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H3 High Clearance Leaf Spring Mounts

cbetts

cbetts

NERD!!!
Messages
3,188
Location
Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
Look what I got today!
2012-10-25_16-31-19_680.jpg
 
reaper

reaper

Well-Known Member
Messages
527
Location
Denver, Colorado
So... will this work with the Rancho lift, or will we need to make some adjustments in the shackles? I'm planning on ordering a pair when I get some budget funds... do you need any measurements on the Rancho shackles? I also added a leaf to the pack which fixes some Rancho issues, not sure if that matters for these.
 
06 H3

06 H3

a.k.a. "The Jackal"
Messages
9,492
Location
Meridian, ID
H3 High Clearance Leaf Spring Mounts *Pre Order Now*

I know I'm not the maker of these but they should work...there is no difference in leaf width you just may need some longer u bolts depending on how thick the leaf pack is
 
Schwarttzy

Schwarttzy

Sponsor
Messages
1,390
Location
Rockford IL
reaper said:
So... will this work with the Rancho lift, or will we need to make some adjustments in the shackles? I'm planning on ordering a pair when I get some budget funds... do you need any measurements on the Rancho shackles? I also added a leaf to the pack which fixes some Rancho issues, not sure if that matters for these.
Click to expand...

I'm more than willing to give it a try as long as you can cover shipping].
 
cbetts

cbetts

NERD!!!
Messages
3,188
Location
Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
Okay, I had the new mounts put on today and chose to put the OEMs back on. I have a safety concern after seeing them on my truck.

2012-11-09_09-59-43_336.jpg


The tabs outside of the springs started to bend upward once the proper torque was applied to the u-bolts. Also, the u-bolts sit apart more, just barely grabbing the re-enforcement on the top of the axle.
2012-11-09_09-59-48_420.jpg


2012-11-09_09-59-55_245.jpg


With the type of wheeling I do, it was recommended by my mechanic to put the OEM mounts back on. I am not sure what needs to be modified to make this work properly. Maybe some of our seasoned metal workers can give some insight.
 
Schwarttzy

Schwarttzy

Sponsor
Messages
1,390
Location
Rockford IL
cbetts said:
Okay, I had the new mounts put on today and chose to put the OEMs back on. I have a safety concern after seeing them on my truck.

The tabs outside of the springs started to bend upward once the proper torque was applied to the u-bolts. Also, the u-bolts sit apart more, just barely grabbing the re-enforcement on the top of the axle.

With the type of wheeling I do, it was recommended by my mechanic to put the OEM mounts back on. I am not sure what needs to be modified to make this work properly. Maybe some of our seasoned metal workers can give some insight.
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Proper torque!? That is too much torque, they should only deflect a little. Just enough to pre-load on the U-Bolt Bolts so that the metal acts like a lock washer so the bolts can't loosen up. Also the bolt on the shocks are backwards, you have to reverse it. Which also means you have to thread the bolt for the shock before putting the High Clearance Mount on the leaf springs. My intention isn't to sound rude, but to inform you that who ever put those on wasn't paying attention to what they were doing.

Trust me there was nothing wrong with the design, I drive my Hummer entirely to fast around turns and have wheeled it the crap out of it and have no problems. I literally just took these photos and this is how it should look.

IMAG0099.jpg

IMAG0100.jpg
 
Schwarttzy

Schwarttzy

Sponsor
Messages
1,390
Location
Rockford IL
I would also like to add that I intentionally designed the High Clearance Leaf Spring Mount to deflect a bit so that you have better chance seating the U-bolts better on the axle braces.
 
T

tomp

Well-Known Member
Messages
256
Location
Dallas
Schwarttzy said:
I would also like to add that I intentionally designed the High Clearance Leaf Spring Mount to deflect a bit so that you have better chance seating the U-bolts better on the axle braces.
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Really, you purposely designed them to bend? I have $100 to bet you that the outer portion that holds the shock will also bend when the vehicle bottoms out hard because you raised the shock up too high...LOL. I'm not buying that your plates only raise the shock up 1" as you noted in your previous claims. I am betting that it's more like 2" which will certainly bend those thin un-braced plates when bottoming hard on rear suspension. It can clearly be seen it's more like two inches in the pic you posted with the measuring tape, yet you went on record to state it was only an inch?

If the proper torque spec is causing the plate to bend and you say that is to much torque, that I would suggest you let everyone know what the proper torque for these plates is? I would then include a safety disclaimer that your plates do not meet the GM spec and require a reduced torque specification.

On a serious note, do you really think if they are bending this easy from just tightening the bolts that the part extending outward for the shock is even remotely strong enough; especially considering you raised the shock up beyond the maximum amount of travel available before the jounce jumper engages the axle stop?
 
T

tomp

Well-Known Member
Messages
256
Location
Dallas
I don't mean to play the bad guy here, but it's time to speak up. The more I look at this plate, the worse my thoughts of them are. So, the spring pack is pushing down and the axle housing is applying upward pressure on the u-bolts and plates. Everytime you hit severe bumps in the road, there is risk that the tabs on side of the plates could get bent upward. Over time, the sides will be bent up enough where the small leaf spring indention that goes into the hole in the center of the plate is no longer in the hole; thus allowing the axle to move side-to-side sperate from the leaf spring pack. Cbetts has noted that there is already barely any of the u-bolt resting atop the perch on the axle tube. Thus, barely any play in this assembly is going to allow the u-bolt to slip off the perch and now the axle is flowing freely on the spring pack. An additional concern is that each time the sides bend upward (given that they were designed to bend), the nuts will become looser and increase risk even further.
 
Schwarttzy

Schwarttzy

Sponsor
Messages
1,390
Location
Rockford IL
tomp said:
I don't mean to play the bad guy here, but it's time to speak up. The more I look at this plate, the worse my thoughts of them are. So, the spring pack is pushing down and the axle housing is applying upward pressure on the u-bolts and plates. Everytime you hit severe bumps in the road, there is risk that the tabs on side of the plates could get bent upward. Over time, the sides will be bent up enough where the small leaf spring indention that goes into the hole in the center of the plate is no longer in the hole; thus allowing the axle to move side-to-side sperate from the leaf spring pack. Cbetts has noted that there is already barely any of the u-bolt resting atop the perch on the axle tube. Thus, barely any play in this assembly is going to allow the u-bolt to slip off the perch and now the axle is flowing freely on the spring pack. An additional concernis that each time the sides bend upward (given that they were designed to bend), the nuts will become looser and increase risk even further.
Click to expand...

trust me when I say that you got thiso all wrong, they used an impack gun and cranked the piss out of the bolts, and when I say it bends it is nothing like you're talking about.
 
T

tomp

Well-Known Member
Messages
256
Location
Dallas
Schwarttzy said:
trust me when I say that you got thiso all wrong, they used an impack gun and cranked the piss out of the bolts, and when I say it bends it is nothing like you're talking about.
Click to expand...

Well, that's what you said last time I warned that the design was prone to be bending. No worries, time will tell so I will sit back and watch.
 
backcountryislife

backcountryislife

Well-Known Member
Messages
858
Location
Dumont, CO
tomp said:
Well, that's what you said last time I warned that the design was prone to be bending. No worries, time will tell so I will sit back and watch.
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Considering that you guys thought you needed 1" thick metal to support a shock mount, I can't say that you're the authority on engineering requirements :p

I think you MIGHT be fond of overbuilding something a bit too much:sly:

Btw, the time to speak up would have been when he was asking for input, rather than too late, after products have shipped.

If your product was still around, there probably wouldn't have been the need for this one.

Sent from my A200 using Tapatalk 2
 
T

tomp

Well-Known Member
Messages
256
Location
Dallas
backcountryislife said:
Considering that you guys thought you needed 1" thick metal to support a shock mount, I can't say that you're the authority on engineering requirements :p

I think you MIGHT be fond of overbuilding something a bit too much:sly:

Btw, the time to speak up would have been when he was asking for input, rather than too late, after products have shipped.

If your product was still around, there probably wouldn't have been the need for this one.

Sent from my A200 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...

It certainly didn't need to be 1" thick but since we opted for strength and to mill the steel from stock, the decision was made to eliminate much of the milling time to reduce time on the machines, thus keeping end users cost down. Trust me, we wanted to reduce the weight in many areas by milling much of the uneeded areas away, but since USPS rolled out there flat rate shipping, it was best to ship them rather than raising cost up even more with more milling time on machines. A significant amount of time went into the design and considering shock travel and the effects of hard bottoming the suspension, etc. The final product was something we felt proud of.

One of the reasons our plates were 1" thick is because of the shock bolt. You'll notice the included shock bolt was not only Grade 8 but also had smallest head diameter available. Also the plates have ubolts resting against every leaf in pack so they can't shift side to side, thus requiring plates to be thick to fully encase the nuts at bottom.

Yes, the price was high at $300 per pair, but were designed to last lifetime considering they were the lowest item hanging under an H3 & would have to withstand impacts with full weight of the H3 coming down or ramming rocks. Purchasers will never have to replace them.

I did offer up input early on, but it was rather declined stating his design was sufficient. I questioned the design and his lack of willingness to accept input and sent PMs to other fabricaters here and exchanged thoughts regarding the heights the shock was being raised and the lack of gusseting to add strength in needed areas. In essence, I did do my due diligence to offer up my experiences. In fact, I shared information with one particular member that stated the problems with shocks leaking on our prototype plates that attempted to raise the shock up the same as his does. The vehicle still running the prototypes is my personal H3 and has custom shorter length shocks on it that are revalved for an H3 and still have same travel. Only time will tell when his plates start having similar reports.

there is certainly no rivalry here. My plates are no longer in production and I was simply offering assistance that was declined. Have a good night:)
 
Last edited:
06 H3

06 H3

a.k.a. "The Jackal"
Messages
9,492
Location
Meridian, ID
I will I had tomps plates and they were badass and were a HUGE improvement over stock it sucks there gone. I think with some improvements his plates will do the same
 
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