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H3 squeaks during hard braking or hard takeoff

jman1975

Active Member
Messages
28
Location
Saint Paul, MN
Recently replaced all 4 shocks on my 2008 Alpha w/ Adv. package. It's not loud, however, when I brake hard at a stop light or takeoff quick from a stop light I can hear some squeak. Anyone have any idea as to what other components in the suspension can cause this? leaf springs? sway bar linkage? diff bushings? It's been hard to diagnose. Haven't recorded the sound but I feel like I should in order to get as many ears on it as I can.

TIA
 

jphh20

Well-Known Member
Messages
173
Location
CT
Have your torsion bars been cranked? Can you tell us more about your rig? Mileage, mods etc?


Joe
 

alrock

El Diablo
Staff member
Messages
10,677
Location
Scottsdale
Leaf spring bushings are a common squeak. Start pushing down on corners of the H3 and listen. Sway bar bushings could also be a culprit.
 

jman1975

Active Member
Messages
28
Location
Saint Paul, MN
Have your torsion bars been cranked? Can you tell us more about your rig? Mileage, mods etc?

Joe

never cranked the torsion bars. virtually stock Hummer Alpha, no mods, mileage is about 74k

Leaf spring bushings are a common squeak. Start pushing down on corners of the H3 and listen. Sway bar bushings could also be a culprit.

I will try this. squeaks used to be much more pronounced before I replaced all the shocks, now it only seems to occur when I put hard stress on the suspension system (like during braking/takeoff)

Aiming to do ridealongs with friends to help pinpoint the sound location.


Anyone know how hard it is to replace the leaf springs? Is jacking up the body sufficient to get access and removal? Not a ton of literature out there on the various Hummer forums...
 

alrock

El Diablo
Staff member
Messages
10,677
Location
Scottsdale
I'd start with washing the bushings with high pressure water. (BTW, this is sometimes a body mount issue too). Dirt can get in there and cause the squeaking. A quicker fix, of course, is to spray those bushings with lubricant. If you find the squeak, then spray with high pressure water to see if it's a dirt issue.

The leaf springs are not hard to do if you have the tools to jack up the H3, support the axle, etc. (We supported the axle with a ratchet strap to the frame.) But seeing how you're up north you may be dealing with rust and that makes those bolts a whole lot harder to deal with. Jack the vehicle, support the axle and the vehicle, remove the tire, remove the lower shock mount, remove the u-bolts, remove the bolts on either end of the leaf spring.

Note that the gas tank skid does get in the way of the driver's side bolt, so you may need to remove that. If the skid is dented in, it will need to be pounded out to reinstall.

If you're doing this, you will want to replace the shackle bushings in the body as well. Those bushings do wear out. Best place I've found for them is rockauto.com but you need to search under 2006 H3. For some reason they do not list that part under other years even though they fit all years and makes of the H3.

Make sure you use new u-bolts on the reinstall. They are not intended to be reused.

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LeafSprings%20030214%20%283%29-L.jpg


LeafSprings%20030214%20%2811%29-L.jpg
 

jman1975

Active Member
Messages
28
Location
Saint Paul, MN
thanks for the additional tips alrock, I will definitely concentrate on the leaf spring bushing next opportunity I get to crawl under the rig. not thrilled about replacing the leaf springs altogether, specifically for the reason you mention- rusted bolts. when I did the front shocks recently I had to cut the top bolt just to get the shock out of the mount... what a pain
 
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