And we're ready to start!

[cbetts]

I would like to get a little lower ration on mine even though I have the 4:1 t-case. Not necessarily for power but for slower crawling on steep inclines. I would have issues with the manual tranny on something like Hell's Gate and would end up burning the clutch for parts of it. Also, I noticed I have a harder time on steep descents with the 35" tires. I am forced to gear lower and take them slower. No means a show stopper, just a nice-to-have.

 

[Hunner]

Ok...
Got the flex lines, not quite what I was hoping for, but hoping they work out as planned. They were made with 1" of extra slack, so really hope they will do the job we're shooting for.

Those look nice. Were they made from scratch by a local place? If so how much? If they made those from stocked parts and the fittings match up with the rack I would be interested in a set.
Good job.
I know you wanted full length flex but having a little ridged at each end does not seem like a problem. Of course we are hoping this is a last chance save if the rack breaks to get you off the trail and save the pump.

 

[06 H3]

Great response by 4speed...and to add to it that is what makes portal axles so great. It is another reduction box but after the diff and halfshafts so you can get lower gearing without putting more strain on parts and with portals you can run higher gearing in the diffs which goes back to what he initially said, less stress and less torque going through the shafts. Along with that and added clearance portals are awesome but they are pricey and if it was easy to adapt to other vehicles everyone would have them!

 

[backcountryislife]

Those look nice. Were they made from scratch by a local place? If so how much? If they made those from stocked parts and the fittings match up with the rack I would be interested in a set.
Good job.
I know you wanted full length flex but having a little ridged at each end does not seem like a problem. Of course we are hoping this is a last chance save if the rack breaks to get you off the trail and save the pump.

They took my lines & used them. Had I known that was what they were going to do, I would have given them some broken ones... I've got plenty. with 1" of slack in the line I think they'll do what I want anyhow, and that's what matters.

They were just shy of $80 with tax, not too bad. Reaper got a quote of $100 each, so I can't complain. I'll supply him my old lines if he wants to keep his new ones for some reason... same goes for anyone else who might want a set, I'd be happy to pull them from the other racks. I've actually got another set of good ones now that I think about it, form the rack that lost a seal.

 

[4speedfunk]

I hear what you're sayin about the Jeep Dana-30s. I have personally driven and rode shot-gun on many D30 floggings and those are tough little bastards for sure! I can only guess on why Jeeps (and Toyotas, too) seem to get by with such small diffs: Vehicle weight and smaller tires! The Jeeps (XJ's especially) are lighter weight, and D30's rarely see any tire larger than a 33". That's because Jeep SUV's (XJ, ZJ, and WJ) all have extremely small fender openings compared to the H3. You can't even fit 35"s on these rigs without a serious 6" lift...a sawzall...or both! So the axle carnage may actually be limited by the Jeep's bodywork! -LOL. I'll admit it is pretty cool that you can buy chro-mo axles, and 5.38s for a Dana-30. This will certainly beef it up but, all the Jeep guys I know would simply swap to a Dana 44 cause its less money than upgrading a D30. Remember...Jeep stuff is everywhere and it all interchanges, so they aren't dealing with the weird fitment problems we have. Most of all...lets not forget that we are often comparing our gear-laden, heavy-weight, expedition rigs with dainty, door-less, top-less, bombed-out crawlers. 5500lbs. vs. 3000lbs is not apples to apples. And 33"s vs 37"s is not oranges to oranges.

As for Toyota diffs?....they are just plain freakishly strong. Maybe they get sprinkled with ferry-dust or something...I don't know. I do know they use a front-loading pumpkin (like a 9" Ford) which some axle guys say is a stronger design. I've never messed with any Yota stuff.

Our H3's are very unique in the fact that we can fit 37"s on stock trucks. I sometimes think that we take that for granted. We forget that very few other offroaders run this size tire. And if they do...it often takes quite a bit of work to get em to fit. The H3 is in a class by itself when it comes to tire clearance. Its only natural that more H3 guys are going to suffer broken axles...simply because the big tires are such an easy bolt-on! Its almost like the fender openings are daring us H3 guys to bolt on some 37"s! -Haha.

 

[backcountryislife]

I actually run with two XJ's with D30's running 35's... they've got doors & I don't, I wonder what the actual weight difference is? I'd think I've got about 1400 lbs on them... but most of them have way more armor than I do.

I carry basic tools & spares, but I'm playing on the rocks... not going for an expedition:wink:


The yota ifs diffs don't seem much better than ours, my buddy with an fj on 35's has been through 3 front diffs. The little solid axle diffs though, which I assume is what you mean... I've yet to see one break on the trail, even with my buddies who run 40's on their yotas & twin t-cases.


and yeah... those fenders are BIG TIME daring me to go 37... but getting to the trail at more than 37 mph is what keeps me away:giggle:!!

 

[4speedfunk]

Ha...know what you mean. The gearing problem is most noticeable in high range at highway speed. That's where the 5.13s really make a difference. Mine came with the Adv. Pak so I already had the 4:1 low range, and I never really had any complaints with the gearing while crawling. You're gonna love your new AP t-case.

 

[06 H3]

the JK has big fenders too but they also have sensor happy D60 axles ready to bolt in...so 37+ in no big deal as long as they have a big wallet. Technically we have a sensor happy rear axle that is an upgrade and that's what recon has lol but the front is still a problem.

It makes me laugh that my buddies ZJ is at 7inches of lift and trimmed the **** out of his fenders and still rubs a bit with 35s. I know an XJ with the same thing big lift and 33s.

Kaleb let me know how it works out for u with the 4:1. Believe it or not I still don't have one I have done a lot to my 3 with the spring over, lift, added a locker but no 4:1 yet....we both should of started with adv. package H3s

 

[reaper]

63: I think we can get you there for about $700 in parts. The labor is pretty easy!

 

[backcountryislife]

63: I think we can get you there for about $700 in parts. The labor is pretty easy!

I thought someone said it was about 1300 in parts?

for $700, I might start ordering parts & turn my spare into another 4:1!

 

[reaper]

Yeah, you just need the hi/lo carrier which is $750 from hummerpartsonline.com (part # 89059555 but check yourself), the matching hub gear (part #89059529 but again I've been known to get these confused) which is $100 but I will probably have a spare laying around. So.... $850 without any donor parts, $750 with donor parts.

Again, hummerpartsonline.com seems to be the cheapest part source for tcase guts, gmpartshouse is just slightly more (but has better customer service).

 

[4speedfunk]

Technically we have a sensor happy rear axle that is an upgrade and that's what recon has lol but the front is still a problem.

Not entirely true. I adapted the stock Hummer braking system (including the ABS sensors) to my front solid axle D44. It works better than perfect and it really wasn't that expensive. It works so well that I'm considering putting together an H3-to-D44 adapter kit....it would come with hubs, caliper mounting plates, and ABS rings. Basically, it would be everything you need to make your SAS H3 "sensor happy". And you can forget the high-dollar price tag....it would be very affordable (like around $600). You would still have to provide your own front axle, suspension system, and steering system...but the electronic stuff would be done all with this kit. Anybody interested in something like this?

 

[backcountryislife]

Not entirely true. I adapted the stock Hummer braking system (including the ABS sensors) to my front solid axle D44. It works better than perfect and it really wasn't that expensive. It works so well that I'm considering putting together an H3-to-D44 adapter kit....it would come with hubs, caliper mounting plates, and ABS rings. Basically, it would be everything you need to make your SAS H3 "sensor happy". And you can forget the high-dollar price tag....it would be very affordable (like around $600). You would still have to provide your own front axle, suspension system, and steering system...but the electronic stuff would be done all with this kit. Anybody interested in something like this?

I'll provide the axle if you just swing over quick & toss the SA under my 3... (oh, I'd buy a kit too )

 

[06 H3]

I'd be interested. I can't put a promise on a purchase right away though...I'd need a DD first

 

[4speedfunk]

With every project there is always a little bit of hindsight: "If I knew then what I know now..."

Now that I got one H3-SAS under my belt, I can say for sure that the next one will be cake. Its not that hard or expensive if you start off knowing ahead of time exactly where to cut...what to cut...where to weld...what parts to use...where to buy em...etc. I got all that figured out. What took so long on the first one was all the trial & error I had to go through. I think if you had the axle assembled ahead of time, and had all of the correct parts on-site, fully-prepped, and ready to go...you could do the swap in 3-4 days. Maybe another 2 days for the SOA. The only real "custom" parts needed are for the brakes/ABS...most everything else can be bought or robbed from junkyard trucks.

I haven't sat down and actually added up what it would cost in parts. I should do that.

 

[backcountryislife]

With every project there is always a little bit of hindsight: "If I knew then what I know now..."

Now that I got one H3-SAS under my belt, I can say for sure that the next one will be cake. Its not that hard or expensive if you start off knowing ahead of time exactly where to cut...what to cut...where to weld...what parts to use...where to buy em...etc. I got all that figured out. What took so long on the first one was all the trial & error I had to go through. I think if you had the axle assembled ahead of time, and had all of the correct parts on-site, fully-prepped, and ready to go...you could do the swap in 3-4 days. Maybe another 2 days for the SOA. The only real "custom" parts needed are for the brakes/ABS...most everything else can be bought or robbed from junkyard trucks.

I haven't sat down and actually added up what it would cost in parts. I should do that.

No kidding... there's so many sled mods I've done where I've been the first one to tear into the new chassis & do something, at the end it's always so nice to be able to tell folks a better way to do it than how WE did it!!!:huh: Got 2 new sleds coming this fall, two different machines... I get a feeling there's gonna be a lot of that this season!!

I would be interested to see what cost would be, but labor is what would kill me really, as that's likely over my head. A SA swap would mean that the 3 is here to stay instead of being a stepping stone like I'm treating it now.... that would be very cool.

 

[4speedfunk]

I agree...labor is a killer. Paying a shop to follow an instruction book, and install a kit is bad enough...but full-tilt "make it up as you go" type work requires a NASA budget. I've always been a DIY guy and when I looked at what a shop would charge to do the SAS...I decided to spend the money on fab tools rather than paying somebody. Not only was outsourcing beyond my budget...I'm such an anal-retentive perfectionist that I would probably be disappointed with the outcome!-LOL. So I bought myself a welder, a plasma-cutter, and some small hand-tools (total of around $2000) and dived-in!

If anybody reading this has doubts about doing their own work...you need to embrace them. The sense of pride and the knowledge you gain is second to none. Now I have the SA H3 I always wanted...I have the shop tools to do future projects...and I have the fab experience I never would have got from hiring it. I totally recommend the DIY route...its cheaper than hiring somebody, and so freakin rewarding.

 

[backcountryislife]

For me the problem is time... I want to play, and I've got WAY too many sports I do to take on such a time intensive task... it's tough.



btw, got the diff apart... I think it's fine, gonna toss the cover back on it & run it!

T case out

Rack out

flex lines on.

We got the 4:1 in the truck, rear drive shaft back in, and tomorrow will pull the bad diff, swap reapers guts to the new diff, and then sunday put the new rack in and go take it for a rip!

My guy is making 4 sets of ABS bushings in the AM, Reaper & I will be taking 2 sets, so if anyone else wants a set just let me know, they'll be way cheap considering he makes them by hand.

The lines we had made locally, they're about $80 with tax. I've got a few sets of broken lines I could use as donors to make other lines, otherwise I'd need people to send me their good or bad lines to make them from. No minimums, or special requirements, if you want a set, let me know & I can help out. I'm not making anything off this, just want to help out.

 

[06 H3]

Pm going your way...gotta beef up the rack as best as possible

 

[06 H3]

I ran an idea with kaleb on how to allevate some of the tie rod angles...Without lowering the torsion bars the only way to lower the angle of the tie rod is a custom knuckle with a higher mounting point. Hunner ran told me that a while back but thats costly to get a knuckle done up like that. I know this may sound ghetto or sketchy but I feel a small billet aluminum spacer to go above the knuckle mount and below the tie rod would raise the tie rod up and reduce the angle. It will put less stress on the rack. With that said you will need a longer threaded bolt for the outer tie rod. Custom outer tie rods wouldnt be expensive at all and if the outer tie rod end breaks you wont be stuck without a tie rod...Just pull the spacer off and throw on the stock outer tie rod. I dont have the tools to do something like that but someone who can or knows a machine shop I would show them what the plan is and I am sure they can probably do it safely and enhance the idea.

 

[backcountryislife]

I'll have a middle mount on my rack now, if the upward angle is the problem, keeping the center of the rack solid should make a big difference... hoping that does the trick. Just going slower should make a big difference for ALL of these things though too. I think the 4:1 will bring me in line with where most folks are at lower altitude so I can run slower like you guys can too.

 

[jakesz28]

I am running something like this on my camaro with a manual rack. It allows you to raise the heim joint some to control bumpsteer. But this with an over sized hein joint or rodthe end and the high angle spacers may help.

 

[atvspeed4]

Remember the conversation we had about raising the outer tierods? That is going to cause serious issues with steering geometry. I have a set of the heim adapter pins above that I bought for the S10 tierods my company builds. They are definitely too weak and I ended up having a set custom made out of HT 4340 http://www.outfitterdesign.com/s-10-parts.html

I really think you will be fine with the steep tierod angles if you solid mount the rack.

 

[cbetts]

I'll have a middle mount on my rack now, if the upward angle is the problem, keeping the center of the rack solid should make a big difference... hoping that does the trick. Just going slower should make a big difference for ALL of these things though too. I think the 4:1 will bring me in line with where most folks are at lower altitude so I can run slower like you guys can too.

You are going to love that 4:1 t-case with the manual tranny. It will crawl up just about anything with ease.

 

[backcountryislife]

You are going to love that 4:1 t-case with the manual tranny. It will crawl up just about anything with ease.

Being that I'm 10,000 feet higher than most folks... I'm just hoping for it to be comparable to what the other T case would be like down low, that would be awesome!

When I wheel in Moab... it's a totally different truck!!