all forward) then try forward driver and nothing and did it again
If I had just stopped I probably could have winched forward at an angle to help my steering and moved on. Instead I put myself in a spot where I was literally going to rip my knuckle off so hi lifting and winching simultaneously had to happen
So I did a new (not reman pump) same 5.5in pulley, I will add a cooler to avoid cooking it again, inside hole (quicker but more load on the box) and see if my steering goes back to being effortless. I hope that’s the case because I want to avoid full hydro. Get my ram fixed up, use my spare Xterra pitman arm, throw this one in the trail spares because it technically will still get me off a trail and peel out.
I also threw in a new fan clutch too. My current one was 8 years old and standard duty, I did a severe duty clutch so it engages more just for more cooling.
So that’s where I’m at. I still have theories on fixing my evap issues I’m very confident in but I’ll post on that later
Other than Gavin Newsom I wouldn’t wish battery explosion and acid on anyone including my worst enemies (minus newsom, fuck him)
Maybe I’m overreacting but I felt it was horrible. I have a lot of tubes and crevices that the acid got into, leaked down by my fuse box, in between 2 layers of inner fender. So I took my time with baking soda, water, engine degreaser, more baking soda, more water, a wire wheel, and then paint. Fuck that. It was terrible, let’s hope it doesn’t rust anything out in the future.
I went with the odyssey version of my group sized battery. AGM so hopefully it never ever leaks again.
I also took the time to rethink my existing battery mounting. Before the coilovers I had a multi wall inner fender with all sorts of reinforcement for a battery box, it was the factory setup and worked. After the coilovers in 2019 and going in the engine bay, I had to change up the battery mount. It was single wall thin sheet metal inner fender and maybe allowed too much movement/vibration causing this explosion. So I worked on a new mount.
This is 3/16 plate that’s sitting about 1/4-1/2in above the inner fender. It’s welded to the coilover mount so it should see less vibration.
From there, I will rewire my rats nest of wiring….I have dual posts now which will help and probably allow me to avoid needing a junction block.
Now for steering. I have pondered the history of my steering. Historically, I have NEVER had steering issues, many friends with ram assist have suffered from slow steering, steering that wouldn’t steer when loaded, etc. I never had any of those issues unless I had hurt parts in the system.
Some interesting facts for you LS guys. PSC sells a 6in pulley, as an “upgrade” I think LS’s use a 6.5in pulley from my research. I have measured and have a 5.5in pulley, from an envoy Denali 5.3 maybe that’s why I have had no turning issues. Anyone feel free to correct me if I’m wrong on pulley sizes.
I also run no cooler. Never have, but that will change. I am not sold on those “heat sink” coolers that PSC recommends being better, can I just use one of these?
So back to my issues on steering, with ram assist, the only time I had issues turning was in 2019 when my pump was basically dead. This was about 1.5 years after I probably torched my pump on UA2017 when it was 120* out.
Then 5 years later my pump was roached again. It wasn’t happy on the rubicon this past summer in 2023, it was making noises, I probably should have said, hmmm…let’s change it but I didn’t.
The only other change I can think of is throughout time I had swapped back and forth between steering arm holes. One closer, one farther from the kingpin centerline. Last year I went back to the closer hole which puts more stress on the box and ram but reacts quicker. I can’t imagine that being too drastic.
On my last trip I also had my ram leaking so I’m sure I lost power there, put more pressure on the box, with an already weak pump and did this to the factory Xterra pitman arm.
I also went back and studied they video where I lost steering, it appeared I would back up passenger then go forward driver, but it wouldn’t actually go driver, so I’d back up passenger again (more passenger since it didn’t go driver at all forward) then try forward driver and nothing and did it again
If I had just stopped I probably could have winched forward at an angle to help my steering and moved on. Instead I put myself in a spot where I was literally going to rip my knuckle off so hi lifting and winching simultaneously had to happen
So I did a new (not reman pump) same 5.5in pulley, I will add a cooler to avoid cooking it again, inside hole (quicker but more load on the box) and see if my steering goes back to being effortless. I hope that’s the case because I want to avoid full hydro. Get my ram fixed up, use my spare Xterra pitman arm, throw this one in the trail spares because it technically will still get me off a trail and peel out.
I also threw in a new fan clutch too. My current one was 8 years old and standard duty, I did a severe duty clutch so it engages more just for more cooling.
So that’s where I’m at. I still have theories on fixing my evap issues I’m very confident in but I’ll post on that later
Slander
Team no stickys
This thread turned into a ps cooler lesson. Basically heat sink style sucks, tube and fin good.
irate4x4.com
Double ended ram hydro assist
Badass. Just a stock WJ box? or a different box? My buddy is looking into this for his tj It’s a stock WJ box. They’re different than the saginaw boxes of years past (more closely related to JK boxes), but the concept is still the same and should be no prob on the TJ. If your buddies rig is...
irate4x4.com
I won’t be doing that! LolTrans/oil cooler is good for PS, just not on the pressure side which I'm sure is obvious
Thanks, I’ll check it out for the coolers tech. Since that thread mentions double ended ram hydro assist, I’ll just throw this in here…. If I ended up with full hydro long term I’d go this route.This thread turned into a ps cooler lesson. Basically heat sink style sucks, tube and fin good.
Double ended ram hydro assist
Badass. Just a stock WJ box? or a different box? My buddy is looking into this for his tj It’s a stock WJ box. They’re different than the saginaw boxes of years past (more closely related to JK boxes), but the concept is still the same and should be no prob on the TJ. If your buddies rig is...
General Tech - Power Steering...the Hard Way
Let’s talk about steering. The initial concept for what I’m trying to execute came when speaking with Woodward steering about external servos back in 2014 or 2015. My brother and I had gone down the rabbit hole trying to understand how to make a better hydraulic assist. We learned about...
www.rme4x4.com