H3 Braking upgrade???

[SC_Hummer_Guy]

So as some of you know I have decided to do an engine swap still not sure which direction I'm going with that yet.

Anyways I plan on having an engine large enough to tow my new shiny boat! The problem is to my knowledge I don't think the stock set up is rated for what I'm gonna tow. Real question is do I need to put something more brake wise or suspension wise; and what to accommodate this?

The plan is to put the new rancho kit (as in: rancho kit with new springs pack) on the truck soon and this will be my tow vehicle/ off road vehicle, since well the Mrs' jeep can't tow the boat! Will the rancho kit help enough or is more required?

Weight is 3,922lbs (without up to 53 gal of fuel weight). If you need more specs its the 2012 Sea Doo 230 Wake. Google It!! Lol

 

[Big2dabank]

Trailer and boat are pretty well balanced so there should be no issue with tongue weight, so I don;t see the Rancho lift afecting much at all ofther than body roll. As far as power, thats a tough call, I have no clue what the H3 towing capacity is and I am not sure what you can really cram in an H3, but its probably easier and cheaper to buy a used tow vehicle.

Nice boat, I've been checking them out for a couple years, not high on my priority list.

 

[H3DONIST]

The H3 with a 3.7L has a towing capacity of 4500lbs. I have a boat about the size of yours (4000lbs dry weight) and it's a bit of a struggle, but my truck pulls it to and from the river without much of a problem. You talk about doing an engine swap, so any kind of V8 will increase your towing capacity obviously.

As far as the decision between upgrading the brakes or suspension, I know the brakes we have on the H3 are amazing and handle stopping my setup with ease, so I doubt they need to be upgraded. For your suspension, I will let somebody else talk about that, because I don't know what adding a lift will do to towing.

 

[cgalpha08]

Can i have your boat please? ????????

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

 

[Hunner]

See if you can upgrade the trailer to have brakes on BOTH axles. It makes a lot of difference and is usually no more than $150 but they will try to tell you that you don't need it at some places. It keeps the price point down.
Surge brakes are ok but the option of adjusting electric brakes is really nice to control things. I plan to add them to my Whaler trailer. I had it made in one day by a custom place and they did not have brakes there at that time. I did have the tongue made extra long so the rear door will swing and clear it. I plan to get the brakes before I get need them!!
I have a small Whaler, 14 foot with a 60HP 4 stroke, a bit big but still small enough so I can tow it behind my sailboat, but not very well in light air without the diesel. It still weighs in at about 3500 with trailer. I have to "drive ahead" and plan for braking way before normal driving without towing. I wanted that size to fit the Hummer for long trips as well. The short hop to the lake is not bad but I just went 500 miles with it to the Gulf and out 50 miles to Chandeleur Islands, or what's left of them after Katrina.
I also tow a utility trailer loaded to the max, right at yep 3500.
I wish I had brakes on both of those and will probably add electric brakes to both. I just ran out of round-to-its and Hummer parts keep accumulating.
The I-5 with mods could pull them but was right at the limit as far as power even with mods.
One of the reasons I traded for an Alpha.
I use Flashpaq in tow mode most all of the time since I also have increased the weight of the H3 with bolt on "stuff"
It has good low end torque but even that on hilly terrain will so some shifting down at times. I can run D most of the time but have learned when it starts hunting to just put it in 3 and not use the cruise for smoother running. I also use 3 when in traffic and towing so I get the benifit of engine braking. It is also possible to manual shift the tranny down when you see you will have to brake hard, but only going to 1 just before stopping or peel your face off the windshield and risk high rpm's.
and as usual when this comes up, I pop in a couple pictures in the moment.

old picture of the Hummer but shows the size of the trailer, loaded heavy. Should have gone ahead with the double axle and brakes.

 

[06 H3]

For the 06 isnt the max 4000 lbs? As for brakes I would look into trailer brakes. If you do a big brake kit on the H3 your gonna need bigger rims. Thats no fun! lol. I would look into air bags in the rear to help with the weight out back...

 

[SC_Hummer_Guy]

You talk about doing an engine swap, so any kind of V8 will increase your towing capacity obviously.

I have talked with Mash Motors in Kansas after Hans got me thinking, they gave me the option of either doing a 6.0L V8 or a 6.2L V8. I might do the 6.2 due to being able to get 1) better gas mileage, 2) will practically be able to tow anything I want, 3) the raw power i need when on the trail when i need it, or when i wanna go mudding 4) well if I felt like being an a$$hole I could smoke a Mustang just to be funny! They also gave me the option to do the 5.3 Alpha engine if I want but again I want the better gas mileage so after hearing everyone on here complain about it I think in this point, bigger could be better.

Can i have your boat please? ????????

Let me think about it.............. ................. ............... Sorry No! The Mrs. would kill me!

For the 06 isnt the max 4000 lbs? As for brakes I would look into trailer brakes. If you do a big brake kit on the H3 your gonna need bigger rims. Thats no fun! lol. I would look into air bags in the rear to help with the weight out back...

The tow rating for the stock H3 doesn't really apply to me anymore cuz for now we are using my buddies 12' Raptor to tow the boat until I swap the engine. And I'm already gonna be getting bigger rims once I have the rancho kit on, prolly 18in. How big would I have to go? And air bags? Never thought of doing that, why do you say air bags tho?