06 H3's Squeakin H3 Build

[06 H3]

Ok, so I got the hummer on the ground. I need to do a spring swap to lower it. The springs are too stiff and I have like 4in of down travel and 8 up.

I got the all the prep work done and my buddy flew in and we worked our asses off for 12+ hours a day for 2 days.

Garage is prepped and ready to go!

First project was make a bumper to keep everything square. I don’t run a spare anymore so I wanted something that tucked up tight. My old bumper protected the spare but lost departure angle. If I run a spare I’ll use a hitch extension as the tire protector.

The picture shows some suspension work so ignore that. He’s a finished pic with bumper and tube tie in.

Next was figure out 3 link or triangulated 4 link, which would require a new fuel tank. We figured out how to make a 3 link work

Tacking on the lowers and the upper link to start cycling

The 3rd link bracket is cool, it’s a cut up Barnes truss and an off the shelf 4 link hole bracket you can see it above the lower links. We made sure to get a ton of separation to less then load on the 3 link.

Here is the mock up of the track bar. Not a ton of room so it goes behind the axle and snakes between the upper link and 3rd. It will be double sheer but for mock-up and cycling the suspension we wait.

Getting the upper link way up there for proper anti squat numbers. More bracing to be has obviously

 

[06 H3]

From there we started bracing things. Track bar ended up being 41in

That ain’t going anywhere

Frame notched for coilovers

Going backwards a bit but coilover mounts

 

[06 H3]

We got good bracing and cross tubes for the coilover mounts.

Pic of the link mount to coilover mount transition.

Resi mounts

It’s sitting way too tall, gotta swap out springs so keep that in mind when looking at track bar angles at the finished product

 

[06 H3]

So, whats left? I need to get the gas tank back in, the 3rd back together, hook up the evap cansister and all the wires out back, brakes, and bolt check it.

Total wins?
-Never have axle wrap again.
-stronger setup
-infinite adjustability and tunability
-more uptravel
-more downtravel
-I am almost 100% confident it will be better in the desert, high speed stuff compared to my leaf spring setup.

I hope it works out?
-I hope the hummer works better in places like Moab and Sand hollow, the SAS is 1000x more capable in the bottom of a rock canyon but in my opinion the increases arent as noticeable as places like Moab. Its still noticeable but not as noticeable. I hope this change makes the Hummer work better out there.
-I hope it doesnt lose capability in the rocks at the bottom of canyons. I lost ground clearance for the coilovers at the axle tubes vs. clean axle tubes with nothing hanging below, I lost ground clearance at the lower control arm mount compared to leafs. The hummer has done everything I have ever asked for and more in the rocks. I hope I dont go backwards in the rocks.

So with all that said, I need to get it driving and testing. It took me 9 years of messing with the front before I felt like I have it 100% dialed and even now its like 99.9% dialed, as theres always room for change.

I am probably 85% there and you know what they say, the last 10% takes more time then the first 90%. We will see if I want to make any major changes, my criteria was no going in the cab for the upper coilover mounts and no ditching the factory tank if possible. With time, this setup may make me reconsider those things but this will be a great starting point

 

[rascole]

Did you consider a cantilever rear set up? I have seen them for 4 Runners and such.

 

[06 H3]

Did you consider a cantilever rear set up? I have seen them for 4 Runners and such.

Not really. They seem like an absolute pain in the ass to tune. Maybe in a phase 2 approach or something but I’d have to understand them more